Cohen. — On Abundance of Vanessa itea in Wellington. 281 



Art. XXXL— On the Abundance of Vanessa itea in Wel- 

 lington during Season 1894. 



By Walter P. Cohen. 



[Bead be/ore the Wellington. Philosophical Society, 27th June, 1894.] 



Last season a friend of mine who is a semi-entomologist, not 

 now collecting, told me he had chased on one or two occasions 

 in the Bolton Street cemetery, and also in the Botanical 

 Gardens, a brilliantly-marked butterfly, which he said wa9 

 not V. gonerilla, and which I could not identify from his 

 description owing to his not having captured one to show me. 

 I have therefore been on the look-out for something new in 

 consequence, and was rewarded on the 3rd March this year 

 by seeing a handsome butterfly settle on one of the paths in 

 the cemetery when I was there in quest of sport, but, as it 

 was a windy afternoon, and not having a net with me, I 

 failed to catch it, so made two trips next morning, and saw 

 none, but in the afternoon saw and obtained two specimens, 

 which proved to be V. itea. I could have taken more, but it 

 was Sunday, and lots of people were passing by the spot, 

 which frightened my friends away. Since then I have taken 

 up to date fourteen specimens at the same spot, as it seems to 

 settle generally on the trunk of a large weeping willow 7 (Aspi- 

 diotus Camilla), in company with V. gonerilla, which has 

 always been very plentiful in this cemetery. V. itea flies as 

 high as its sister, but is not quite so rapid in its flight, so is 

 easier to capture, and, if frightened by a noise or anything 

 coming near it, it always returns to the same spot shortly 

 after. I exhibit this evening some of the specimens, and in 

 one or two the large splashes on the upper wings appear to 

 be of a much paler yellow. 



I am inclined to believe that this handsome insect may 

 have been imported here lately, as it is mostly a northern 

 species, as I have two specimens which came from the Auck- 

 land District : these show the same markings. My co-worker, 

 Mr. A. Norris, has taken it in Thorndon this summer, and it 

 has been seen in Wadestown this season. Mr. G. H. Grapes, 

 of Paraparaumu, saw it up there in January, 1892, and in 

 1893, when it was tolerably plentiful, but has only seen it 

 once since. He netted his specimens on the flowers of the 

 koromiko, marigold, sage, &c, and says it appears there from 

 January to November, and with an interval midway between 

 those periods ; therefore my specimens must be of the autumnal 

 brood, so I should like to know whether they hibernate or are 

 double brooded. 



