NOTES, CAPTURES, ETC. 175 
become entirely extirpated. Great was their surprise, however, 
at the immense quantities of this insect which suddenly made 
their appearance in the autumn of 1884. Our gardens completely 
swarmed with them, and all kinds of vegetables were consumed 
indiscriminately by the multitude of caterpillars which were soon 
produced. ‘The market gardeners were sorely distressed to know 
how to grapple with the foe, and numerous complaints found 
themselves from time to time in the local newspapers. As Sep- 
tember began to draw to a close, so did the butterflies show 
signs of getting over, and when the Ist of October arrived nothing 
more was to be seen of them; but they left plenty of caterpillars 
behind them to commemorate their visitation. The larve were 
mostly all full-fed by the middle of October, and commenced at 
once to pupate under the projections of walls, palings, &c. At 
least half of them proved to be attacked by that deadly parasite 
Microgaster glomeratus, the golden cocoons of which appeared 
in the utmost profusion over walls and fences. The average 
number of parasites that attacked each individual victim was 
between forty and fifty. Numbers of caterpillars lived on through 
October, and many were not full-fed until somewhat near the 
middle of November. Such as these had either been hatched 
Jate or were sickly. The majority of these which had not sprung 
up by the end of October perished on account of the frosts which 
set in with vigour about that time. Notwithstanding all these 
enemies, the number of pup# which survived was enormous. I 
counted on a wall not exceeding a dozen yards in length at least 
fifty or sixty of them. As I fully anticipated, the imagos 
appeared the next spring in proportionate abundance, and con- 
tinued so throughout the summer. It remains yet to be seen 
whether the insect will be as numerous during the ensuing 
Simmer or otherwise. What was the cause of such a sudden 
appearance of this butterfly in such vast numbers, without having 
previously given any warning? Could it be through migration, 
or the cause of some hitherto unknown agent in facilitating its 
rapid multiplication ? The weather in both the years 1884 and 
1885 was comparatively favourable for its developement, par- 
ticularly so in the latter, which was unusually dry and warm. I 
am inclined to think that itis greatly regulated by both weather 
and parasite. It will be interesting to discover in what way the 
parasites themselves are affected by the weather. I should be 
