SCIENTIFIC NOTES. 261 



knapweed, scabious, etc., hang down beneath the capitulum very 

 much in the same manner as Gonepteryx rhamni. A pair observed 

 in cop., on the afternoon of August 5th, near Piotta, were both 

 busily sucking nectar from the same flower-head of knapweed, the 

 bodies forming a curve between the two, the insects individually 

 hanging down in the usual position. When captured, both male and 

 female were found to be old and worn ; strongly suggestive that this 

 species, like Melanargia galathea, Satyrus cordula, and some other 

 butterflies, pairs more than once. The female's body appeared still to 

 be fairly well-distended with unlaid eggs, but the centres of her fore- 

 wings were almost transparent, and their edges frayed. The male was 

 in this respect quite in similar case. — J. W. Tutt. 



Habits of butterflies when paired. — On August 4th, 1907, near 

 Piotta, I was very busy all day making observations on the butterflies, 

 with a view to using the same in due course in A Natural History of 

 the British Butterflies. Amongst other observations, I saw paired 

 examples of Epinephele lycaon, Pararge maera, Melanargia galathea, 

 and Melitaea didyma, and, purposely disturbing them, found that, 

 on every occasion, the female flies, carrying the male who hangs 

 apparently helpless and without aiding at all in flight. On the 

 contrary, I saw several pairs of Agriades corydon, and in every case 

 it was the male that took to flight. The habit seems, in all cases 

 observed, not only a fixed specific, but a fixed generic, if not even 

 family, habit. My notes on this and other interesting habits of the 

 British species of " blues," etc., I hope to publish shortly in the 

 butterfly book now going through press. — Id. 



Crosspairing in Anthrocerids. — We have already stated (Nat. 

 Hist. Brit, hep., v., pp. 1-2) that, in spite of the statements of many 

 continental lepidopterists, the evidence goes to show that cross-pairing 

 between different species of Anthrocerids is really very rare, and we 

 have enumerated the various cases of cross-pairings, which have been 

 recorded, and about which no doubt seems to exist (pp. cit., pp. 3 

 and 36). In the upper Ticino valley, from the St. Gothard to Faido, 

 Anthrocera purpuralis (minos), A. transalpine, and A. lonicerae (the 

 large mountain form var. major) are very abundant, as also locally are 

 A. carniolica, A. ochsenheimeri, and A. nlipendulae. These all feed 

 greedily during the morning and early afternoon, and are often to be 

 seen about noon, standing with quivering wings in the hot sun, on 

 the same flowers, but making no attempt to pair. After about 3 p.m., 

 however, the whole energy of life seems to be absorbed in the act of 

 copulation, and thia happens not only with freshly-emerged indi- 

 viduals, but also with those so worn that their wings are largely 

 transparent, and it is unusual to find, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on 

 a sunny afternoon, a single female not paired, and often two or three 

 superfluous males are seen hustling a couple already paired. As soon 

 as pairing has taken place, the excited moths settle quietly down on 

 the flowers to feed again, both sexes soon being absorbed in their 

 gastronomic functions. It was, therefore, with great surprise that I 

 found near Piotta, on the afternoon of August 5th a male ochsenheimeri 

 paired with a female carniolica, although further examination of a 

 \<T\ Large number of other paired " burnets" did not provide another 

 similar lapse. I had hoped to have killed and set them while still 

 paired, but they separated as soon as they were placed under the 



