NOTES ON SOME OF THE CORSICAN BUTTERFLIES. 101 



west of Corte, and about 70 kils. north of Ajaccio, is one of the 

 most beautiful places I have ever seen, close to the borders^ of 

 the great Forest of Aitone on one side, and on the other looking 

 over chains of rugged mountains towards the sea and the sunset. 

 Hotel Gigli, too, being an inn of fair pretensions, clean and 

 comfortable, with a most obliging proprietor, goes far to make a 

 prolonged stay at Evisa exceedingly pleasant and agreeable. 

 Then, too, a place little known to entomologists, but by no 

 means unworthy of notice, is La Piana, built on a raised plateau, 

 near the edge of a cliff, about 1400 ft. above sea-level, and close 

 to the Calanche, a rocky formation of hard red sandstone, whose 

 many weird forms and outlines would suggest having been 

 wrought by the perpetual action of the sea in centuries gone 

 by. These Calanche attract many French tourists to La 

 Piana, in spite of the long diligence drive of some 60 kils. from 

 Ajaccio. 



I append a list of the most important amongst my captures, 

 beginning with : — 



Papilio hospiton, Gn. — My first capture of this rare and 

 beautiful Papilio was on May 8th at Luri ; four specimens were 

 taken that day, but three of them were in bad condition, sug- 

 gesting that their emergence from the chrysalis must have taken 

 place some time in April. Yet I do not think that hospiton is 

 double-brooded ; specimens seem to emerge throughout May, 

 June, and July, singly, and, according to my experience, by no 

 means at frequent intervals. I only took it in one locality near 

 Luri, on the top of the mountain pass, above Cagnano, and it 

 was far from common. At Evisa it also occurred, but was 

 decidedly rare. This butterfly seems to be unusually addicted 

 to knocking itself about, so that by far the greater number of 

 those taken were more or less damaged. The larva, when half- 

 grown, is easily distinguishable from machaon, which, however, 

 in its early stages it closely resembles ; the black rings are more 

 rugged in their outlines, and the general tone of the caterpillar 

 more of an apple -green. 



Anthocaris tagis var. insularis, Stgr. — The best place for this 

 insect is undoubtedly Luri ; I found three or four localities for 

 it in that neighbourhood, in some of which the males were quite 

 common. My first capture of it was on May 5th, on the pass 

 below Seneca's Tower (950 ft.). It occurred also on the top of 

 the pass above Cagnano (775 ft.), and on the southern slopes of 

 the mountains near Luri, in which latter locality, with the able 

 assistance of Bersa, I once took fourteen specimens in one 

 morning. All these elevations were, at their highest points, just 

 below 1000 ft. Insularis is a rapid flier, but, like var. bellezina, 

 loves to settle on the pale mauve flowers of the wild rosemary, 

 which much facilitates the chances of its capture. At Evisa in 

 June it was rare, but still to be had in good condition. It was 



