56 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



figured by Cholodkovsky,* and reared by him through larval and 

 pupal stages behind yellow glass. Atrahntensis is one of the 

 eight varieties of nrtica distinguished by Eaynor as " both rare 

 and beautiful." 



C. phlceas, I suppose in its third brood, was abundant in 

 rough meadows near Beaminster. 



On the turf-covered earthworks of the fine old British camp, 

 Maiden (Mai-dun) Castle, w^e came on the second brood of A. bel- 

 largus, just out (September 8rd and 6th). Among the females I 

 took one finely suffused with blue and another of the aberration 

 striata, in which nearly all the spots on the under side are 

 extended into linear streaks except those external to the orange 

 lunules, which are absent altogether. The variation is thus 

 closely parallel with that of the specimen of medon noted above. 

 We met with this species again on the hill above Cerne Abbas. 



At Maiden Castle I took a belated pair of A. corjidon in fair 

 order on September 3rd, They appear identical with some of 

 my Eoyston specimens. 



The more prevalent blue colour of the females of P. icarus 

 in this more westerly part of England was very noticeable, as 

 compared with the sober brown forms which are more usual 

 about Cambridge. 



G. rhamni was not very common in Dorset. On one occasion, 

 however (Sept. 9), we came on a number of them together, about 

 some comfrey plants by the roadside. From these I took six 

 males and three females, as they were in perfect condition, and 

 there were otliers not taken. I suppose they were members of a 

 brood which had kept together.! 



I only took two specimens of C. eduaa in Dorset, and saw one, 

 possibly two, others. I met with an example of this species so 

 late as November 22nd on the golf links at Lyme Piegis. 



The third brood of P. egeria var. egerides was out in all its 

 glory along the sides of the deep Dorset lanes, and P. megcera 

 and E. tithonus were here abundant, as they had been near 

 Cambridge. 



THE ABUNDANCE OF WHITE BUTTERFLIES IN 1917. 



By PiOBERT Adkin, F.E.S. 



(Conclnded from p, 39.) 



Although from time to time I examined many hundreds, 

 possibly thousands, of individuals as they sat on the flowers 

 feeding, I failed to detect any marked variation in any of them. 



* ' Ann. Soc. Entom. de France,' Ixx, 1901, p. 174. 



t On February 9, while I corrected the proof of this paper, a specimen of 

 rhamni was flying in front of the house, at Grantchester. 



