AN ENTOMOLOGICAL TRIP TO CORSICA. 149 



shrouded in vapour and mist ; but in spite of the wet it was 

 very hot when we got on shore, with a close, almost tropical 

 atmosphere. We engaged rooms at the Hotel de France in the 

 middle of the town, as the much better and more comfortable 

 Grand Hotel is closed at this time of year. By 10 o'clock the 

 rain had stopped and the sun was shining brilliantly, quickly 

 drying up the sopping vegetation, and we were on the war- 

 path, and once again experiencing that feeling of intense excite- 

 ment which always fills one when, after perchance a year's 

 interlude, one starts for one's first walk with a butterfly net in a 

 perfectly new country, where one imagines one is at once going 

 to see every sort of rarity, and where every insect that comes 

 along is eagerly captured and carefully examined before being 

 either released or consigned to a pill box. 



Quickly walking through the town in a north-westerly 

 direction, we came out on to some rough ground, partly culti- 

 vated terraces and small fields ; but everything was frightfully 

 burnt up and insects were not common. A small form of 

 Polyommatus icarus was rather frequent, fresh specimens of 

 probably a second or third brood ; and flying about amongst the 

 burnt -up herbage was P. astrarche, also of rather small size but 

 with the red spots large and brilliantly coloured; these might be 

 referred to as var. calida. Working round by the back of some 

 villa gardens, a few Pieris hrassicce were noticed, but further 

 along, at the foot of some dry hills, we found Epinephele ida to be 

 rather common ; they were quite fresh, and are, I think, some- 

 what larger than my Spanish examples. Here also Mr. Lomax 

 secured a fine specimen of Tarucus telicanus, which with two or 

 three rather ragged Lampides boeticus were haunting the flowers of 

 a small wild " pea" (?) which rambled over the dry stony ground, 

 but which further along, where a tiny spring welled up and 

 where the vegetation in consequence became a little more 

 luxurious, grew into quite a fine plant. A good many butterflies 

 were attracted to this spot — Pararge egeria, fresh Colias edusa, 

 Issoria lathonia, one or two Leptidia sinapis, and a single lovely 

 Pyrameis cardui. 



The dry hillsides were in many places covered with helio- 

 crysum in full blossom, making fine patches of golden colour ; 

 these were attractive to a fair large iorm of Epinephele j artina 

 var. hispulla, both sexes being in good order. Here also were 

 P. icarus, more E. ida, and numerous E. tithonus, with a few 

 very darkly-coloured Chrysoplianus phlceas var. eleus ; and as we 

 were walking back to Ajaccio by the roadside, and flying literally 

 amongst the thick white dust Pararge megcera var. tigelius was 

 not infrequent, though generally shabby individuals. 



The following morning, as there did not seem to be anything 

 to detain us in Ajaccio, we left for Vizzavona, a journey which 

 takes some four hours or more, but which is always interesting 



