338 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



were it not for the ravages of ichneumons. On experimenting 

 with these flies I found that if exposed to any unusual heat from 

 the sun they speedily died. If this be the case in nature (which 

 I see no reason to doubt), and as we have had an unusually hot 

 summer, it is probable large numbers would die off, and con- 

 sequently a larger percentage of larvae would escape unstung, and 

 the butterflies emerge from their chrysalids. It is to be hoped, 

 however, the ichneumons will do their work doubly well next 

 year, or the cabbage plants, on which the Pieridae feed, will stand 

 a poor chance of arriving to any perfection. — W. G. McMurtrie; 

 South Hill, Radstock, July 29, 1887. 



Note on Argynnis paphia. — One morning, at the beginning 

 of August, I saw a specimen, apparently in good condition, of 

 Argynnis paphia, flying about the pier at Worthing. Is not this 

 rather an unusual situation for this wood-frequenting insect? — 

 Joseph Anderson, Jun. ; Chichester. 



Vanessa antiopa. — I have read with interest the notes which 

 have been published from time to time in the * Entomologist' on 

 the colour of the outer borders of the wings of this butterfly, and 

 thought that a few words on the subject from this side of the 

 ocean might be of interest. I have been perfectly familiar with 

 this insect for more than forty-five years, for during that time it 

 has been on the average one of the most common, if not the 

 most common butterfly in the localities where I have lived. For 

 the last sixteen years I have had classes in Entomology, and 

 naturally my attention has been directed, year after year, to this 

 very common butterfl}^ in all its stages, by the different students 

 under my tuition. There is but one generation in a year, and 

 the butterflies hybernate during the winter, in the imago stage. 

 They appear on the wing in the warm spring months, and the 

 females deposit their eggs in May, sometimes to the number of 

 125, in a belt around the twigs of elm or willow. The eggs 

 hatch, the larvae pass their transformations, and the butterflies 

 emerge during the latter part of July. These summer insects, 

 fresh from pupae, always have yellow borders, while those which 

 have lived over the winter always have the whitish or faded 

 borders, and I have never seen nor heard of an excgfttion to this. 

 They vary considerably in size, but I have never seen any very 

 great variation in coloration except that referred to on the borders 



