DAMAID^. lis 



about the front of the town, but, after being several times 

 disturbed by passing vehicles, it flew out to sea, and dis- 

 appeared. As far as I can ascertain, these are all the 

 specimens recorded here. Probably they are all correctly 

 named, indeed most have been seen by competent entomo- 

 logists ; but it has been stated that the allied I), rhrjisi-ppm 

 had been taken, and this rumour remains uncontradicted 

 and unconfirmed. My own published requests for oppor- 

 tunities of examining British specimens have resulted only 

 in the loan by Mr. W. H. Tugwell, its present possessor, of 

 the specimen taken in Cornwall by Mr. Anderson. I have 

 examined the records with care. There is no cause whatever 

 to suspect that the specimens were introduced into this 

 country in the egg, larva, or pupa stage. There can be no 

 doubt that they were genuine immigrants. No species of 

 the food plant, Asclcpias, is indigenous here, but two species, 

 A. piirjnircsccns and A. tuberosa, are cultivated as ornamental 

 plants, and a faint hope has existed that the insect would 

 establish itself with us ; but there is no indication that this 

 has taken place, and it is even possible that the migratory 

 impulse may subside and that it may again become confined 

 to more genial and suitable regions. 



It is a noble-looking insect, of great power of flight. The 

 Rev. A. Fuller, of Pallant, Chichester, writes me that in 1884, 

 being in Canada, he was much struck with its appearance as 

 it dashed rapidly, horizontally, along, high up in the air, 

 until on a sudden it would draw up its wings, and drop 

 suddenly, almost like a kestrel, till it reached the ground, 

 when it would skim off again, horizontally, but lazily, and 

 soon settle on a bush, a flower, or even on the ground, 

 frequently closing its wings over its body. Lieut. Mathew 

 has stated that he has often seen it at sea flying at a great 

 height above the ship, sometimes more than 200 miles from 

 the nearest land. During a cruise between New Caledonia 

 and the Solomon Islands specimens were to be seen passing 

 over every day, as though a migration were taking place. It is 



