12 



common in the town of Herculesbad, resting on the hot stones in 

 the sunshine, but is rather difficult to see when at rest. Melitcea 

 athalia var. mehadiensis, is a remarkably fine form and is fairly 

 common near the town. 



In the distant past, no doubt, a vast area bordering on the 

 marshy districts of Hungary was covered with forest, but not of the 

 same character as the one just referred to, poplars, aspen and oak 

 predominating, the beech being practically absent. One of the 

 remnants of this probable forest is to be found at Peszer, about 

 forty miles distant from Buda-Pest. Here we find marshy ground 

 and sandy wastes, both good for their respective species. In the 

 dry places Melitcea and Argynnis are abundant — M. cinxia, M. 

 didyma, M. trivia, M. athalia, Argynnis liecate, A. lathonia and 

 A. pandora ; in moist localities Chrysophanus alcipliron and 

 Heteropterus morpheas. This locality appears to be the only one in 

 Hungary, indeed, in Europe, with the exception of Russia, for 

 Melanargia japygia var. suwarovius, of which I took but two 

 specimens, the last season being a bad one. I found here the 

 larvse of Thais polyxena in the greatest profusion on Aristolochia 

 clematitis. 



I paid two visits to Peszer from June 12th to 14th, and 

 again on June 27th. There was an abundance of butterfly life 

 on both occasions ; many of the species, however, such as the 

 Melitcea, had nearly disappeared by June 27th. These were 

 replaced by the second brood of Lycczna avion in numbers in the 

 open sandy wastes, and Heteropterus morpheas in the damp localities 

 among the undergrowth. Carcharodus lavatherce was now in 

 great abundance in the open spaces, with occasional specimens, both 

 male and female, of Colias hyale, and here and there C. myrmidonc, 

 which, like C. ednsa, is very quick on the wing, and is more often 

 seen than caught. It is somewhat curious that this district, which 

 is so rich in Melitcea and Argynnis, should fail to supply a single 

 species of Apatura, Limenitis or Neptis, which are all so well 

 represented at Herculesbad. But, as I said before, the character of 

 the forest is very different. 



If one looks across the Danube from Buda-Pest, one sees a range 

 of hills some five to ten miles off. Various tram-lines lead you to 

 an approachable distance from these hills, one of which, Svabhegy, 

 distant about seven or eight miles from Buda-Pest, I visited. The 

 lower part of the hill was covered with dense wood wherein there 

 were some beautiful rides in which to collect. I did not, however, 

 meet with any success here, but on the top of the hill there were 

 some beautiful open spaces which afforded an abundance of lepi- 

 dopterous life. Hesperia orbifer was extremely abundant (but not in 

 fine condition), and so was Cupido minima. Here I had a good 

 chase after Colias myrmidone, and succeeded in catching it. Privet 

 bushes were scattered about, and being in full bloom attracted 

 numberless specimens of Thecla acacia, and T. ilia's. From this 



