18G [January, 



Vanessa c-albmn.—On April 26tli I caught a fine ? ^' c-album flying over some 

 currant bushes, and was fortunate enough to obtain a good many ova, which were 

 all laid between April 27th and May 6tli in the bright morning sunshine. The 

 eggs hatched between May 5th and 11th, and the larvsE (fed on currant and nettle 

 mixed) were full grown from June I7th to 23rd. The first butterfly emerged on 

 June 2Gth, and the last on July 3rd, and all were very fine and of the pale summer 

 Tariety. Two of the insects paired on June 30th, and the ? commenced laying on 

 July 1st and continued doing so until the 10th, when there were 120 ova in all. 



Unfortunately a spell of very cold weather began on July 12th, and more than 

 half the eggs perished in consequence. The seven eggs laid last all hatched on 

 July lotli, while a few of the earlier ones hatched at intervals till the 18th. The 

 larvce were divided, one lot fed on currant the other on nettle. The butterflies 

 emerged from August 17th to 27th ; those fed on currant were decidedly finer spe- 

 cimens, but all were considerably paler than tlie usual form. Several pairs were put 

 together, but no ova were obtained. This beautiful butterfly has been common this 

 year, and wild pupaj were found in July, August, September and October ; several 

 larvse in the two last named months were found in the hop-yards by the pickers, the 

 last butterfly from these appearing on October 27th. — E. lIuTcniNSON, Kimbolton, 

 Leominster : December, 188G. 



On the flight and pairhig of Ilepialus hecfus and humtili. — My attention was 

 first drawn to this subject by an interesting note by Mr. Barrett (Ent. Mo. Mag., 

 vol. six, p. 90) on the odour emitted by the male of IT. hectus. Dr. Chapman's 

 earlier note on H. humuli had escaped my attention. Since then I have nioi-e than 

 once seen the females of H. hectusQy to the males when the latter were oscillating 

 in the manner common to this species and humuli, and I have not the least doubt 

 that female hectus are attracted by the odour diffused by the males. The males fly 

 pretty steadily backwards and forwards only a few inches above the herbage ; the 

 females have a curious tumbling, shuflling sort of flight, quite different to anything 

 else I have seen. They shuflle about right np to the male, and the pair then retire 

 to the herbage below. If boxed before pairing, the males are quiet enough, but the 

 females flutter till they ai'e quite unfit for the cabinet. Unimpregnated females 

 deposit their ova quite readily in a chip box, and, rather to my surprise, I found 

 these ova turn black. I had always thought the change of colour was a sign of 

 fertility, but it is certainly not so with hectus. 



I have frequently watched the oscillations of male humuli, and can confirm Dr. 

 Chapman's observations in every particidar. They fly considerably higher above the 

 herbage than do hectus, and I had arrived at the same conclusions as he does, viz., 

 that the female sees the male, and that he flies to show himself. If this be so, and 

 I have no doubt about it, it probably accounts for the silvery brightness of the male. 

 The \ariet J hethl and ica is said to "assume" the markings of the female, but it is 

 much more likely tliat the sexes were originally alike, rather than that they have 

 subsequently became so. If the female flies to the male by sight, the paler specimens 

 would be better seen in the dusky twilight, and the tendency would be to the pro- 

 duction of light coloured males, except in more northern latitudes, where the prolonged 

 daylight would render the colour of less importance,. and the production of light 



