250 



HAEDWiCKE'S SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



Moses Harris, writing in 1775, does not speak of it 

 as any rarity ; but Berkeuhaut, in 17S9, writes," very 

 rare in this kingdom." In 1793 it received the 

 name of "The Grand Surprise" from Harris and 

 the Society of Aureliaus (as entomologists were 

 then called), of which he was a member, on account 

 of its sudden appearance iu extraordinary numbers. 

 Donovan (1794) states that there have been several 

 instances in mild seasons of its being as common as 

 the Peacocks and ' Adnnra.hXFanessa lo and Ata- 

 lanta), and that in 1793 it was as plentiful in some 

 places as the common garden whites usually are 

 near London. Curtis, in his " British Entomology," 

 says that a few were taken in SufTolk in 1S19, and 

 that Mr. Samouelle took one hyberuated specimen 

 the following spring, but that it had not been seen 

 for many years before. 



Fig. 176. Camberwell Beauty {Vanessa Aniiopa), 



Wood, in his " Index Entomologicus in 1S39," 

 records it as occurring in woods in Surrey on the 

 oak, and also that a specimen had been taken near 

 Norwich in May. 



The year 1846 has been called the Antiopa year 

 (a name which it can now hardly retain), from the 

 numbers which were then seen and taken in many 

 parts of the country. The next spring hybernated 

 specimens were met with, but it then became as 

 rare as ever. I am informed, however, that one 

 specimen was seen at Easton, near Norwich, on 

 July 31st, 1847, or 1848, by Mr. J. H. Gurney. I 

 have no notices at iiand of its occurrence during the 

 next few years, but in 1856 one was seen in the 

 spring in the Isle of Wight. In 1857 five were 

 taken — one in Norfolk, two iu Essex, one in Lan- 

 cashire, and one in Northumberland, and a sixth 

 was seen. In 1858 the same number were taken — 

 two in Essex, one in Norfolk, and two in Lanca- 

 shire ; in 1859, two in Yorkshire; and in 1861, 

 one near Coldstream. No more seem to be re- 

 corded till 1865, when one was taken at Tenterden 

 and another seen at Ilfracombe. None were seen 

 for the next two years, but in 1868 fourteen were 

 noticed— four in Norfolk (two of which were taken 



at Sparham), one at Ipswich, one at Chatteris, sir 

 near Cambridge, and one each at Tadeaster and 

 Gruudisburgh. Notwithstanding this unusual num- 

 ber, no hybernated specimen seems to have been 

 noticed in the following spring, nor is any specimen 

 recorded for that year ; but in 1870 specimens oc- 

 curred at Rochester, Cheltenham, and in Suffolk ; 

 and in 1871, one at Sevenoaks, and one seen at 

 Buxton, near Norwich, on a bleeding alder-tree, by . 

 my friend Mr. E. P. Wheeler. 



Of the grand appearance this season, the head- 

 quarters seem to be Norfolk, in which county at 

 least fifty have been seen and thirty taken, and the 

 remaining eastern counties have come in for a very 

 large share. It is obvious that the numbers re- 

 corded are but a portion of what have been seen ; 

 for instance, the Editor of Science-Gossip was so 

 overwhelmed with notices that he could 

 not find room for them (see page 234), but 

 from the records published in the Ento- 

 mologisfs Monthly Magazine, and New- 

 man's Uiitomologisf, sufiicient statistics 

 can be gathered to show in some degree 

 the relative numbers. In Cambridgeshire 

 at least twenty-five have been seen and 

 many captured ; Suffolk records from 

 twenty to thirty ; Essex over twenty ; 

 Kent twenty-three, and others seen ; 

 "Yorkshire thirty ; but Lincolnshire only 

 five, a disparity which must surely arise 

 from a want of observers. 



The southern counties come next — 

 Sussex with four taken and others seen, 

 Surrey thirteen, Hants seventeen, and 

 Berks two ; and thei'e seems to have been a good 

 sprinkling over the central counties, as iu Middle- 

 sex six are recorded, in Herts five and " several," 

 in Hunts two, Bucks one, Leicestershire one, 

 Derbyshire ten, Nottingham one, and Staffordshire 

 four, and others seen. Even the North has made a 

 good sliow — Durham four, Northumberland one, 

 and eleven in different parts of Scotland. The dis- 

 trict in whidi they have been rare is the western, 

 there being only notices of three iu Lancashire, one 

 in Cheshire, three in Wales, and one in Somerset. 

 Ireland does not appear to have furnished a single 

 specimen. 



In the 'Entomologist s MontJdy Magazine for this 

 month (October) is an able paper by Mr. Stainton 

 on this subject, iu which he adduces forcible argu- 

 ments to prove that these insects are not bred 

 in this country, but are only immigrants from 

 Norway. 



This view is powerfully supported by the com- 

 parison given above, of the numbers seen in different 

 counties and districts, and also by the fact to which 

 Mr. Stainton draws attention, that so many of the 

 captures were made on the coast. Even the earliest 

 recorded specimen this year, on July 26th, at Yar- 



