August, 1870] 49 



THE EECENT ABUNDANCE OF VANESSA CARDUI. 

 BY R. MoLACHLAN, F.R.S., &c. 



The extraordinary abundance of V. cardui over a lar^e portion of 

 Europe (and even in England) this year, in what in an ordinary season 

 we are wont to consider the mouths of spring and early summer, has 

 been of such a nature as to merit more than passing notice, and I have 

 therefore put together such information regarding it as has come 

 before me. It should be premised, however, that the following notes 

 must of necessity be very imperfect, and it will be necessary to wait 

 until at least the close of the year before any tolerably comjilete 

 record can be compiled. 



The first information I had of the insect having appeared in finy 

 notable quantities, was by a verbal communication from the Rev. 

 H. Harpur Crewe, who, with another botanist, had made an expe- 

 dition to Spain and the Balearic Isles early in the year. I did not, at 

 the time, attach any great importance to what he then said, which 

 amounted to a few words, the purport of which was that they 

 saw no insects excepting V. cardui, which was in abundance. Subse- 

 quent events induced me to obtain more precise particulars from Mr. 

 Crewe. He says the insect swarmed in countless numbers in the 

 neighbourhood of Valencia and Barcelona from April 26th to 30th in- 

 clusive. A similar phoenomenon was observed in the Island of Mi- 

 norca from May 1st to 3rd ; and again in travelling by railway from 

 Barcelona to Paris on the return journey. I am not aware that 

 notice was taken of any particular direction in the flight. 



Ey this time the insect had become common in England ; but the 

 first jiublished notice here, of its appearance in any specially extraordi- 

 nary numbers on the continent, was that which appeared in the 

 "Times" of the 13th June, and which was reprinted in this Magazine 

 {ante p. 41). Since then the French and German entomological 

 periodicals, the newspapers, and every possible medium for the record 

 of unusual natural phoenomena, have constantly contained notices on 

 the subject. 



It would be utterly impossible to reproduce even a portion of 

 these records as published ; but a summary may not be uninstructive. 

 In "Le Naturaliste " for July 1st, there is an extended account. We 

 read that at Sevres near Paris, on the 15th June, all day long, great 

 swarms appeared flying from S.S.E. towards N.N.W., the wind being 

 S.S.W. At Strasbourg, from the 3rd to the 9th June, a similar oc- 

 currence was observed, the insect flying rapidly in innumerable 



