227 



,OTES ON COLLECTING, Etc. 



CoLiAS EDUSA AND C. HYALE IN 1S92. — The cvent of the year, 

 entomologically, has been another influx of Coi.as. It is Ijut rarely we 

 are favoured with an appearance in numbers of both our British 

 species ediisa and hyale in the same year ; but this has been one of the 

 few years in which such an event has occurred, and will go down to 

 posterity, if not with 1835, 1857, 185S, 1S68, 1875 and 1876, when both 

 species were almost equally abundant, at any rate, with such years as 

 1826, 1S43, 1844, when eJusa was very abundant, and hyale by no 

 means rare. In the year 1842 hyale was exceedingly abundant, but 

 there were no ediisa ; in 1868, the hyale greatly outnumbered the edusa ; 

 whilst in 1859, when edusa swarmed, there was only one record for 

 hyale, and in 1877 (probably the "record" year of the century for 

 edusa) there were practically no hyale. 



That neither edusa nor hyale have a permanent home among us, has 

 been most positively demonstrated, although in most years the sheltered 

 nooks in the Isle of Wight produce a few specimens, and the information 

 which we have now at hand, and the carefully recorded occurrences of 

 the appearance of the species, both in 1877 and the present year, 

 demonstrate beyond doubt the fact that a large number of specimens 

 come into the country as immigrants in the early months of the year. 

 These are most prolific, and their progeny, finding ready and suitable 

 feeding grounds in our clover and lucerne fields (both of which plants 

 are largely cultivated all over the country), abound in the latter part 

 of July and ihoughout August, the offspring of these again appearing 

 before winter finally sets in. There are, I know, lepidopterists, who, 

 in the limited light of their own individual experience, still believe in 

 triennial, septennial and other "ennial" appearances of this species, just 

 as there are others to whom the terms " migration " and " immigration" 

 are like the proverbial "red rag to the bull," but the former is nonsense, 

 and the latter have a vast array of facts to support them, at any rate, 

 in our larger and strong-winged species. 



As in 1S77, edusa this year appeared first in May. At the meeting of 

 the Entomological Society of London, Messrs. Weir, Bower and others 

 noted their appearance near London. Records from Bognor, Weymouth, 

 Doncaster and Wallasey, showed that their distribution souih, west and 

 north was pretty extensive ; but there appeared to be no record for 

 Scotland or Ireland. These were denominated by the captors as being 

 "fresh," "fine," "worn,"' or "tattered," according to the individual 

 standard set up by the observer as to the condition of specimens in 

 general. I can only re-echo Mr. Holland's quer)-, " Wny will people 

 hunt these down and call them fine?" In this immigration, edusa was 

 very much commoner than hyale, a few var. helice appearing with the 

 typical forms of the former species. These worn specimens were noted 

 until the second week in July (my last observation was on July 9th), 

 and by that time all except a few of the more powerful specimens had 

 died off. 



The relative numbers in these early specimens v,-cre, as might have 

 been expected, maintained thoroughout. Edusa has been much com- 

 moner than hyale. In fact, the var. helice of the former species has 



