230 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



hundreds, besides many other kinds of butterflies." Vanessa 

 cardui and V. atalanta I found also very numerous, especially 

 the former. In the cold and backward spring and summer of 

 1879 V. carchd appeared in swarms over different j)arts of the 

 Continent and the British Isles, and during the autumn they 

 swarmed thi'oughout the countr)% as likewise Pliis'ia gamma. 

 Now both these species this season have been unusually plentiful, 

 which is very interesting and remarkable, as the weather of 

 the sirring and summer of 187'J was similar to that of the present 

 year ; so in all probability they will occur in like abundance during 

 the coming autumn. — F. W. Frohawk ; Balham, July, 1888. 



Extraction of Moth fkom Pupa. — The following account 



of the successful, though unpremeditated, extraction of an imago 



from the puparium may not be uninteresting. Examining the 



cocoons of some of the Cork forms of Spilosoma mendica, I 



unfortunately broke the pupa-case of one, and discovered a moth 



in it. Thinking, after this, that in all probability, if not killed, 



it would as a specimen be irretrievably ruined, I, yet with some 



care, peeled off the skin, and got out the imago, which was a 



female. She was very weak and tottering, but I placed her 



carefully upon a card, which I tilted against the side of the 



flower-pot, and, tying over the muslin covering, left the 



prematurely-born infant to her fate. Returning to inspect her 



and see how she was getting on, about two hours after, I was 



much surprised, and pleased, to see that the wings were fully 



expanded, and that the moth v/as, in all respects, as fine and 



l^erfect as the most fastidious lepidopterist could desire. Now it 



may be that the imago was upon the point of emerging when I 



broke open the cocoon and pupa, and so I but hastened its entry 



into the world ; or it may be that the operation saved — for a 



brief period, it is true, for it was soon converted into a specimen 



— the moth. It is well known, of course, to all collectors of 



insects, that although perfectly formed within the puparium, 



except for the necessary development of the wings subsequent to 



emergence, it frequently happens that the imago has no power 



of issuing, and either dries or rots away. It would, doubtless, be 



a ver}' hazardous proceeding tlius to " help " the birth of our 



specimens ; but the idea is suggested whether many a rare insect 



might not thus be saved if, and there is the rub, one only knew 



when to adopt it at the nick of time. Since writing the above I 



