THE ENTOMOLOGIST 



Vol. XLV.] DECEMBER, 1912. [No. 595 



EREBIA MELAMPUS, Fuessl., IN CENTRAL FRANCE, 

 AND A NOTE ON E. EPIPHRON var. CASSIOPE, Fabr. 



By H. Rowland-Brown, M.A., F.E.S. 



While overhauling my this year's captures at Brenner, and 

 transferring the Erebias to the cabinet, I observed among an 

 extended series of Erebia epiphron var. cassiope from the Central 

 Alps, Pyrenees, &c., two unmistakable males of E, melampus, 

 taken by me on the Plomb du Cantal on July 31st, 1909 

 {cp. "Butterflies of Cantal and Lozere," Entom. xlii. p. 267). 

 Apparently this butterfly has never before been recorded from 

 the volcanic regions of Central France, though the higher 

 mountain slopes, where not grazed too closely by cattle, are 

 affected by some other members of the genus. M» Oberthiir 

 (' Lepid. Compar6e,' fasc. iii. p. 288) tells us that melamp)us is 

 absent from the Pyrenees, despite Staudinger's assertion to the 

 contrary (as quoted by Mr. H, J. Elwes in his "Butterflies of 

 the French Pyrenees"*), and neither I nor the many English 

 entomologists who have explored the range more recently have 

 come across it. Staudinger, in fact, only repeats the brothers 

 Speyer (' Schmett. Deutsch u. der Schweiz.' p. 94), who themselves 

 copied a previous erroneous report. Meanwhile, also, both 

 Guenee and Sand overlooked melampus at Le Lioran, nor is it 

 included in Guillemot's ' Catalogue des Lepids. du Puy-de-Dome,' 

 and it would be as well, therefore, for collectors in Auvergne to 

 keep a sharp look-out for the species. Erehia oeme was discovered 

 by Bellier de la Chavignerie in the Forez Mountains, somewhat 

 south-east of the Pierre-sur-Haute (5380 ft.), the furthest-west 

 locality ascertained. But no one to my knowledge has since 

 hunted in the beautiful hills that watch over the valley of the 

 Dore, and the noblest of Benedictine Abbeys, La Chaisse Dieu. 

 At sufficient altitudes hereabouts melampus may precede its 

 larger congener, for oeme is usually over before it is on the wing. 

 The dry mountains of the southern Cevennes and Lozere, how- 

 ever, are less suggestive of missing links in the "life line" of 

 the species. 



- Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. 1887, p. 396. 

 ENTOM. — DECEMBER, 1912. 2 D 



