58 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



the parasite Apanteles rilomeratiis ; also that in the autumn of 

 1916 only some 10 per cent, of the larvae were attacked ; and 

 that, in his experience over a number of years, the proportion so 

 destroyed varied from 25 to 50 per cent. From Mr. Newman, 

 of Bexley, Kent, I learn that of 4000 larvae collected only 52 

 produced pupae = 1"3 per cent., and that some of these were 

 attacked after pupation by another parasite, which Mr. Claude 

 Morley very kindl}^ suggests would most probably be the Chalcid 

 Pteromalun puparuni. In the autumn of 1916 from some 3O0O 

 larvae he obtained 1700 pupae = 57 per cent ; and Mr. C. W. 

 Sperring from 150 larvae collected this autumn near Portsmouth 

 obtained only 3 pupae = 2 per cent., all the others being killed 

 by the parasites. 



As to the area affected by the great abundance of the butter- 

 Hies, there appears to be no doubt that during the latter half of 

 July, or later, it extended all along the south and east coasts 

 of England, also to Yorkshire and the Wye Valley. So noticeable 

 was it in this last-named district that a non-entomological friend, 

 who had been spending a holiday there in August, mentioned to 

 me on his return that he had never in his life seen so many 

 white butterflies before. The Eev. J. E. Tarbat tells me that in 

 his garden at Fareham, Hants, in the latter part of July they 

 were more abundant than he had ever previously seen them ; and 

 that later at Budleigh-Salterton, Devon, a similar state of affairs 

 existed, and that he had there counted as many as thirty-six 

 butterflies on one Buddleia shrub at one time. From Mr. G. T. 

 Porritt I learn that the first emergences of both P. rapce and 

 P. napi were unusually large in his immediate neighbourhood 

 (Huddersfield), but that P. brassiccB appeared in normal numbers ; 

 in the second emergence, however, the last-named species was 

 far more numerous than usual, while the two smaller species did 

 not appear to be so ; and that in other parts of Yorkshire the 

 abundance had been even greater than in his district. This is 

 borne out by a letter to the editor of the ' Yorkshire Post ' from 

 the gardening instructor to the Dunkeld allotments asking for 

 the collection of the larvae by school childreu, a reward being 

 offered for the largest number collected ; and from the ' Times ' 

 of September 12th one learns that within a fortnight the boys 

 and girls attending the elementary school at Hythe, Kent, 

 collected no less than 16,000 larvae from the allotments and 

 gardens in the neighbourhood. 



To the Rev. J. E. Tarbat I am also indebted for the following 

 interesting piece of information. He writes me : "A relation of 

 some people here (Fareham), Brigadier- General Farmer, C.M.G., 

 of the Canadian Division, was crossing the Channel from Folke- 

 stone to Boulogne on July 21st when the steamer encountered a 

 great swarm of white butterflies, many of which were seen to fall 

 into the sea." And from the ' Westminster Gazette' of August 16th 



