302 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



time, I placed about in the Hhrubberies a few each of some eight 

 different foreign species of Ilhamnus. The unfavourable spring 

 of this year kept me from paying the district a visit before 

 June 24th, and this date proved quite early enough. The 

 number of ova and small larvae which I observed was quite 

 astonishing. From off the newly planted R. frangula I took 

 over three hundred and fifty larvce ; half of these I placed on 

 older trees better able to support them, and the other half I 

 brought in to rear myself, but of these more anon. I may men- 

 tion here that it is not the healthiest trees with abundance of 

 foliage that receive the best patronage, but rather the weaklings — 

 sometimes, indeed, those that are just dying off — and many larvae 

 must perish every year through this peculiar 2)enchant of their 

 mothers. 



The "foreigners" had all been planted in pet, sunny spots, 

 and were growing well. Five out of the eight species received 

 attention from G. rliamni, and four out of the five produced fine- 

 sized larvae in due course. The following are the plants in 

 question: — R. latifoliiis, R.tinctoriiis, R.piLrsJdanus, R.imeritinus, 

 and R. alpinus. A considerable number of eggs were laid on 

 the last-named plant, but the little larvae did very badly on it. 

 Of six that I brought in, I only succeeded in obtaining one pupa. 

 This pupa was considerably less than half the normal size, and 

 failed to produce an imago. Latifolius was the only evergreen 

 species which was noticed, and it produced the largest larvae I 

 have seen. 



On June 16th I received twelve dozen pupae of Gonepteryx 

 cleopatra, which Mr. H. W. Head, of Scarborough, had procured 

 for me from South Austria. Some of the insects began to 

 emerge before I was able to get over to Ireland on the 24th, but 

 these were kept snug in a big tin box with wet grass, and in no 

 way suffered. The last imago appeared on July 1st, and, all 

 told, I had been able to liberate about one hundred healthy 

 insects. The place is peculiarly suited to an experiment of this 

 kind, the young plantations being intersected by broad rides, 

 sheltered from the wind and open to the sun, with an abundance 

 of wild flowers, and, lastly, a total absence for miles around of 

 the man with the net and collecting box. Cleopatra quickly 

 settled down to her changed surroundings, and very comely she 

 looked floating about in the sun — a sun which failed not during 

 the first few days of her liberation. Bramble blossoms proved 

 the chief attraction at first, and later on thistle-heads, scabious, 

 knapweed, and other composites. 



I had found it very hard to obtain any information about 

 this insect, and was working under the impression that it was 

 single-brooded, after the manner of our native G. rhamni. I 

 was, however, quickly undeceived. Pairing commenced at once, 

 and on July 13th I observed a female depositing ova on a big 



