#^ ... ^'''% 



JOURNAL OF VARIATION. 



Vol. XI. No. 10. October 15th, 1899. 



The Lepidoptera of the Simplon Pass. 



r>y J. W. TUTT, F.E.H. 



On July 27th, IHOO, wo rode over the Simplon Pass from ]h'ij,'ue to 

 the little village of Simplon, and on August Gtli we returned by the 

 same route. The magnihcent scenery is quite equalled by the abun- 

 dance of the flora and insect fauna, and we observed large numbers of 

 Lepidoptera on both sides of the pass. Our headquarters for the inter- 

 mediate time was at Simplon, and a large number of insects (of com- 

 paratively few species, however) was obtained thei'e, but the roads of 

 the pass itself formed no mean collecting ground, and a damp spot on 

 the roadside, a damp bank, or the drainage of a manure-heap in a cow- 

 yard Avould produce between 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. a fair share of the 

 fauna of the district, whilst passers-by such as ( 'alias hi/alc and I'it'iis 

 (lajiUdicc were occasionally to be met with. Only such insects as were 

 on the pass itself are enumerated in this note. The rocks by the road- 

 side produced large numbers of (Inophids, of which (inojiJias dhfiiscata 

 was the chief and perhaps the most abundant, I Aircntia jifU'iilnrtata, ].. 

 cacsiata, I., olirata, L. aptata, L. nabiUata, Scojiaria siidctica, &c. The 

 most abundant insects in the early morning are Tanaiira atrata (chaem- 

 liJnjUaia), C'lt'oi/euc Ititearia, and Laroitla rerbcrata, which are simply 

 in thousands, flying everywhere, whilst scarcely less abundant is 

 Ortliolitha wrnsitraria, and S<'tina aiirita is also very frequent. Of the 

 butterflies PamasxiHs opollo is everywhere in evidence. The common 

 Erebias of the roadsides are Ercbia ti/utlants, A', ijoantc, K. jiit/m and 

 Mdam])ias vidanijiiis, whilst Erehia cnri/alc is much less abundant, com- 

 moner, however, in the larch woods on the slopes just below the flrst 

 refuge above the Simplon village. The males of the common Erebias 

 imbibe at the damp places on the roads, but the females nnist be 

 netted from the flowers that border the roadsides everywhere. For 

 a short distance between the village and the I'ofuge, we discovered that 

 these were mixed with a fair sprinkling of /•.'. iinu'stia, all males, the 

 locality for the females (and hence the headquarters of the species) 

 remaining undiscovered. iCocnoin/injilia var. danriniana was also here, 

 but the specimens were quite useless for setting. ( '/trifsnji/ianns 

 rinianrt'ae\\i\H everywhere in fine condition, but C liiiijidtlidt, evidently 

 abundant a little etirlier, was over, and one had to make excursions to 

 the flower-covered patches ofl" the main road for the beautiful < .iiitifliii.s, 

 the male slightlv tinged witli violet the fenudes of the most brilliant 



