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which were even more abundant. The rosy- 

 winged grasshopper, Caloptenus italicus, swarmed 

 amongst the grass, in all its varieties of colouration ; 

 several other small species were about, but only 

 one or two CE. fasciatum. Our best captures we 

 considered a series of Ephippigera vitium, the 

 saddled-leaf cricket of the vine, a curious creature, 

 called by the peasantry " le lindi." We found 

 them climbing the grass stems and in greater 

 number by the side of the road. Our available 

 boxes were soon full, so we deferred taking any more 

 till the morrow, but the opportunity did not again 

 occur. A beetle, Milabris variabilis, was frequently 

 seen on the wing, and just before reaching Poitiers 

 we took another full-fed larva of S. pyri. The rest 

 of the journey was a series of rushes to shelter, but 

 we finished the day by taking at Vivonne a female 

 Lasiocampa trifolii which was attracted by the 

 lamp while at dinner. It deposited about two 

 dozen ova. 



Things improved next day : a shower before and 

 after starting, then the most brilliant weather for 

 the rest of our trip, and warm enough to be called 

 torrid even by the southern folk themselves. No 

 wonder then we found insects plentiful. Papilio 

 podalirius and P. machaon were frequently seen, the 

 former captured ; its flight is graceful compared 

 with its boisterous relative. At Chaunai and other 

 places we took nice series of M . phcebe, M . didynia 

 and the smaller M. trivia ; in fact, any number of 

 the first two might have been taken. The best 

 things of the day fell to my brother's net, he taking, 

 amongst others, Callimorpha hera, a variety of 

 V. urtica, in which the two central spots of the fore- 

 wings are represented by a few black scales only, 

 and a Mantis religiosa ; possibly if we had known 

 then as well as we do now the habits of Continental 

 hera, we might have taken a few more ; but 

 as there were no whitethorn bushes about we 

 deceived ourselves by thinking it a stray speci- 

 men. Our other captures included C. edusa, 

 H. briseis, H. semele, E. tithonus, C. pamphilus, 

 V. cardui, L. icarus, and a few moths. Colias edusa 

 was so numerous that it frequently collided with us 

 as we rode along ; females we rarely saw, indeed we 

 only netted one during the whole journey. Upon 

 leaving Ruffec we boxed another larva of S. pyri ; 

 these seem to have a proclivity for crawling across 

 the road, where numbers get crushed by passing 

 vehicles. 



We had a pleasant evening in Angouleme, and at 

 night, from our elevated position, witnessed a grand 

 display of lightning as it darted into the valley 

 beneath. We had an early halt next morning, for 

 shortly after leaving the city we came upon a small 

 clearing that seemed too much alive with insects to 

 pass. It is surprising how at times one finds in a 

 very limited area such a number of species nume- 

 rously represented. To see C. edusa, the three 



"blues" — corydon, bellargus and icarus; the five 

 Satyridsc — H. briseis, II. semele, H.arethusa, li. janira 

 and E. tithonus, the Melitaa cinxia and M. didyma, 

 numerous Pieris rapa, and an occasional P. machaon, 

 two species of burnet moths and several others, all 

 flying together, and to be taken without any running, 

 merely careful stalking, is of itself a thing to be 

 remembered. To complete the scene one must add 

 the Orthoptera disturbed at every step, the rosy- 

 winged C. italicus, the blue-winged CE. fasciatum, 

 the delicate green Phancroptera (species?), and 

 several others in greater or less abundance. As a 

 rule we took no notice of common white butterflies, 

 but to-day we could not help it, for while pushing 

 up a stiff incline near Montmoreau we disturbed a 

 number of P. rapes regaling upon a few square 

 inches of horse droppings. Waiting until they had 

 re-settled, we counted forty specimens. We did 

 not reach Coutras till dusk ; Lasiocampa quercus was 

 then noticed on the wing ; a pale female which 

 rested on the table in front of me while at dinner 

 was promptly papered and pocketed, somewhat 

 to the amusement of my nearest neighbours. 

 Between Coutras and Bordeaux we had little 

 sport ; true, there were one or two places which 

 seemed inviting, but vineyards are not happy 

 entomological hunting grounds, high cultivation 

 and weeds don't go well together. As we had 

 taken nothing before reaching Beychac, we had 

 a short turn amongst the wild grass in the only 

 uncultivated spot we saw. It produced nothing 

 worth mentioning save a very delicate green 

 cricket, closely allied, if not identical, with 

 Phancroptera falcata. It was a warm ride into 

 Bordeaux, and although it struck us as rather 

 comical at first to see the horses wearing straw 

 hats, we commended the humanity that suggested 

 it. From Bordeaux we had a short excursion 

 to Podensac, where we soon found a small clearing 

 in a wood, with the usual abundance of insect 

 life, and had the satisfaction of taking several new 

 species. Limenitis Camilla, sunning itself on an ash 

 twig, was quickly netted; then the small-tailed blue 

 L. telicanus, and another species of doubtful identity, 

 somewhat the colour of L. bellargus, and the size of 

 L. astvarche ; a series each of L. icarus, L. astrarche, 

 and the blue-spotted P. phlceas ; several S. cegeria, 

 S. megara, E. janira, a large female C. pamphilus, 

 and the ubiquitous C. edusa. Amongst the 

 hymenoptera the violet carpenter bee, Xylocopa 

 violacea, was most noticeable, soaring over the 

 tree-tops when disturbed. From the herbage two 

 new species of orthoptera were kicked out, 

 Conocephalus mandibularis, a delicate green cricket 

 with a very wide geographical distribution, and 

 a large female Ephippigera (species ?) . A. campestris 

 was nearly mature, and CE. fasciatum was common. 

 We had been collecting the latter species as a 

 study in protective resemblance ; our series new 



