130 - [Novembea-, 



" aJlus from Vienna. Its i)rincipal food is vine, but it will probably 

 " feed on any plant." M. ^owv^WievaWe ^a-jii StctcJiys germanica. Mr. 

 Stainton bred it this summer from larvae sent to him from the South 

 of France on Asclejjias vincetoxlciim. 



Clepsis ricsticcma, Treitschke. — Grerman specimens of this species 

 are larger than ours. 



Norwich : October 9th, 1872. 



NOTE ON OUE EECENT INVASION BY VANESSA ANTIOPA. 

 BT F. BUCHA^'AN WHITE, M.D. 



More than half inclined as I am to accept Mr. Stainton' s theory 

 of the Scandinavian origin of the numerous specimens of Vanessa 

 Antiopa that have been captured or seen in Great Britain diiring the 

 past autumn, yet it occurs to me that a word or two might be said 

 against the "flown-over" theory. 



1st. — Although most of the specimens recorded were seen on the 

 east side of the country, yet this may only show that V. Antiopa, like 

 several insects and plants which there can be no doubt are indigenous, 

 has a greater preference for the east, than for the west, side of the 

 country. 



2ud. — Mr. Stainton notices the relative distribution of the 

 white-bordered and the yellow-bordered forms, and shows that, if the 

 specimens in question are immigrants, they must have come, most 

 probably, from Norway. 



On the other hand, might it not be argued, that (supposing 

 Antiopa were not known to have occurred in Britain) the similarity 

 between the ScandinaAdan and British Faunas would lead one to pre- 

 dict that the form which might be expected to occur (at least in the 

 north of England and Scotland) would be the white-bordered one. 



Or again, seeing that the majority of the records (both j^ast and 

 present) of this species are from the north-eastern counties of Britain 

 (I have records from almost every eastern county of Scotland, from 

 Berwickshire to Morayshire), is it not more probable that the northern, 

 rather than the southern, form should be the occurring one. 



3rd. — As to the irregularity in the periods of its appearance (at 

 least, in unusual numbers) in this country, several of the Vanessidce 

 are notorious for their irregularity. Pyrameis cardui is a notable^ 

 instance, and Vanessa polychlows is also, I believe, subject to it. This 

 latter insect (V. polychloros) has been taken during the past autumn 

 in Aberdeenshire, in a locality where V. Antiopa has also appeared, 



