26 



common at Hyeres, that ubiquitous butterfly, Va/iessa a/itiopa, Lyccena 

 semiargus, and a few other species. 



At about 500 feet above the village the mountains were almost 

 covered with snow. The numbers of plants with flowers of varying 

 beauty and colour, which but a few days before must have been com- 

 pletely enveloped in snow, was a sight not easily forgotten. 



When Messrs. Lemann, Nicholson, and myself contemplated a 

 visit to Digne, in the Basses Alps, it was surprising what little 

 information we could glean with regard to that district. Fortunately 

 we obtained through a Paris bookseller a copy of a , aper written by 

 a Monsieur Donzel, and read so long ago as in 1850, before the Societe 

 Linneene de Ly^n. From this we obtained some very useful 

 information as to the various localities, and the species to be looked 

 for. We were only able to visit a few of the places indicated, as 

 many were far off, and excursions to them would have involved more 

 time than we had at our disposal. We, however, found plenty of 

 occupation in the immediate neighbourhood of Digne ; for whichever 

 direction we took we always discovered some good collecting ground. 

 We made several excursions to an elevated plateau known as Les 

 Dourbes, about seven miles distant, very exposed, and about 1000 feet 

 higher than Digne, a different description of species was met with 

 than in the warmer and more sheltered localities at a lower elevation. 

 Les Dourbes is the great locality for Euchlo'e tagis, var. beliezi/ia, to 

 which further reference will be made later on. 



The hills in the immediate vicinity of Digne do not exceed an 

 elevation of 3000 feet above the level of the sea. They are mostly 

 covered with young oak trees, among which a considerable amount 

 of butterfly-life exists, two species, viz. Thecla sphd and T. ilicis, var. 

 cerri, being particularly common in the month of June. In the 

 valleys between the hills, if flowering plants can be found such as the 

 lavender, many butterflies and day-flying moths may be met with. 



The most attractive butterfly of the Basses Alps is Papilio aiexanor, 

 a grand species which is somewhat common in the month of July. 

 It has a wide range over the mountains of Southern Europe, and is 

 found eastward as far as Persia. I took a beautiful series in the 

 month of June, but they were then by no means common. It is 

 a strong flier, and can only be captured when at rest. Its favourite 

 flower is the thistle. Many of the butterflies in the Digne district 

 are what may be termed as of a "large form." The Parnassms 

 apollo, for example, are much larger than those found in the Swiss 

 Alps. 



Digne has a very interesting and varied flora, which accounts for 

 its rich insect fauna. Monsieur Honnorat, to whom Monsieur 

 Donzel refers in his paper, says that without going out of the 

 department you can gather 3500 species of plants, although in the 

 neighbourhood of Paris, within a radius of twenty leagues, you can 

 scarcely come across 2000. 



There is probably no group of butterflies which affords such a 



