128 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



borders of the posterior wings much more elongated. — K. S. Mitford; 

 35, Kedcliflfe Square, South Kensington, March 4th, 1901. 



The Courtship of Anthocharis cardamines. — Since the spring of 

 1899, there has been on my notes an observation which I have not 

 ventured to publish because confirmatiou was wanting respecting the 

 interpretation which I was inclined to give to the fact in question. In 

 the present (March) number of the 'Entomologist' (p. 73) Mr. Guy A. K. 

 Marshall has, however, independently arrived at a similar conclusion 

 in the case of the South African Pierid^e, and it seems therefore desir- 

 able to place the observation upon record. At the period mentioned 

 I noticed near Dunmow, in Essex, a male C. cardamines hovering 

 round, and advancing towards and receding from, a female of this 

 species sitting low down among the herbage with open wings and 

 raised abdomen, precisely in the attitude described by Mr. Marshall. 

 It seemed at first sight as though the male had been a successful 

 suitor, and that pairing would take place. The female remained quite 

 passive, and in no way repelled the advances of her suitor. For more 

 than fifteen minutes the male continued his evolutions, and then, 

 without being in the least disturbed by me, the insects parted company 

 and flew away in different directions, I was much puzzled at the 

 time to explain why, with no other rival in the field, and with an 

 apparently passive female, the courtship should have ended in this 

 apparently fruitless way. It afterwards occurred to me, on thinking 

 the matter over, that the passivity and attitude might have been 

 indications that mating had previously taken place, and that the new 

 suitor had been warned off for this reason. This conclusion I now 

 find to be completely in harmony with Mr. Marshall's wider experience. 

 I do not know how long the male liad been paying his attentions before 

 his evolutions attracted my attention, but it was certainly more than 

 fifteen minutes after my arrival before he realised that his suit was a 

 useless one. This observation appears to me of interest also as 

 indicating that in this species the male is the wooer, and this, from 

 the point of view of the theory of sexual selection, is in accord with 

 the fact that he is the more brilliantly coloured. — R. Meldola ; 6, 

 Brunswick Square, W.C., March 16th, 1901. 



Irregularity of Emergence, and Larval Retardation. — Reading 

 with interest Mr. Merrifield's notes on irregularity in emergence of 

 the Drepanidffi {ante, p. 98), some similar observations made last year 

 may be worth recording. 



Plvsia iota. — Sixteen larviB of this species were successfully hyber- 

 nated, during the winters of 1899 and 1900, amongst dead leaves of 

 Lamium album, all having hatched on the same day the previous 

 summer, and being of very similar size during hybernation. Feeding 

 was resumed about February 18th, and all the larvie but one began to 

 spin their cocoons from April 23rd to 25th, the moths emerging from 

 May 27th to June 4th. 



The one exception, although perfectly healthy, appeared to cease 

 growing almost entirely during April, whilst the others were rapidly 

 maturing, but after the middle of May seemed bent on making up for 

 lost time, being full-fed about June 6th. when it was unfortunately 



