31 



Sunday we witnessed the mediaeval drama, whicli is acted there at 

 noon annually, called the "Devil of Aderno." In the afternoon I 

 saw and captured my first P.podalirius. 



After Easter, during my stay at Catania (and later on at Messina), 

 I took long walks on alternate days. The two ht?X localities in 

 Catania are the Campo Santo (cemetery) and the Bellini Gardens ; 

 here what I term the "domestic" butterflies were plentiful, and 

 we found it difficult to get away to the districts where the "wild" 

 species occur. An entomologist will know what I mean- — -the feeders 

 on cabbage and sometimes on nettle are "domestic," while those on 

 heather, violet, heartsease, etc., are " wild " ; the grass feeders being 

 of both kinds. At Messina, on the other hand, it is easy to get 

 amongst the " wild " species after half an-hour's walk. 



I will enumerate the butterflies that I met with between Easter 

 and the middle of June, 1909. 



Perhaps the most noteworthy Sicilian butterfly is Papilio podaliriiis, 

 which occurs from sea-level up to 4000 ft. I have not been higher. 

 It is lovely on the wing, especially when floating on the breeze, 

 three or four together, a favourite spot being near a tree at the top 

 of a low hill. I cannot yet resist taking a fresh specimen. 



Papilio viachaon is commoner generally than its rival, P.podalirius, 

 but is not so frequent in town gardens. 1 have met with both species 

 wherever I have collected in Sicily, from April to June ; and to 

 capture half a dozen of each in one day means a red-letter day to a 

 novice like myself. At Gravitelli, near Messina, I watched a machaon 

 resting on a culm of grass, and swaying to and fro like the upturned 

 pendulum of a clock, a movement I have not seen repeated. 



Possibly the charms of the swallowtails caused me to neglect the 

 common whites — "they can be got any time you know" — and the 

 only specimen of Pieris napi that I took is labelled " Aderno, 

 April nth, 1909." 



A few specimens of Pieris rapcE and of Pieris brassicce. were taken 

 in the towns of Catania and Messina. I shall mention the former 

 later on. 



The Bath white, Pieris daplidice, naturally attracted my attention, 

 and I found it at tim.es quite as plentiful as any of the other whites. 

 I took a long series ; apparently one brood appeared in April, and 

 a second (rather smaller) in June. 



With an entire absence of books or entomological notes, I had to 

 fall back upon memory, and having somehow got the idea that there 

 was a small variety of Euchloe cardaiiiiues in Sicily I captured a 

 long series promiscuously, and brought the results home, some from 

 the Plain of Catania (say Thames Bank), others from the Cemetery 

 (say Nunhead), others from Misterbianco (say Highgate), others 

 from Ongnino (say Greenwich), and others from Cibali (say Hamp- 

 stead) ; and to my great surprise, when the series was all set out, 

 I had plenty of male E. cardami/ies, but only one female specimen. 

 The remaining specimens without orange-tips turned out to be 



