Tetrix sylvicola, 

 Capercail. 



Otis tarda, 

 Bustard. 



ON THE GENUS PONT I A. 127 



Otis parva, 



Little Bustard. 

 CEdicnemus crepitans, 



Thicknee. 



NOTES ON THE SPECIES AND VARIETIES OF THE GENUS PONTIA. 

 By Peter Rylands, Esq. 



There may be, perhaps, some who will think that the insects which I purpose 

 to consider in the present paper are so common as to excite no interest, and that 

 no new information can be given respecting them. From persons holding this 

 opinion, I beg entirely to differ. The man who can only see beauty or take in- 

 terest in a scarce insect, which is merely valuable in his eyes because " rare," has 

 no claim to be considered a true naturalist ; he confines himself to closet study, 

 and preserved specimens alone furnish subjects for his investigation and admira- 

 tion. From the time when, buoyant with youthful vigour and juvenile pleasures, 

 we pursue with cap in hand the sportive Butterfly, until when in riper years we 

 walk leisurely in the fields, contemplating and philosophizing on the works of 

 Nature, the common White Butterfly attracts a considerable share of our atten- 

 tion. We have all admired this insect, as, lazily moving its expansive wings, 

 slowly yet elegantly sailing on the air, it has passed by us. At other times we 

 have been amused by its rapid and dexterous motions, when, entering into a 

 mock fight with a companion, it has described its swift eccentric frolics above our 

 head ; — we forget our enmity to the " filthy grub," which destroys so many of the 

 useful products of our garden, when we see it metamorphosed into an emblem of 

 Innocence. This Butterfly, then, is an object of interest — of an interest, too, in 

 which all can participate, as its abundance renders it familiar to every one. 



Neither is the subject under consideration exhausted. Naturalists are still un- 

 decided as to the number of British species which the group contains, and there 

 are insects of this genus which some are of opinion ought to rank as true species 

 while others consider them as mere varieties. I trust, therefore, that if the 

 following remarks cast any additional light on the question, they will not be con- 

 sidered useless, or uninteresting. 



After the investigation of numbers of Pontics, I think I am justified in adopting 

 the following arrangement of the species and varieties contained in that genus. 



Oenus Pontia. 

 Gen. char.-" Antennae long, and slender, consist of seven or eight joints, and 



