58 THE kntomologist's record. 



of this conclusion came more easily, because plumifera, 0., is not only 

 one of the blackest Psychids, but also preserves its blackness in the 

 cabinet better than most. 



It is not to the credit of English entomologists that this identifi- 

 cation comes so late in the day, and it is to be regretted that it was 

 not made before the publication of Tutt's Hn'thh Lepidoiitera, vol. ii., 

 and of Staudinger's r'rtfrtZr*//»(', 1901, since they involve that present- 

 accepted names will be dominant for another decade or two. That it 

 comes even now is not to my credit, but to Mr. Front's, who recog- 

 nised the existence of this type specimen, my share being merely the, 

 as it happens, very easy one, of determining what the insect is. Mr. 

 Prout will, I hope, take his fair share of the odium attaching to 

 alienating a name with half a century's recognition from a well-known 

 insect. Luckily the present determination seems to lie likely to be 

 definitive, and leaves no loophole for further revision. 



Accepting the synonymy given by Staudinger (1901), the changes 

 required are : 



4446. Atra, L.S.N., ed. xii., p. ^2?,. OpaceUa, H.-S., 102, ii., p. 20, &c. 



4478. Plujiifera, O., iii., 175; H.-S., 103, *c. //u'ram, Thnb., Diss., iv., 

 5;-5, nee Fb. Atra, Heyl., Stett. Ent. Zeit., 18«0, p. 186, nee Linn. 



A fifth season among the Swiss butterflies. 



Bv G. WHEELER, M.A. 



A very late and prolonged winter caused the season of 1901 

 to be somewhat backward, and, in some instances, insects appeared 

 at most unusual times, though in other cases they were well up 

 to time, or even a little early. My own season was a short and 

 mostly uneventful one, and the principal interest of my notes for this 

 year must, I regret to say, centre in other people's successes. When 

 the frost and snow at last left us, I found it impossible to do anything 

 worth noting till well into May, though a fortnight's visit to Aigle, 

 beginning on April 20th, gave me the opportunity of visiting Leysin, 

 Vernayaz, Martigny and Charpigny, only to return in each case 

 without any captures worth mentioning. A visit to Bouveret on 

 May 13th produced only a single specimen of Polyenn matu.s icanis $ , 

 of the form known here as var. nrcita, which has on the inner margin 

 of the underside forewing a long curved black streak bordered with 

 whitish, uniting the last of the antemarginal spots with the lowest of 

 the basal spots. This form, which is not confined to the $ , is to be 

 found throughout this portion of the Rhone Valley, and is common at 

 Charpigny and elseAvhere round Aigle (Can anyone inform me 

 whether it is identical with the " ab. 5 melanotoxa " of Staudinger's 

 last CatahKjHc .'). ('iipidn ncbriis was unusually abundant this year, and 

 swarmed, for instance, on the Charpigny road near St. Triphon 

 station, on May 15th, and was common at Veytaux and in good 

 condition till the end of the month. On May 20th, I took a short 

 expedition up the Rhone valley. Leaving Veytaux early, I went as far 

 as Martigny, walking thence across the valley to Branson. Here 

 PolyommatuR oriov was out but not in great numbers, though Mr. 

 Fison on the some day took a good supply further on towards Fully ; 

 it is to be found principally on the rocks at the side of the meadows 

 and vineyards. Everes ab. coretas was also in fair numbers, but little 



