THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 209 



of the same article he mentions having " bred from the egg four of our 

 larger species of Argyuuis, viz., diana, cybele, aphrodite and idalia." 



Does A. idalia occur in Mr. Edwards' neighborhood, and to what 

 extent has he obtained the imagines from eggs ? The only other reference 

 by him in the Can. Ent. to A. idalia, that I can find, is on page 151 of 

 Vol. vii, where he states that Mr. G. M. Dodge had sent him several eggs 

 of this species from Nebraska, and that he had succeeded in carrying a 

 few of the larvae through the winter and one past the fifth moult, but that 

 this one died before chrysalis. 



Though I do not presume to question the statements of so distinguished 

 an Entomologist as Mr. Edwards, I thought that I would give my experi- 

 ence with regard to this butterfly, and I should like to know whether any 

 one else has had a similar experience. 



I may state that I have collected for eight successive summers on 

 Cape Elizabeth, in the vicinity of Portland, Me., where this butterfly 

 occurs every season, and though generally not common, is sometimes 

 somewhat plentiful. 



My experience has been that, though I might find a stray female 

 almost as early as the males, the great majority of females did not appear 

 for a week or ten days after the males. It is only within the last three 

 years that I have kept an entomological diary and numbered my speci- 

 mens, so that I cannot give any figures with regard to those taken or 

 observed before 1873, but I remember noticing the fact previous to that 

 date ; however, this species was tolerably abundant during the past season 

 (1875), and I can give some dates in support of what I say. 



By referring to my journal for this year, I find that I took the first £ 

 of the season on 20th July, three more on July 24th, on which day I also 

 caught one $ , and from July 20th to 31st I took altogether 10 £ and 

 i ^ . Unfortunately the weather during the first half of August was very 

 bad, almost every day being foggy or rainy, or both, so that I am unable 

 to state when the females emerged. 



On one partially fine day, Aug. 9th, I obtained another £ , and during 

 the last half of August worn females were obtainable, but they were too 

 poor for cabinet specimens. 



In 1874 this species was very *scarce, and I only obtained two speci- 

 mens, $ on July 28th, and a badly rubbed $ on Sept. 3rd. 



In 1873 it was also scarce and I only took two $ , one on July 16th 

 and another on the 17th. Of course the cases of 1873 an d 74 would 



