65 
no great distance from each other, and they appear thus to remain 
until the morning. 
' It is remarkable that in these little coteries of this butterfly the 
insects rest head to head, and form frequently a very striking flower- 
like patch, with the central antennze reminding one much of living 
stamens. Nowandthena couple sit with their heads turned away, and 
the suspicion at once arises that the insects are paired. 
The difference in habit between the sexes of this species has deve- 
loped very different-looking under sides in the males and females re- 
spectively. In fact, it is doubtful whether any other species of Lredza 
shows such a striking sexual difference in this direction. ‘The under- 
side of the hind-wings and the tips of the fore-wings (the only part 
shown when at rest) of the male are coal-black, of the female a clear 
ashy-grey, which renders this sex particularly inconspicuous when the 
insect is at rest on the rocky skrees which it haunts. I cannot tell 
why the under side coloration of the male is so dark ; certainly it is 
very Conspicuous on the upright and comparatively newly-hewn rocks 
of the Mendelstrasse. Its habit of crawling into crevices may be 
sufficient protection, or may be it resembles some dark flinty matter 
on the skrees; but I made no observation on this point. The 
gregarious habit indulged in on these rocky faces we may con- 
sider as probably an old one, as the steep exposed rocky faces 
(often of immense height) are the main feature of the Dolomite 
mountains. 
This short paper is intended only to deal with the peculiar habit 
of this species on the Mendelstrasse. We observed no similar 
tendency in the males of this species a week later at Cortina, where 
we again found the species ; but certainly the dry rocky watercourse at 
the foot of the Sorrapis, and the old quarry on the Croda di Lago, the 
two localities they haunted, did not present the necessary conditions. 
In the latter place, too, the under sides of the females were almost 
white ; and here, too, we captured several females with comparative 
ease resting on flowers during the early morning from 8.30 to 10 a.m. 
I may add that there is much difference in the abundance of the 
spotting. In the males three (or occasionally four) ocellated spots 
are quite the normal number for the fore-wings; whilst the female 
rarely has less than four, usually five or six. 
Such are the peculiar habits of this grand insect on the Mendel- 
strasse. Our search on the rocks there gave us many other interest- 
ing insects, whilst the habits of the /odstes wasps were always 
worth studying. 
After passing the rocky precipices just described, and where, as 
we have seen, Lvebza nerine abounds, the path leads by steep zigzags 
up the steep mountain face, which is indeed a veritable wild-flower 
garden, among which pines, larches, alders, hazel, and almost all our 
common forest trees grow in scattered fashion, forming a wealth of 
verdure and blossoms which must be seen to be appreciated. The 
upper part of the Mendelstrasse is formed of several such sharp 
5) 
