1872.1 



105 



THE EECENT INVASION of GREAT BRITAIN BY VANESSA ANTIOPA. 

 BY II. T. STAINTON, T.E.S. 



While the circiiinstance of such au influx amougst ua o£ Vanessa 

 Antiopa as has not occurred within the memory o£ the " oldest ento- 

 mologist " is still fresh in our recollections, I wish to call attention to 

 the quarter whence probahly these invaders have come. 



When, 13 years ago, writing "On the Greographical Distribution of 

 the British But- 

 terflies " (Trans. 

 Ent. Soc. Lond., 

 new series, vol. v, 

 p. 231), I noticed, 

 with reference to 

 " the three strag- 

 glers in this coun- 

 try," that Pieris 

 Daplidice and 

 Argynnis Latlio- 

 nia seemed con- 

 fined to the southern counties of England, not ranging north of 

 Peterborough, but that " Vanessa Antiopa is most plentiful between 

 the Humber and the Tyne, and has more than once been noticed on 

 the north side of the border." 



The inference I had drawn from this, though not then expressed, 

 was, that if Daplidice and Latlwnia came to us from France, Antiopa 

 more probably came from Norway. 



If the specimens of Antiopa (seen or caught) recorded in this 

 Magazine be arranged in the order of the latitude of their localities, 

 we get the following result : — 



Folkestone 1, Dover 2, Tunbridge Wells 2, Copthorne 1, Box 

 Hill 1, Heme Bay 1, Eltham 1, Lewisham 1, Twickenham 1, Erith 1, 

 Hyde Park 1, Highgate 1, Southend, Essex 1, Totteridge 2, Hitchin 2, 

 Cambridge 4, Ramsey 1, Chatteris 2, Yarmouth 1, Norwich 6, Leices- 

 ter 1, Barnsley 3, Huddersfield 1, Cleckheaton 1, Hull 1, Bretton 1, 

 Leeds 1, York 1, Darlington 1, Snlthiorn 1, Forres, Morayshire 2. 



The italics indicate localities on the coast, — and Dover, Heme 

 Bay, Southend, Essex, Yarmouth, Hull, Saltburn, and Forres arc all 

 on the East coast. 



Many of the captors have noticed the whiteness of the borders, 

 and 1 should be very glad to hear whether any of the specimens lately 

 caught have pale yellow borders. 



