282 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



To later volumes the Rev. F. E. Lowe {loc. cit. xxii. 1910), Mr. 

 A. S. Tetley, and Mr. Douglas Pearson contribute their experi- 

 ences of that charming country. For this paper, therefore, my 

 only excuse is that hitherto nothing has been written on the 

 subject in the 'Entomologist,' and that I visited one locality at 

 least to which most of these authorities paid but slight attention. 

 To Dr. Chapman's suggestive note on the local " grass " Erebias 

 (Proc. Ent. Soc. 1913, cvii.-cx.) I shall refer later on. 



There are two hotels at La Grave equally comfortable and 

 well kept — the Hotel des Alpes and the Hotel de la Meije. I 

 stayed at the former for ten days. And here I should like to 

 point out how helpful it is when lepidopterists, who have visited 

 foreign localities and write about them, give others following 

 their footsteps the benefit of their hotel experience. Personally, 

 I find the Touring Club of France guide invaluable for the 

 purpose of selection. May the next issue reintroduce us to the 

 hospitality of Alsace and Lorraine ! 



Arriving in time for a late dejeuner after a drive of surpassing 

 loveliness, I spent the afternoon prospecting in the deep meadows 

 that lead up to the Meije glacier. Facing the Meije, La Grave 

 stands boldly up from the torrent of the Piomanche. Across the 

 mule-path leading on this side to the river a muddy trickle 

 attracts the "Whites" and "Blues" in cheerful abundance; 

 Apoi-ia cratagi, fresh males, but small ; Parnassius apollo ; on 

 the yellow crucifers Anthocharis simplonia, at this level (5000ft.) 

 already rather worn ; and among smaller fry, Plebeius argus 

 (cegon), Polyommatus hylas, and Nomiades semiargus. I did not 

 observe Papilio podalirius, but it was not uncommon lower down 

 towards Bourg d'Oisans. P. machaon occurred singly in the 

 village itself. But undoubtedly the best collecting ground here- 

 abouts is on the left bank of the river, and up to the Meije 

 glacier. The first four days of unclouded sunshine, from the 

 12th to the 15th, were fully occupied. In the lower pastures 

 Erehia pharte males were flying in profusion, the females as yet 

 hardly emerged ; E. epiphron var. cassiope, decidedly rare ; 

 E. ceto, a dwarf race compared with that of the Swiss Alps, less 

 so ; and, of course, E. stygne ; though by far the commonest of 

 the genus was E. euryale, constant and typical in form, and 

 often assembling by the score at the runnels, or starting up from 

 every branch and flower in the fir woods. 



Pushing on to the moraine of the Meije glacier, I had not 

 been long on the look-out when the first glossy E. alecto flew 

 across the path, and later I was fortunate to bag one or two 

 perfectly fresh females. One such rose from my feet as I was 

 struggling with the loose shifting scree. She had evidently been 

 disturbed in the act of oviposition ; and, as the only plant at 

 this particular spot was a sort of tuft grass, I have not much 

 doubt that this plant — afterwards identified in the Alpine garden 



