THE PAST YEAR. 2838 
appearance at the end of April, whence its name (St. Mark's 
Day, April 25th). I only saw it on one day this year, and 
that sparingly, on May 14th. In some few instances periodicity 
is said to override the influence of temperature; in a paper 
on this subject (Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond., 8rd ser., vol. i., p. 63), 
Dr. Verloren especially mentions Swammerdam’s and Réaumur’s 
Eiphemeride, and makes some very pertinent remarks on the 
appearance of several Lepidoptera. 
The comparative abundance of certain species is of more 
interest. Butterflies generally have been scarce, and here I have 
not seen a single Thecla or Lycena the whole year. Thecla rubi 
mostly occurs in my garden in the spring, and 7’. W-album, 
in some years, is not rare on the blackberry bushes in autumn. 
These inconspicuous species may possibly have been overlooked, 
but not so the brilliant little Lycena Icarus and L. Argiolus, 
which I never before failed to see in numbers. Not one of either 
this year; and, curiously, not a single Polyommatus Phleas till 
September 10th. Chortobius Pamphilus has also been very rare ; 
a few were noticed on June 19th, but no autumn specimens 
occurred. The Preride have been by no means common; August 
24th was the only day on which they were seen in any quantity. 
P. brassice has been rare throughout, but from North Germany 
we hear of swarms of this species occurring towards the end of 
August, whence they travelled southwards. I saw a few Gonepteryx 
rhamni, both hybernated and fresh individuals, but all males; 
hybernators occurred till June 28th. Of Colias Hdusa I found 
one most dilapidated female on September 26th, flying—or rather 
trying to fly—at ten minutes past five in the afternoon. I con- 
fined this over some growing and blooming white clover (T'rifoliwm 
repens), hopeful of eggs, but had no success; it was found dead 
on September 29th. This is the only living Colias I have seen 
since 12th December, 1877, although it has occurred in many 
localities this year. ‘The Vanesside and Satyride have been 
generally common, with but few Hesperide. ‘The lessons learned 
from our British butterflies would be that those species which 
were exposed pupe (Pieride) throughout the winter suffered 
greatly from natural enemies, as birds, woodlice, &c., owing to the 
scarcity of other food, while the larval and imago hybernators 
(Satyride and Nymphalidae) were fairly safe, owing to the 
unbroken continuity of the cold. 
