I02 



The hish Nattualist. May, 



are included in the comprehensive genus known as T.yciena or rolyoni- 

 matU3. According to Mr. Tutt's nomenclature the five species are 

 Evcrcs argiades, Citpido niiiiimus, /^icIkuus ari^ns, Cyan iris soninrgiis and 

 As'riades thetis. 



The first of these, Everes argiades, can be claimed as British merely on 

 the strength of a few specimens, captured in the southern counties of 

 Kngland, some of which are of very doubtful authenticity. The genuine 

 records are doubtless due to sporadic immigrations from France, and 

 though the butterfl)' has an immense continental range it seems unlikely 

 ever to establish itself in our islands. Ciipido mitiimus, the *' Little Blue " 

 is widespread both in the British Islands and on the Continent, it ranges 

 from the Mediterranean to 67*^ N. lat. ; from Co. Galway to Kauichatka. 

 Cupido and Everes are referred by Mr, Tutt to a tribe Rveridi, distin- 

 guished by definite structural characters — notably the genital armature of 

 males— from the Plebeiidi, in which are included the remaining three 

 species dealt with in the volume. None of these are known as Irish 

 insects. Mr. Tutt quotes Birchall's unauthenicated records of Plebeins 

 argus {aegon) from Co. Wicklow^ and Rostrevor, but despite its wide range 

 in England and abroad, the butterfly is apparently not a member of our 

 Hibernian fauna. Cyaniris semiargus (rt;m)is now thought to be extinct in 

 Great Britain, where it was once widespread, while Agriades thelts, the 

 lovely "■ Adonis Butterfly," is confined to the south and east of England, 

 and it is, by its Continental range, a typical member of Scharff's 

 " Siberian fauna." 



A valuable feature in this volume is the number and beauty of the 

 plates. The variation of the butterflies is well illustrated by " process " 

 figures, and the structural details, on which Mr. Tutt rightly lays so 

 much stress, are made clear by the admirable photomicrographs due to 

 Messrs. A. E. Tonge and F. N. Clark. The figures of the genital arma- 

 tures and larval cuticles are especially noteworthy ; the latter by the 

 way ought not to be labelled " skin." In an introductory section, Mr. 

 Tutt describes the larval habits of" Coppers," " Skippers,'" and" Swallow 

 tails," lj>y no means confining himself to British examples of those inter- 

 esting sections. 



Cr. II. C. 



NOTES. 



BOTANY. 



Plants of Antrim and Down. 



The occurrences of .SV.sjw/'r/ww Thalianitm, in Co. Down, have been so 

 few as to merit the record of a fresh locality. On Easter Monday last 

 year (1909). Mr. N. Carrothers and I met with a fine colony growing on 

 old walls on the Ballykinler sand-dunes facing Dundrum. The more 

 robust plants were already in flower. The only previous county records 

 are Movilla Abbey, Xcwtownards, and on railway ballast between 

 Lenaderg and Scarva, 



