144 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Butterflies do not always Settle on Flowers of their own 

 COLOUR. — On one of the lovely days last week I was sitting in my 

 garden here, watching the gambols of a trio of small tortoiseshell 

 butterflies, which were enjoying, like myself, the glorious sunshine ; 

 rock cress (Arabis alpinn) and wallflowers were out in profusion, but 

 little else save a few primroses and forget-me-nots. The colours 

 of some of the wallflowers were so balanced as to match, in propor- 

 tion, the reds, yellows, and blacks of the gay little flutterers ; and one 

 would have supposed that their nectar was just as sweet as, and could 

 have been imbibed with greater safety than, that of the Arabis ; and 

 yet, so far as my observation went, they invariably settled upon the 

 white flower ; that is, when they were not frolicking in the air or 

 settled on the ground or grass. Bees, too, though they were not so 

 exclusive in their choice, seemed to prefer the white blossom, upon 

 which they were far more conspicuous than they would have been 

 upon the darker blossoms. — Hy. Knaggs ; Folkestone, April 6th, 1897. 



Aberrations of British Lepidoptera. — We are pleased to observe 

 that the figures of varieties of Lepidoptera published in the ' Entomo- 

 logist ' are so interesting to our French contemporary ' Le Naturaliste ' 

 that they, together with the remarks thereon, have been reproduced in 

 that journal. 



Committee for the Protection of Insects in Danger of Extermi- 

 nation. — At the meeting of the Entomological Society of London, held 

 on the Tthinst., the following Memorandum of Association was adopted, 

 and signed by the President, the Council, and many members : — 



" We, the undersigned, being desirous of protecting from extermi- 

 nation those rare and local species of insects which are not injurious to 

 agriculture nor to manufactures, do hereby agree by our own example, 

 and by the exercise of our influence over others, to discourage the 

 excessive collecting and destruction of those species of insects which, 

 from their peculiar habits or limited range, are in danger of extermi- 

 nation in the United Kingdom. We further agree to accept, for the 

 purposes of this Association, such list of species in need of protection 

 as shall be drawn up, and from time to time, if necessary, amended, 

 by tlie Committee of the Entomological Society of London appointed 

 to this end." 



A copy of this Memorandum of Association has been forwarded for 

 signatui-e to each of those societies which have expressed themselves 

 as in sympathy with the objects of the Committee. — Chas. G. 

 Barrett, Bon. Sec; 39, Linden Grove, Nunhead, S.E. 



CAPTURES AND FIELD EEPORTS. 



Early Appearance of Lyc^na argiolus. — On March 19th the son 

 of Mr. Jeffries, of this town, took a freshly emerged female M. argiolus; is 

 not this an unusually early date for ibis species to be on the wing ?— 

 Spotswood Graves ; Tenby, March 25th, 1897. 



This evening I was surprised to find a perfect male specimen of Lycmia 

 argiolus settled on a wall in our garden.— J. F. Bird; Rosedale, 1G2, 

 Dalliiig Road, Hammersmith, W., April 13th, 1897. 



