6 THE entomologist's RECORD. 



the type ? of Melitaca didi/nia, which I had not previously seen. A 

 walk in the PfynAvald, on July 19th, was memorable for the discovery of 

 L. melcaricr in some abvmdance in a field of purple vetch between Pfyn 

 and Susten, in the immediate neighbourhood of which Apatura ilia 

 w^as abundant, though mostly somewhat Avorn. The type ? of L. 

 vH'lea;/cr is not found in SAvitzerland where it is replaced by the darker 

 and far less handsome var. steveni, of Avhich at this time I found only one 

 specimen ; later, on returning to Sierre, I took two excellent specimens 

 on August 14th, when the males Avere all much Avorn, I took, hoAvever, 

 one good <y on August 16th, at Sierre. It Avill be seen that the dates giA'en 

 in Kane's Handbook are much too early, especially if it be borne in mind 

 that the season of 1899 Avas an unusually forAA^ard one. On this date (July 

 19th) and subsequent days I found one or tAvo spots in the forest where 

 Thymelicus actaron Avas common, but it Avas as usual extremely local. 

 A A'isit to the vetch field and to three others in its neighbourhood on 

 July 21st reA'ealed the fact that L. mekaf/cr confined its oitentions to 

 the one in AAdiich I had previously found it ; but in one of the others I 

 took Erercs aiiii/ntafi var. corctaR, and also the A^ery small var. pobjsperchon, 

 Avhich is certainly not a Rpriivj variety, at any rate exclusiA'ely, my OAvn 

 specimens and Chanoine Favre's haA-ing been taken in the summer. 

 In the same place I took a beautifully fresh Dri/as \&v. valeaina and a 

 specimen of Pajiilio jiodaliniif. A'ar. fchthanicUi (AA'ith nearly Avhite 

 Avings), another specimen of which I took at Sierre a fcAV days later. 

 On July 22nd I took train to Martigny in search of Lycaena anianda, 

 for Avhich I subsequently discoA^ered I AA^as already too late, but took E. 

 var. coretas ? (Avorn) and Cupido sebnis ? . A farcAvell Adsit to the Pfyn- 

 Avald on the 23rd resulted in some specimens of Apatura ilia, and one 

 each of Thecla qrini and SpilotJnjnis alcacae, both of Avhich Avere taken 

 near Leuk station. 



July 24th saAV a return to Berisal, a much later one than I had 

 contemplated. FarnassiuR wnemosijue and I'ieris Yav. bri/oniac Avere quite 

 things of the past, as Avell as some of the blues Avhich had been abun- 

 dant at this time last year. A Ausit to the Steinen-alp on the folloAving 

 day in company Avith our chaplain, Mr. Fleming, Avas, hoAvever, A'ery 

 productiA'e, Colias palacno $ , and the varieties ciiropowcne <? and the 

 nearly AA^hite plvilomcne $ , Avere present in numbers, and one or two 

 specimens of Fieris callidice Avere also obtained, though a rather high 

 wind rendered capture difficult ; but the great prize of the day fell to 

 my lot in the capture of a A^ery handsome specimen of Aryyunis niohe 

 var. pelopia, Avhich has the upperside much suffused Avith black and the 

 underside very strongly marked ; this is, so far as I haA^e been able to 

 discover unique as a SavIss representative of this A'ariety. Mclampias 

 epiiihron AA'as fairly abundant, Pohjommatus orhitubis and P. eras, 

 especially the former, Avere in astonishing numbers by the side of the 

 stream. An expedition on the following day (by diligence) to the top 

 of the pass showed that Colias A'ar. enropomcnc Avas in much finer con- 

 dition than on the Steinen-alp, though no ? Avas to be seen ; it is also 

 much easier to catch, as it afiects the comparatively even ground on 

 the right hand side of the road, just beyond the hospice, in AA^iich spot 

 it AA-as abundant. My only other notcAvorthy capture was a specimen 

 of ill. artemis \ax. merope ? , just behind the hospice. M. rpiplwon 

 was fairly abundant, but Avorn, and I saAV a single specimen 

 ol Pier is callidice. A second visit to the Steinen-alp on the 29th- 



