310 THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD. 
it was Parnassius apollo, apparently wanting on the Swiss slope, though 
when [I left the village next morning the road to the summit was 
wrapped in a thick fog, which only cleared when the summit was 
attained and the frontier crossed. The northern face, moreover, was 
the only locality in which I found Lycenids really abundant, and this 
a matter of specimens rather than species. The first week of July is 
perhaps a little early for Alpine ‘‘ blues,” but Lycaena arion was every- 
where to be seen, mostly of the dark aberration approaching the var. 
christt of the Simplon.  Polyommatus hylas, Nomiades cyllarus, and 
Polyommatus icarus, with Chrysophanus var. eurybia, fine and fresh, 
completed the list, while of the fritillaries, Melitaea dictynna, 
Argynnis adippe, and A. lathonia were fairly abundant, and on every 
rock where a sun bath was to be enjoyed Pararge maera had taken up 
its position. Unfortunately, the next day the sky became overcast in 
the morning, and though I had six hours to wait at Chiavenna for the 
train to Sondrio, I could do little collecting. Judging, however, from 
a brief climb among the chestnut woods, cut short by a shower of 
what seemed to be hot water, I should say that this, the junction of 
the roads from the Engadine and the Oberalp route, was a first-rate 
place for the entomologist. Polyommatus orton, newly emerged, was 
in force on the sedums along the low stone walls, a brilliant Melitaea 
didyma, with Leucophasia var. diniensis, fluttered on the outskirts of 
the forest, and on every bramble-blossom Syntomis phegea contested for 
the superiority with one or other of the Anthrocerids. My object in 
traversing the Splugen was to reach Chiesa—a small Italian village 
situated in the Val Malenco about ten miles north of Sondrio. I had 
no idea of what this valley might produce, but the description in 
Baedeker read temptingly, and so I directed my steps thither on the 
7th. From every othe! voint of view than that of the bug-hunter the 
expedition was a success, but, for some reason or other, the Val Malenco 
was at this time of the year singularly destitute of even the common 
species. At Sondrio, P. podalirius was to be seen in the streets, and 
again P. orion was common enough, but no sooner did I begin to 
ascend than the butterflies became scarcer and scarcer with the notable 
exception of Melitaea athalia, certainly the insect of this walk. The 
three days’ spent at the very comfortable Albergo Olivo, in Chiesa, were 
rather against collecting, but a walk to the Palti Lake (6,320'), passing 
the asbestos mines, should have yielded a fair bag, though I only saw 
Coenonympha satyrion, Chrysophanus var. eurybia, Nomiades semiarqus, 
and a few worn Hrebia ceto, while near the village a specimen or two of 
Eugonia polychloros was in evidence. My first week, in fact, showed 
a very poor return for a good deal of hard collecting, and finding 
Chiesa barren of results I packed my boxes and headed for the 
Stelvio. There is an appetising catalogue of species occurring on this, - 
the highest carriage passin Hurope; you may read of them in Dr. Frey’s 
Swiss hand-book, which includes this corner of Italy and part of the 
Austrian Tyrolas well. Suffice it to say, that I came across pretty well all 
the butterflies recorded therein, and a few beside. Bormio, or, rather, 
the Nuovi Bagni di Bormio where I put up, is surrounded by somewhat 
sterile hills, gradually merging into the highly-cultivated Valtellina. 
‘Thad not realised that I had struck one of the best localities for 
EHrebia nerine var. reichlint until just above the hotel I found the road 
and the hot limestone slopes teeming with this splendid butterfly, the 
