SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



55 



COLLECTING ON WHEELS. 

 By Harry Moore. 



(Continued fr 



T^ROM Montargis toBnenon was very pleasant ; 

 it was market-day at Courtenay, and, as is the 

 case in England, we found extra provision made 

 for the mid-day meal ; the room was full of farmers, 

 and fine specimens they were. We have always 

 thought our own west-countrymen fine fellows, 

 these were not far behind, and so rotund that, 

 were they to fall, they could scarcely hurt them- 

 selves. We made no captures during the day, but 

 noted the usual abundance of white butterflies, 

 several Colias cdusa, and C. hyale, Argynnis lathonia, 

 V. atalanta, Lyccena corydon, Satyrns briscis and S. circe, 

 C. pamphilus, and numbers of CE. fasciatum. We 

 were now well amongst the vineyards, and, as 

 there were no hedges, the condition of the crop 

 could be seen ; it was also handy for sampling. 



A substantial dejeuner and a broiling sun being 

 conducive to slumber, made another halt accept- 

 able shortly after leaving Tonnerre, and here we 

 found a place that suited us both. There was, 

 however, no sleep for me, I spent a happy half 

 hour on a good hunting ground. A score of blue- 

 winged and one red-winged CEdipoda fasciatum were 

 soon bottled, two females and one male Caloptenus 

 italicus, and a very bright coloured species of 

 Stenobothrus. The orthoptera at this spot were more 

 or less infested with a small red parasite. Amongst 

 the lepidoptera Erebia athiops, Esp. = blandina, Fabr., 

 was in good numbers and first-rate condition. 

 I secured a good series, including three varieties of 

 undersides. This conspicuous butterfly is not at 

 all difficult to catch ; one, a beauty, lodged on my 

 leg whilst I was busy taking another from the net, 

 and quietly waited its turn to be papered. A very 

 pretty little burnet-moth, Zygcena fausta, Linn, 

 was also tolerably plentiful, of which I secured 

 seven. During the day we saw Colias edusa and 

 C. hyale, several Argynnis lathonia, A. paphia and 

 others, Lyccena corydon, L. teams, and L. bellargus, 

 various large species of Satyrns (hermione, circe, and 

 briseis). Cosnonympha pamphilus and white butter 

 flies were very common. A species of sand wasp 

 (Ammophila) was also conspicuous. Montbard is 

 famous for being the birthplace of the celebrated 

 naturalist, Buffon ; we shall ever remember it in 

 connection with a most unpleasant entomological 

 experience. We were unfortunate in our quarters : 

 no hotel was mentioned in our handbook ; we were 

 recommended to a second-rate inn (an bon coin). 

 The dinner was first-rate, no room for complaint, 

 the stroll afterwards enjoyable ; but when we retired 

 for the night, we found we had to entertain 

 company in the form of the domesticated species of 



om page 32.) 



Cimcx. We were no sooner in bed than we were 

 sensible of incipient irritation, which quickly 

 developed into abominable discomfort. 



One has the choice of two roads from this place 

 to Dijon — ours was not the recommended route — 

 For thirty-five miles the general tendency was uphill, 

 gradually ascending a valley, dammed at the head 

 to form a reservoir, and ending in a stiff climb to 

 Sombrenon. We had been wondering why the 

 district was called the Cote d'Or. The explanation 

 was now before us ; we had reached the end of the 

 range, and there in front of us was the loveliest 

 landscape our eyes had ever rested upon, it was 

 truly golden. Descending, we rode the first zig-zag 

 or two steadily, the ever-changing panorama 

 passing before us, then — en avant ; it was thirteen 

 miles downhill to desecrated, dusty Dijon. It was 

 a glorious ride. Many a good collecting spot we 

 passed, rousing all sorts of things as we shot by, 

 until just after Pont-de-Pany I felt bound to pull 

 up. It was not the best of spots, still, it was here 

 I made my first acquaintance with Argynnis dia and 

 a Melitaa ( ?) besides securing a few nice " blues." 

 From a local paper at Plombieres I found this 

 district was said to be infested with cockchafers and 

 snakes, and the communal council had just voted a 

 sum for their destruction. During the day we saw 

 several C. edusa, a fair number of Satyrns and several 

 A . paphia. P. rapes was, as usual, abundant. Strange 

 to say we saw no CE. fasciatum. Some people 

 dislike Dijon ; we found it interesting enough. 

 There are numbers of market gardens between 

 Dijon and Auxonne, consequently few insects of 

 importance were seen, one CE. fasciatum, near 

 Genlis, being the only thing taken. 



We now entered the Jura, and a different order 

 of things was discernible ; to begin with, some of 

 the crops were strange, hundreds of acres of 

 sorghum was quite a new feature. Horses became 

 rarer and yoke oxen more numerous. In the 

 mountains hardly any horses are used for agri- 

 cultural purposes. In the neighbourhood of Dole 

 we saw A . paphia and A . aglaia or A . adippe. At 

 Mont-sous-Vaudrey we first saw the meadow 

 saffron flowers (Colchicum autumnale). The mountain 

 pastures we afterwards found were purple with 

 them. They were abundant as buttercups in an 

 English meadow. After foraging about in a thicket, 

 I found a number of clegg flies (Hamatopota pluvialis, 

 Linn.) about my clothes— happily they were very 

 sluggish. Before reaching Poligny, a town situated 

 at the foot of the Jura mountains, we took a few 

 orthoptera, including a very small male C. italicus. 



