AGRIADES THETIS. 393 



locality from that, by the Adriatic, described by Mrs. Nicholl, a well- 

 sheltered estuary, in the Val d'Ombla, about live miles from Ragusa, 

 where the vegetation is much like that of the Italian Riviera, and this 

 species occurs in April with Cupido mini una, Glaucopsyche cyllavus, 

 Scolitantides orion, Aricia astrarche, Polyommatus icarus, Anthocaiisbelia, 

 Thais polyxena, lphiclides podalirius, Papilio machaon, etc., or the hill- 

 side between '^Trieste and Miramar, where the ground is covered with 

 scrub-oak, Spanish chestnut, heath, juniper ; and broom, the flowers 

 attracting butterflies in great numbers, of Avhich Agriades thetis and 

 Aricia astrarche are the most abundant (Mathew); or again, the rich 

 meadows on both sides of the road leading through a deciduous w T ood 

 on the north slope of the Cecina mountain, near Czernowitz, at an 

 aloitude of about 400 metres, where A. thetis occurs with an abundance 

 of Polyom matus icarus, E ceres argiades, Plebeius aegon, Cyaniris semi- 

 argus, Glaucopsyche cyllavus, Lycaena alcon, etc. (Hormuzaki). On 

 the Svabhegy, near Budapest, it occurs among oak-scrub, with glades 

 running through and amongst it, flying with Polyommatus hylas, 

 P. icarus, Plebeius argus, etc. (Sheldon). Habich records the species 

 as occurring at Oberweiden, a locality charmingly described by Burr 

 (Ent. Rec, vol. xiii., p. 325) as a "faunistic island" in Moravia, with 

 all the characteristics of the Volga region ; a small patch of ground 

 where is an abrupt change of fauna from that of the surrounding- 

 country, most noticeable in the stationary forms of life; a row of small 

 sandy hillocks in the oasis, whilst around the country is flat, dry, and 

 barren, a little coarse grass in the sand forming the only vegetation. 

 In the German mountains, we read of it occurring in abundance on 

 the lower slopes of the Seealp with Aricia astrarche, Polyommatus 

 hylas, Coenonympha satyrion, etc., in the lower alpine meadows on the 

 Solleneck, with Cyaniris semiargus, Lycaena avion, Cupido minimus, 

 Polyommatus icarus, Colias Ivy ale, C. phicomone, etc. ; on a fine sunny 

 bank at the junction of the Oy and Trittoch, with Aricia astrarche, 

 Lycaena avion, Cupido minimus, Melitaea athalia, M. dictynna, etc., 

 and on an extensive sandbank laid out by the river near Oberstdorf, 

 overgrown with willows and other bushes, with Plebeius argus (aegon), 

 P. argyrognomon, etc. (Dadd) . In Bavaria, it also occurs in the hills near 

 Friedberg, and in the meadows from Bergheim to Strassberg (Kolb); 

 in Thuringia, it lives on the chalk hills near Jena (Ent. Ver. Lep. 

 Gera), in Waldeck, in sunny flowery localities on limestone and slate 

 formations (Speyer); in Hesse, it is very local, occurring by the roadside 

 at Morfeld, rarely on the hills, and more frequently in the Mombach 

 forest (Koch); in the Rhine Provinces, it occurs on the sloping chalky 

 banks of the Mundelheim and Budberg, and similar slopes leading to 

 the rivers and in the adjacent meadows, the species being apparently 

 a settled inhabitant of the marshy meadows of the Linn (Rothke), 

 whilst one of its few localities in Prussia are the ramparts and earth- 

 works of the fort Courbiere, near Graudenz, situated about 200ft. 

 above the Vistula, the adjacent ground being covered with an abundant 

 and varied flora (Riesen). In the Balkan Peninsula, the species 

 appears to be widely distributed both in the plains and mountains, 

 occurring in a variety of situations, e.g., it is found on the south- 

 eastern slopes of the Vitoch, a mountain of some 6000ft. elevation, 

 situated almost due south of Sofia, on some rough dry slopes, and wet 

 fields, with Plebeius argus {aegon), Ereres argiades, Cyaniris semiargus, 



