26 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



probably the cold weather experienced at Abisko prevented many 

 of them from emergmg, or delayed their emergence until after 

 my departure. For protection at night I had a small bell- shaped 

 mosquito curtain, which was suspended by a brass hook to the 

 wooden ceiling of my bedroom. I found this an efficient safe- 

 guard ; without it I do not see how it would have been possible 

 to sleep, at any rate with the window open. During the day 

 it was absolutely necessary in warm weather to wear a veil and 

 gloves. In spite of these precautions I got a good deal bitten ; 

 fortunately the mosquito in these regions does not have much 

 foul matter to feed upon, and so far as I was concerned the 

 inconvenience was only temporary. I saw, however, a number 

 of people who were not so fortunate, and whose faces and hands 

 were greatly swollen from the effects of their bites. 



The species I met with are as follows : — 



Pieris brassiccz. — Flying about the gardens at Mattmar; of average 

 size, with very pale tips to the front wings. 



P. napi var. bryonia. — Common at Abisko, and well out in both 

 sexes at the time of my arrival there. The species was somewhat 

 local, its occurrence being dependent apparently on the abundance of 

 its usual food-plant in Lapland, Arabis aljnna, which, except for a 

 small Draba and a species of Cardamines, was the only Crucifer I 

 saw. The butterfly was most abundant by the side of the road 

 leading to Bjorkleiden. The females, all of which are var. bryonia, 

 are very variable ; some have the spaces between the veins showing 

 pronouncedly white, others are suffused over almost all the wing 

 area with the grey shading, and a certain portion of both of these 

 forms are ab. sulphurea. I had no difficulty in procuring as many 

 ova as I required, most of which I sent to the late Mr. A. Harrison, 

 who specialized in this species. Others I brought home have since 

 pupated. 



Colias nastes var. iverdandi. — Abundant everywhere on swampy 

 ground at Abisko, frequenting the drier parts of the swamps, and also 

 certain banks where its food-plant. Astragalus alpinus, grows, and 

 extending up the mountains to at least 1000 ft. above the lake. The 

 species was well out in both sexes at the date of my arrival, June 

 17th, and certain examples were then wasted. There is no doubt 

 but that in an average year it is out in the first few days of 

 June, and probably at the end of May. By the end of June the 

 majority were worn, and the species quite disappeared about July 

 7th. The male flies swiftly, with the usual Colias flight, searching for 

 the female ; it frequently rests on the ground, but rarely on flowers, 

 the only flower favoured, so far as I saw, was Silene acaulis. The 

 flight is so swift, and the ground frequented rough and in places 

 swampy, it is better to lie in wait, and the butterfly can then be 

 captured freely. The female flies much more slowly. 



Of this species I brought home a very variable series of twenty- 

 eight males and twenty-seven females. As I understand the named 

 European abei'rations, they are as follows : — 



