%\t Canadian (Entomologist. 



VOL. VIII. LONDON, ONT., SEPTEMBER, 1876. No. 9 



FARTHER NOTES UPON ARGYNNIS MYRINA. 



BY W. H. EDWARDS, COALBURGH, W. VA. 



In Vol. vii, Oct., 1875, I gave some account of my breeding myrina 

 from eggs laid in July, 1875. I am aD ^ e now t0 supplement this by the 

 history of an earlier brood. My observations were made last year at 

 Hunter, in the Catskill Mountains, and being at the same place in June of 

 the present year, from 17th June to 1st July, I found this species abundant, 

 and from the rubbed appearance of nearly all the individuals taken by 

 me, I inferred that they had emerged at latest early in June. On the 19th 

 I set two females on violet, in a gauze bag. On the 20th there were 

 several eggs laid. The first butterfly from this lot emerged 15th July, but 

 in their early stages these larvae were not in my keeping, as I mailed them 

 to Coalburgh. Other females gave eggs on 27th June ; the larvae hatched 

 3rd July. These I kept by me and brought to Coalburgh, following their 

 changes carefully. The 1st moult occurred July 7th, the 2nd July 10th, 

 the 3rd July 12th, the 4th on 15th ; chrysalis on 18th ; and the butterfly 

 emerged 23rd July; 26 days from the laying of the egg. This is the 

 history of half a dozen out of the fifty odd of the brood. The others 

 were less regular in their changes, and the last two butterflies emerged 

 31st July, or ^^ days from the egg. There were but four moults, and I 

 was in error in stating last year that the species moulted five times. A 

 remarkable proportion of the butterflies were females, at least four out of 

 five. The first eleven which emerged were all females, and so were 

 several of the last. 



I turned the butterflies of this brood loose as they appeared, with the 

 exception of three, hoping to naturalize the species here. They scattered 

 up and down the valley at considerable distances as I occasionally dis- 

 covered, but I rarely saw one within my grounds. On dissecting one of 

 the three reserved, the abdomen was found filled with nearly mature 



