NOTES — ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 12^ 



The "Painted Lady Butterfly." — Perhaps the most 

 notable event on our coast during this " un-entomological " 

 autumn was the abundance during the last few days of the 

 beautiful insect, Cynthia cavdui. Neither my brother nor I have 

 ever seen anything like it. Strong S.E. winds had been blowing, 

 and on one or two bright sunny days, scores were flying in one 

 view in a clover-field on the St. Osyth coast, and they were 

 quite common even in the town of Brightlingsea. I saw many 

 at Buckhurst Hill and in other parts of the Forest. Forty years 

 ago the capture oi^ Cynthia was a rare event ; one to be recorded 

 with jubulation in the natural history journals ; last week five or 

 six could be caught with a sweep of the net. The majority 

 were much " worn " and some quite battered. The other 

 Vanessidae have been uncommon, only occurring singly, with the 

 exception of V. atalanta, of which moderate numbers have been 

 seen. As usual in " cavdui " as well as in " editsa " years, the 

 lively little day-flying moth, Plusia gamma, has been swarming all 

 round our coast. — W. Cole, September 26th, 1903. 



Since writing the above, our member Mr. F. W. Elliott, 

 has kindly sent me a number of newspaper-cuttings from which 

 it appears that the apparition of C. cavdui has been observed in 

 many parts of the country, mainly on the E. and S.E. Coast, 

 and even in London itself. A few sample extracts may be given. 

 Mr. F. C. Warburg wrote on September 26th : — 



" In a sunny spot in Hyde Park, on a bed of Seduni spectahile, I saw 

 yesterday at midday four Painted T.ady butterflies, Cynthia cavdui, sunning 

 themselves with outspread wings or sucking the honey from the flowers. The 

 same bed, besides innumerable flies and bees, had attracted one Red Admiral, 

 Vanessa atalanta, while two ' Silver Y's,' Plusia gamma, were hovering over 

 the flowers. On a neighbouring sunflower was another cardni, and close by two 

 more were settled on another bed of Sediim. Of the seven cardui only one had 

 a wing clipped, and all the others were in good condition, thougli not quite 

 fresh. I have never seen V. cardui in London before." 



Mr. Milne, Westgate-on-Sea, counted fifty-one " Painted 



Ladies " on one flower-bed, and Miss Vernon-Wentworth wrote 



from Blackheath, Saxmundham, Suffolk : — 



" At this place, which is on the East Coast, about three miles from 

 Aldeburgh, Painted Lady butterflies have been, and still are, flying about in 

 swarms, the air being quite full of them sometimes. On one plant of 

 Michaelmas Daisy I counted as many as sixteen together. I have also noticed 

 what was mentioned by one of your correspondents — the battered condition of 

 some of them owing to the violence of the wind rt'hi:h blew them over," 



