AGRIADES CORIDON. 91 



down, apparently each time it sucked a fresh draught of nectar from 

 the florets of a knapweed flower. A <j? that was resting on a flower 

 of Eupatorium cannabinum, sat with its wings open at an angle of 

 about 90°, so that the sun shone fully on them, whilst at the same 

 time another that was feeding, kept its wings immovably closed back 

 to back. Another 2 that was sunning on a Petasites flower, threw 

 its wings open to the sun, its head upwards, the abdomen low down, 

 the hindwings drawn back forming a groove into which the body fitted, 

 the forewings well forward, leaving a wide angle between the fore- and 

 hindwings, all of which were almost horizontal ; it occasionally drew 

 up its hindwings, and alternately moved them to and fro, but soon 

 subsided into its previous position. Both sexes of the species appear 

 equally to love flowers, and almost every flower with nectar attracts 

 them. It is noted as swarming in August, 1896, along the base of the 

 downs east from Devizes, every flower of thistle and centaury with 

 two or three occupants (Sladen); specially attracted by wild thyme 

 and rock cistus at Watlington (Lucas); ? observed feeding on a 

 clematis-flower at Dorking (Prideaux); and a £ at privet-blossom near 

 Hounslow (Rendall); the flowers of thyme and knapweed are the most 

 attractive on the Cuxton downs, but sainfoin and knapweed on the 

 Dover cliffs (Tutt). On the continent it has been observed at a variety 

 of flowers, but thyme is an universal favourite. It swarms, however, 

 on sainfoin flowers at St. Michel de Maurienne, on lucerne at Chavoire 

 and Gresy-sur-Aix, on flowers of thistles, scabious, centaurea, and 

 eupatorium, etc., at Digne, in August, 1906, when this species and A. 

 thetis were both abundant at the same time, occupying the same 

 ground, feeding at the same flowers, the $ s fighting with the larger 

 species — Hipparchia arethusa, Erebia neoridas, etc. — for a place at the 

 blossoms ; at Clelles, a few days earlier, it was noticed to be most 

 attracted to the flower-heads of Eupatorium and scabious, the latter 

 being easily first favourite ; and it was noted that when a £■ was seated 

 on a capitulum of scabious, it worked itself round and round the edge 

 in order to get at the nectar, so that sometimes its head, and at other 

 times its side or back received the direct rays of the sun ; it was also 

 observed to settle on the blossoms of a small Lotus, as well as on the 

 flowers of clematis, bramble, and galium. At Lavin and Sus, both 

 sexes chose preferably the flower-heads of a large white umbellifer, 

 whilst, in the Dauphiny Alps, lavender is often chosen, although 

 thyme, as is the case in almost all districts where it grows, is as often 

 selected as any other. Favre notes it as abounding sometimes in 

 Switzerland on flowers of thyme, and we have seen it attracted by the 

 fine southern species of lavender, with its comparatively large flowers 

 at Hyeres. We were much interested to note that, when the sun came 

 out in the late afternoon of August 7th, 1907, after a very rainy 

 morning, a crowd of butterflies sat with horizontally-expanded wings 

 on the flowers of a roadside bank near Piotta — Parnassius apollo, 

 Aporia crataegi, Dry as paphia, Melitaea didyrna, Brenthis amathusia, 

 Heodes virgaureae, etc. — whilst Agriades coridon and Lycaena avion sat 

 quite differently, holding their wings bolt upright, the forewings 

 thrown well forward, and hence looking very conspicuous. In the hot 

 sun, especially when rain has fallen the previous day or night, the $ s 

 will congregate in large numbers at puddles and runnels of water ; 

 sometimes, too, on the hot baked sediment by the sides of, or in the 



