1899] Proceedings of Irish Societies. 65 



var. erosa> Nees. ab. E-, collected in Antrim, except that the points of 

 the leaves of erosa are blunt and look as if they had been worn away. So 

 far no fructification has been found on the Co. Kerry plants, and further 

 researches are desirable to establish the record of this plant, which 

 seems to be new to the United Kingdom. 



Belfast Naturalists' Field Club. 



January 17.— The President (Rev. C. H. Waddell, B.D.) in the Chair. 

 Rev. W. F.Johnson, M.A., read a paper on " Irish Butterflies," in which 

 he stated that forty-one species have been found in Ireland out of a total 

 list of sixty-seven species for the British Islands. He then gave a concise 

 account of the common species, detailing their distinguishing features, 

 colour of their larvae, &c, and stating when and where they are com- 

 monly found. The paper concluded with a tabulated list of Irish 

 Butterflies. 



Mr. George Donaldson, one of the original members of the Club, 

 who has been absent in Massachusetts for three years, gave an interesting 

 paper on the Butterflies of North America. In commencing he told how 

 on leaving Belfast, he had resolved to abandon natural history pursuits, 

 a resolution which was only in force for half a day, when he encountered 

 the butterfly known in North America as the Monarch {Anosia archippus). 

 He described this beautiful insect and its life -history in some detail. 

 The larva feeds on plants of Asclepias or Milkweed, which is common 

 everywhere in the Northern States. The eggs are laid on leaves of the 

 food-plant. They hatch in about four or five days, and the caterpillars 

 commence to feed. They eat voraciously and mature rapidly, becoming 

 often full grown in two weeks. The Danaid in question is one of the 

 most widespread butterflies of America, being found over almost the 

 entire continent, from Canada to Patagonia, and from the Atlantic to 

 the Pacific. It has extraordinary powers of flight, and in autumn, when 

 abundant, collects in vast flocks of hundreds of thousands and migrates 

 southwards. They return north in the spring, not in crowds, but singly, 

 the females laying their eggs wherever they may chance to be, many of 

 the young butterflies proceeding further north as soon as they emerge. 

 Within the last thirty years this insect is said to have spread all over the 

 islands of the Pacific, and even to Australia and Java. In 1877 it made 

 its way to the Atlantic coast of France, and several instances of its cap- 

 ture in England have since been recorded. Its occurrence in Ireland 

 may well be expected. The reader met with one of our Red Admiral 

 (Pyrameis atalantd) in great abundance, and one of the rarest British 

 species, the Camberwell Beauty ( Vanessa antiopd) he found in profusion 

 in New England. Many interesting facts were mentioned concerning 

 the various families of North American butterflies and macrolepidop- 

 tera. These details were from his own personal observation, and were 

 illustrated by abundant and beautiful specimens of the species referred 

 to 



