in the Viciniti/ of Dover, 331 



spect the district, it strikes me, has its peculiarities. For 

 example, Argynnis Aglai« occurs, but not its near ally 

 Adlpp^; the rare Melitae^a Cinxi« is taken, but not Dic- 

 tynn« or A^rtemi^; Euphrosyng-, but not Selena; and (I speak 

 on the authority of Mr. Le Plastrier) scarcely Argynnis Pa- 

 phi«. * From the comparative want of oak trees, Thecl^ 

 quercus is very seldom met with ; and the same circumstance 

 will at once be sufficient to account for the absence of Apa- 

 tur« lVi5. Vanessa polychl()ros and c. album are both very 

 rare in this district; the latter we might have expected to 

 meet with, as the hop (Hiimulus Lupulus Z/.)j one of the 

 plants on which the caterpillar feeds, as well as on nettles 

 (Urtica dioica L,) which are common every where, abounds 

 both in a wild and a cultivated state. Mr. Le Plastrier in- 

 forms me that he has not seen V. c. ^Ibum for these last 

 twelve or thirteen years. I could not help remarking, also, 

 the comparative rarity of an insect exceedingly common in 

 most places, P6nti« napi. In the course of many mornings' 

 rambles, I scarcely met with more than two examples. Its 

 congeners, P. brassicae and rapse, are unusually abundant ; 

 owing, no doubt, to the vast quantity of sea cabbage (^rassica 

 oleracea L,) which grows spontaneously on the cliffs, and 

 affords, in addition to the ordinary supply of the gardens, 

 an ample and never-failing store of food for the caterpillars. 

 One very scarce insect ( Polyommatus AriOTx) I have not ven- 

 tured to enumerate in the list; though it is stated by Mr. 

 Stephens, and, I believe, by others, to have been taken near 

 Dover, and also near Deal. His authority I do not mean to 

 impugn ; but, upon enquiry, I learn that Mr. Le Plastrier, in 

 all his practice, never took the insect ; though he has heard 

 some vague accounts, from non-entomological reporters, of a 

 large blue having occasionally been seen in the vicinity of 

 Dover, which might possibly have been this rare species. 



As the insects of any country depend in good measure on 

 its vegetable productions, it may not be unimportant to enu- 

 merate here some of the plants common in this neighbour- 

 hood. The soil of Dover, it is almost unnecessary to state, is 

 chalk ; and, accordingly, the district abounds with such chalk- 

 loving species as the following, viz. : — Scabiosa [Asteroce- 

 phalus Vaillanf] columbaria, Pastinaca sativa, jE^chium vul- 

 gare, Erythraea Centaurium, Geniidna Amarella, Chlora 

 perfoliata, i^eseda lutea, jRubus cae^sius, Clstus Helianthemum 

 [Helianthemum vulgare Gcertner~\^ Galeopsis iadanum, Ori- 



* I have lately been informed, by a young entomologist, that he took 

 Argjnnw Paphia this year, near Folkstone. Mr. Le Plastrier, too, has 

 occasionally met with it, though very rarely, near Dover. 



