156 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



quite necessary to take shelter in the middle of the day, and generally 

 butterflies go to rest early. On June 6th I ventured on a long excur- 

 sion to Scylla in Calabria, and reached the station quite early. The 

 locality for M. arge being on the plateau 2000 ft. above the station, 

 when I reached there I could only spare a few minutes to search for 

 it, and I think I was too late, as its place was occupied by galatea. 



Nearer home galatea var. procida was well out at Gravitelli on 

 June 8th, and on June 9th the Sicilian form of japygia was plentiful 

 on a particular slope at Cattarati. This species flies later in the 

 evening than most butterflies, and on this occasion had for its com- 

 panion the showy Melitcea didyma, which, as the sun begins to dis- 

 appear behind the hill, has the habit of settling on the top of the 

 long grass with its wings wide open, exactly resembling a crimson 

 flower. It was sufficiently abundant to create a veritable living 

 flower garden, a sight never to be forgotten. 



Another locality for japygia is at the foot of Monte Scudari 

 (4000 ft. high), and on June 11th I trained to Scaletta and walked to 

 Itala, a highly picturesque village. The wind was blowing a gale, 

 and in the open it was impossible to get any butterflies. By follow- 

 ing a rocky path up the bed of the stream for a considerable distance 

 I reached a sheltered spot and there found japygia and some other 

 species in full force, amongst them being Argynnis pandora and quite 

 ordinary galatea. The heat in the narrow gorge was terrific. 



My last excursion was with an entomological friend to Monte 

 Cicci on June 13th. On our way up we discovered a fresh locality 

 at the back of a fort with flowers galore and the common Vanessae 

 in abundance; also Hipparchia circe, the latter not easy to catch, 

 owing to the breeze. Subsequently I found a specimen of H. her- 

 mione amongst them, and my friend was able afterwards to capture 

 more. It whs rather too late for the early brood of blues, but we 

 secured several specimens of semiargus, also argus (one) and teli- 

 canus (one), and amongst the skippers Hesperia comma (one) turned 

 up. Both galatea and japygia were present, and apparently we were 

 too early for statilimis and niobe var. eris, which were both seen but 

 not captured. The heat, however, proved too much for my friend, 

 and we returned early. 



' Next day I left for England, and found Naples, Eome, Paris, and 

 London, alike sufl"ering from the heat-wave. — J. Platt Baerett ; 

 Westcroft, South Eoad, Forest Hill, S.E. 



SOCIETIES. 



Entomological Society of London. — Wednesday, February Uh, 

 1914.— Mr. G. T. Bethune-Baker, President, in the chair.— Miss 

 Maude Lina West Cleghorn, 57, Ballygunge, Circular Eoad, Calcutta, 

 and Mr. William John Forsham, M.E.C.S., L.E.C.P., The Villa, 

 Bubwith, Selby, Yorkshire, wei'e elected Fellows of the Society. — 

 The President announced that he had nominated Dr. H. Eltringham, 

 the Hon. N. Charles Eothschild, and the Eev. G. Wheeler, as Vice- 



