THE LEPIDOPTER.V OF ST. MTCHKL-DE-MAURIENNE. 171 



as it liui-ries by froia one clinnp of trees to anothei-, and I'lrhrin.; 

 a-'iimi appeared to he restricted to one or two of the roadside hanks, at 

 a fair elevation, and was possihly over in the lower levels. Of the 

 Erehiids only I'lirhia lit/fa appears to hiiunt the slo))es of the woods up 

 towards the little tunnel leadint^- throu,i>h into the valley in which 

 Valloire is situated, whilst Limcititis caiiiilla, of rather lar<?er size than 

 usual, I'lili/iimiia r-alhinii, J'l/raiiiris atahmta, /'. canlni, Ai/laix iirtiraf, 

 and \'a)irssa in appeared to be generally distributed. On the piece of 

 ground, on which P. ilaiiioii was so abundant, pigmy 'r/ii/inrlinisliiwola 

 were also in swarms, very worn, and quite too difficult to pick over for 

 a few good examples. PaiiijiJn'la nDiniia, chiefly ah. catena, Avas 

 abundant, whilst /'. si//r(ntii:< was much less so. Si/rirlitJnis so/) was 

 observed, as also Sjiil(,thi/ni:< ahrac, large and well coloured, the 

 latter, however, not at all common. A few worn 'J'lrrla sjiini, a single 

 male specimen of Chnisoplunitis (larilis, a very large and newly-emerged. 

 I'ol.i/oiiniiatii^i oridii, a fenuile /'. iiiclra'ici-, with scarcely a trace of blue 

 on the upper side, and the discoidal spots ringed with white, appear 

 to include most of the chance captures among the Rhopalocera. 



Among the moths, which were distinctly more interesting, the palm 

 must be given to CaUiituirjilia hcra, which was very abundant on all the 

 lower slopes, wary when disturbed, utterly oblivious to its surround- 

 ings when on a flower-head in the hottest sun, and impossible to 

 get home in really fine condition even if the wings were hardly dry 

 when captured. The beautiful Anthntn-ra cpltialtca occurred sparingly, 

 but I could not hit on its head-quarters nor could I get eggs. A. 

 hnilccrae was abundant higher up in the wooded parts, as also A. 

 transaljiiini. About the clover fields Acoitia liicti(i>sa was in bewilder- 

 ing abundance, evidently a second brood (the insect had not been un- 

 connnon the preceding Jun;- in North Kent), and Marmiilossa fiici- 

 f(ir''is now and again came fussily to feed, and fell a victim to its 

 appetite. Hcliotliis dipsairiis was rather rare, perhaps not a dozen 

 observed, but Ai/rojtiiila trabealU Avas disturbed almost everywhere in 

 the stubble-lielcis just behind the town and around the little church. 

 In these, too, Li/tliria piirpitraria started up at almost every step, and, 

 although several Avere boxed, scarcely one specimen in a dozen reached 

 the killing-tin in decent condition. Tnese Avere very large and fine, 

 the males Avith strongly-marked purple bands, the females Avith scarcely 

 a trace of these on theni. One afternoon, as I Avas returning rather late, 

 betAveen 5 and G p.m., through a piece of meadoAv land, quite close to 

 the toAvn, I captured more than a score of Kiimirlrsia hlawUuta, much 

 to my astonishment, as they flcAv al)out in very business-like fashion 

 from one part of the meadoAv to another at some r)ft. or Gft. from the 

 ground, 'riu-nrampa /lastiinnii Avas kicked up one afternoon and netted, 

 Avhilst amongst otiier species observed in more or less abundance Avere 

 tlie following:- A'/^rZ/V/A^ .'//.'//'/"''(/, (>rth»litha hijiiinitarid, AriilnJio 

 iKsdcald, J. InniiilidUi, A. nihi;ii)ia(a f nihri(((l(i), A. ornata, A. iniiiinKitu, 

 A. nifaiiii, CidiDhiis ndiiirUiis, C. jirrlrllits, C. /,liirtiiliis, .' ('. Uistrllns 



(Aery strongly marked if this species), ////////V/ ninirlla, phnlni sauilm- 

 talis, Clctlrnh'id (tinjiisidlis, Strut, jitrrns iifftiiflld ( liijhriihdis I, Hht'tUind 

 xtiiitjiiiiidlis, l'in-tij>lit,nis iiit,)tt,fldtt;il<(. Ati/itiliti ptiittttlartilla, (InijitHns 

 I'ilny.lld,-, Miniats<„i,tihis j.i./tt.tldt'fi/hi^ iltu-itili, M. I'ltriidtlaftiilns, and 



1/. tn/nt^titft/ltt,. it looked strange to see the late examples of 

 Mtlddipi't ninntdiidid flying Avith the above, Avhilst .1/. •"'./(/^c, Miwo. 



