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flight, and making for a particular spot with 

 apparently preconceived reasons. If they had 

 been ants, no one would have been surprised ; but 

 surely here was evidence of equal intelligence. 

 The Beauce also seems to be a fairly good place 

 for coleoptera. but as it is rather annoying for one 

 to dismount every few minutes, we only boxed one 

 specimen, a large bright Carabus. We had been 

 turning corners nearly all day, and were glad to 

 get out on to the main road again. Fortunately 

 we reached Orleans before the rain started. It 

 turned out a wet evening. We were now on the 

 banks of the Loire. 



On the morrow, after spending an hour or two 

 doing the sights of the city, we crossed the river 

 and continued our journey along the southern 

 bank. Insects now appeared in profusion. 

 We commenced operations near Clery, when 

 we dismounted to box a full-fed larva of 

 Saturnia pyri and a large longicorn beetle (Saperda). 

 A good half-hour was spent in a hollow by the 

 roadside near Lailly. Argynnis paphia and V. cardui 

 first attracted our attention, then several Melitea 

 phcebe and a M. parthenie fell to our nets, to be 

 followed by a nice pair of C. hyale ; a moment 

 later, and we found through what a small hole 

 L. icarus could escape. Hemiptera were also 

 rather plentiful, and we were reminded of our two 

 or three captures every time we uncorked the 

 cyanide bottle for several days after. The wasp- 

 like fly Volucella zonaria was also taken. Amongst 

 the orthoptera we took a solitary CEdipoda fasciatum 

 and a series of two species of Decticiis, D. griseus, 

 and its smaller relative D. tessellatus. D. griseus, 

 which is very local and not common in England, 

 is plentiful and widely distributed in France ; one 

 can find it almost whenever looked for, amongst 

 the rough road-side grass. Between Xonan-sur- 

 Loire and Blois, insects were even more numerous. 

 L. icarus swarmed, settling by the dozen upon the 

 wet patches in the road, and on fresh horse 

 droppings. Upon one occasion we counted over 

 thirty, males being in the very great majority. 

 Amongst those we took was one var. icarinus. 

 Pieris daplidice was not uncommon ; it was amusing 

 to watch its hostility to P. rapa when they met at 

 the same flower ; until you know its flight, daplidice 

 is not an over-easy insect to take. Colias edusa, 

 C. hyale, V. cardui, V. urticce, etc., were in greater 

 or less abundance. Large dragonflies were also 

 very plentiful. 



Blois, with its chateau and streets of steps, we 

 shall never forget ; it is well worth visiting. A 

 thunderstorm in the morning detained us awhile, 

 and made travelling rather hard. Along the river 

 banks a strong head wind was encountered, but 

 several sheltered and sunny spots called for as 

 many halts. Just before reaching Chaumont, we 

 saw our first Papilio podalirius, then several 



Gonepteryx rhamni. Lyceena semiargus was repre- 

 sented by a few worn specimens, but Epinephile 

 tithonus was in fine condition and very abundant, 

 females especially. Near Amboise L. corydon was 

 fairly common, and noticing this species also 

 favoured horsedung, I stopped for a few minutes, 

 and was rewarded by netting a fine blue female, 

 perfectly normal on the underside, but almost as 

 bright as a male on the upper side. Colias edusa 

 seemed to increase in numbers, very few females 

 were noticed, but several of the males were small 

 and dark specimens. At Chaumont I took another 

 CE. fasciatum, but up to the present we had had 

 nothing like the experience of last year. Amongst 

 the grass in the bed of the Loire, we saw 

 plenty of half-grown edible frogs (Rana esculenta), 

 and along the banks the little lizard, Zootoca 

 muralis, darted everywhere. At Amboise, we 

 recrossed the river and proceeded to Tours, 

 via Vouvray and Roche Corbon. There is 

 much to see in the Valley of the Loire, its chateaux 

 and cliff dwellings would interest if everything else 

 failed. Tours seemed commonplace, and offered 

 no hindrance to an early departure on the morrow. 

 Although the weather was very fine we did little 

 collecting on our way to Chatellerault. At Mont- 

 bazon we might well have loitered, C. edusa, V . cardui, 

 various Saty rides and blues were plentiful. During 

 the day se%-eral of the larger Satyridae were met 

 with, Hipparchia hermione, H. briseis and H. semele. 

 One large white-banded specimen at Les Ormes I 

 should have liked to have secured. During our 

 halt at St. Maure, P. podalirius again kept beyond 

 the net, C. edusa afforded its usual sport, and 

 CE . fasciatum was kicked out. 



We had very mixed experiences from Chatelle- 

 rault to Vivonne, brilliantly fine weather to Poitiers, 

 then a succession of thunder showers, culminating 

 in a regular deluge of rain, which lasted through- 

 out the night. Shortly after leaving Chatellerault 

 we saw it was to be a record day for "blues." 

 L. icarus and its variety icarinus were in extra- 

 ordinary profusion, several dozens resting upon 

 every patch of excrement ; upon one occasion there 

 must have been some two hundred, as when they 

 rose they formed a cloud about a yard in extent ; 

 they were all males in very fine condition, larger 

 and whiter than those we usually find at home. 

 The females we took at rest on the grass by the 

 roadside ; there was not much variety amongst 

 them, the marginal orange spots are perhaps 

 larger, and have a more metallic appearance, 

 and some of the black spots on the undersides 

 have the usual tendency to confluence, but we 

 saw no females with any extra amount of blue 

 about them. We had a good halt at Le 

 Clain — for after we had done with the "blues," 

 there were H. briseis and M. phcebe to take 

 befcre we turned our attention to the Orthoptera, 





