ADDENDUM TO MR. A. J. FISOn's NOTE ON LOWEIA AMPHIDAMAS. 67 



Affriades coridon, Hirsntina danion : of An/;/nnidae : Anjynnis adippe, 

 Argynnis atjlaia, T)n/as paphio : of CoUadae : Coliuft edii.sa, Colitts 

 pliiroiiione : of Pai>ilionidac : Papilio iiKtchanii : and perhaps a few 

 others, were, if not always plentiful everywhere, at least, quite fairly 

 common in places (Charpigny and district ; Orsieres to Lac Champex ; 

 Val d' Entremonts) in 1913; if less so in 1914, except at Grindelwald, 

 July, 1914, where many of these species were most abundant. 



One doubts, however, if any theory' holds good invariably without 

 exception, although at times, there may be, and probably is — as 

 perhaps in this case — " something in it." 



If this theory be true, and one infers that it Diay be, then an 

 interesting question arises from the preceding, viz: — Win/ shn aid sunless 

 si'asons produce a scarcer race of Clirysnidianidn, than of darker butterflies: 

 Krebiinac, Sati/ridae ; of iij/hter ones: Pieridae, Ant/irocharidae : and 

 still more of hi(ildii-coloure.d flies such as the species of Lycaenidae, Argyn- 

 iiidae, CoUadae, Papilionidae, cited above as examples / It is obvious, 

 of course, that damp and want of sun affect all races of Rhopalocera 

 more or less ; but it would be interesting to know why they should 

 affect some, to so far greater an extent than others. 



liemg as yet somewhat inexperienced, I unfortunately neglected to 

 hunt particularly for " foodplants " in the several localities where I 

 found my " Coppers." This I now regret, as the presence of food in 

 abundance or otherwise must have some sort of effect on a race of 

 butterflies. At one spot, however, near Chamonix, I noticed common 

 sorrel {Rumex acetosa) and golden rod (Solidayo virt/aurea) growing in 

 the rye-fields which appeared such acceptable localities for hippothoe 

 and viryaureae. 



However, even were there a scarcity of foodplants — as there may 

 have been — which would account for the meagre race of Chryso- 

 phanids, one has still to trace the cause of the absence of food heiove 

 considering the matter closed. The cause, obviously, is climate. If 

 sunless, damp, cold weather affects the flora of a district, as it 

 admittedly does, and did in 1913-1914 {e.y., absence of fruit in the 

 Rhone valley in 1913, owing to a sharp frost in April, lateness of hay 

 in 1914, particularly in higher valleys, owing to a vast amount of 

 snow, disease amongst vines and potatoes owing to damp at Char- 

 pigny, etc.), then also in their turn the fauna dependent on the flora 

 for their existence, must also be affected. Thus, indirectly, a sunless 

 season would account for a scarcity in a race of butterflies as it 

 appeared to do (at least, as far as my experience goes) in the genus 

 Chrysopiuuuts, in 1913-14, which fact leads one to suppose, as stated 

 above, that " Coppers " are dependent on sun for their existence to a 

 more marked degree than certain species, belonging to darker or lighter 

 genera than Chrysophanus. 



SCIENTIFIC NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Hemiptera. — In the January number of the Kiit. Mo. May. Dr. 

 Bergroth shows that there are two British species of the genus 

 Aneurus : A. laevis, Fab. [ — tuberculaius, Mjob.), and A. avenius, Duf. 

 [Uteris of some authors). He states that avenius seems to be common 

 in England, but that the true laevis is a very much rarer insect, 

 recording specimens taken by Mr. Champion near Woking and others 



