A somewhat similar migration of Butterflies was observed in Switzerland on the 8th or 10th of June, 1828. The facts are as follows: Madame de Meuron Wolff and her family, established during the summer in the district of Grandson, Canton de Vaud, perceived with surprise an immense flight of Butterflies traversing the garden with great rapidity. They were all of the species called _Belle Dame_ by the French, and by the English the Painted Lady (_Vanessa cardui_, Stephens). They were all flying close together in the same direction, from south to north, and were so little afraid when any one approached, that they turned not to the right or to the left. The flight continued for two hours without interruption, and the column was about ten or fifteen feet broad. They did not stop to alight on flowers; but flew onward, low and equally. This fact is the more singular, when it is considered that the larvæ of the _Vanessa cardui_ are not gregarious, but are solitary from the moment they are hatched; nor are the Butterflies themselves usually found together in numbers. Professor Bonelli, of Turin, however, observed a similar flight of the same species of Butterflies in the end of March preceding their appearance at Grandson, when it may be presumed they had just emerged from the pupa state. Their flight, as at Grandson, was from south to north, and their numbers were so immense, that at night the flowers were literally covered with them. As the spring advanced, their numbers diminished; but even in June a few still continued. A similar flight of Butterflies is recorded about the end of the last century by M. Loche, in the Memoirs of the Turin Academy. During the whole season, these Butterflies, as well as their larvæ, were very abundant, and more beautiful than usual.[771]