POLYOMMATUS ICARUS. 21 1 



are the Gresy hills, where, in every meadow, and on every piece of 

 waste ground between the vineyards or running up into the woods, 

 /'. icarus occurs, whilst in Dauphiny, the species swarms in the 

 hollows at the foot of the mountains filled with tall grass and other 

 herbage just behind Bourg d'Oisans. Far different are its southern 

 haunts in spring, e.g., the glades among the ilex, oak, buckthorn, and 

 southern brooms that cover the limestone hills above the Gard,and where 

 the scent of thyme and rosemary fill the air : or at Costebelle, where 

 the hedgeside roses hang in garlands of cream and white, or along the 

 wood-ridings leading over the hill, occurring with Glaucopsyrheryllarus, 

 (t. melanops. Aricia astfarche, Scolitantides baton, etc., whilst it is also 

 common on the banks and lavender-covered slopes that lead from the 

 Castle Hill at Hyeres to the Plan du Pont, and in the lush meadows 

 by the side of the Siagne, near Pegomas, where it is common in 

 spring, with many other interesting species. In the Hautes-Alpes, on 

 the Crete de Eeychasse, the species occurs at a height of almost 

 7000ft.-, where also Latiorina orbitulus and Hirsutina damon are 

 abundant, and Loweia alciphron is found with Melampias epiphron, 

 Colias palaeno, C. phicpmone and Pontia callidice. In the Basses- 

 Alpes it was abundant in a weedy field just above the "Baths" at 

 Digne, where Agriades eoridon, A. thetis, Polyommatus hylas, Scoli- 

 tantides baton, and hosts of other species were flying, also in the little 

 gorge, near where the stream rushes along the floor into the Eaux- 

 Chaudes, as well as in the bed of the stream itself. It also occurred 

 in a meadow on the way between Alios and the Lac d'Allos, between 

 the path and the stream, bordered on the side of the path by a few 

 wych elms and an abundance of blackthorn, where Chattendenia 

 w-album, Nordmannia acaciae, Agriades coridon, Loweia gordius, and a 

 host of good species were noticed. In Switzerland its habitats are 

 exceedingly diverse, from the lowlying meadows and fields of northern 

 Switzerland and the hot southern valleys to the mountain slopes often 

 of 7000 ft. elevation. It is, for example, abundant in the fields on the 

 slopes behind Staefa, overlooking Lake Zurich, with Loweia dorilis 

 and other common species, and equally abundant in the open spaces 

 in the woods above the Staefa bog, whilst a large form was quite 

 common on the bog itself with Cyaniris semiargus and Lycaena alcon, 

 probably, here rather a border species than a true bog inhabitant. It 

 abounds in the Rhone valley, e.g., on the flower- covered slopes at the 

 foot of the Grand Saleve ; equally common near Roche, where ifc 

 haunted some bush-covered slopes on which Cyaniris semiargns, 

 ^lelanargia galatea, and many other species were common ; it was also 

 abundant near Sion, on May 30th, 1907, in the meadows and on the 

 railway banks, where they run close to the river below the castle rock, 

 with a whole bevy of "blues" — Agriades thrtis, Polyommatus lit/las, 

 Aricia astrarche, Plebeius argus, ]'. argyrognomon, Celastrina argiohts, 

 Everes alcetas, etc. Lowe found it in abundance with many other 

 species just below and at the entrance of the wooded slopes above 

 Grindelwald ; we found it freely on the north side of the Simplon 

 Pass between Berisal and the summit, but did not see it on the south 

 side in early August, 1899 ; it is abundant in the meadows behind Aigle, 

 in June, as well as on the rough slopes between Martigny and Yemayaz, 

 and among the boulders in the huge scarred seam that leads from 

 Chamonix almost to the summit of the Brevent, and Tetlev found it 



