﻿84 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



much less than two hundred over all the layings. As the larvas 

 grew and matured, no small difficulty was created in maintaining 

 a sufficiency of food for such a voracious crew, and I had to 

 adopt special expedients. There was a large bed of carrots in 

 the garden exclusively provided for their benefit, and in due 

 course the half-fed larvae were transferred to it, being kept from 

 straying by the medium of rough oblong frames covered with 

 leno. Under these shelters the larvae thrived apace, and it was 

 truly a superb sight to see a host of these handsome creatures — 

 some over two inches long — feeding for all they were worth. 

 One admiring friend said tbey put him in mind of a troop of 

 " Zebras," apparently a far-fetcbed simile ; but the allusion was 

 quite understandable, the association of ideas being inspired by 

 the endless array of stripes, which first struck on one's vision. 

 There was a perfume arising from tbe cages, so intense and 

 unequi vocable that everyone remarked on the " strong smell of 

 pears " ; and there it assuredly was. From this batch of larvae, 

 all but about six spun up, some on the foliage, others on the 

 sides of the cages, and it was curious that the numbers of grey 

 and green chrysalids were pretty equal, it being perfectly hopeless, 

 however, to try to discover any outward reason for the difference, 

 nor from observation after emergence was it possible to say 

 there was either a sex or colour identification. 



Greatly to my mortification the whole of the pupae very 

 rapidly showed signs of the imago within, and all the butterflies 

 came out, so I had either to kill for the cabinet, or free them, for 

 circumstances prevented my preparing for a second brood. 



Another season, for winter stock it might be advisable to 

 place a supply of chrysalids in a refrigerator in order to retard 

 them till all chance of emergence has gone. I therefore let 

 about fifty go, in the hope that tbey would establish themselves 

 somewhere in the vicinity, and obtained a fine series to replenish 

 the cabinets, with heaps of spare specimens for friends. 



The whole series showed little variation from the normal, 

 excepting that of size, which ranged from an expanse of 3f in. 

 to a little under 2 in., and the intensity of blue in the hind 

 margin, which from a dense blue-black varied to a most delicious 

 brilliant sky-blue ; the red anal spot also differs from blood-red 

 to a dirty brick colour. 



Machaon is certainly easy to breed under proper and favour- 

 able climatic conditions, and there ought to be no serious 

 difficulty in naturalising this species in Shropshire, as the 

 county contains many suitable localities where the ordinary food- 

 plants, Peucedaniim palustre or Daucus carota, are plentiful. I 

 should welcome collaboration from any Shropshire entomologists 

 in this coming season to endeavour to establish it. 



" Headingley," Shrewsbury : December 14th, 1914. 



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