228 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



forms are larger and more brightly coloured than our local race, so 

 I hope that the introduction of new blood will improve the latter. 



Pararf/e egeria var. efierides. — The first was seen on April 8th 

 at Instow, and by May 7th they had become quite plentiful. On 

 the latter date I saw two pairs in cop. and the females in each 

 case were carrying the males. 



Pararge vief/csra. — The spring brood were very abundant 

 towards the end of May, and the second brood appeared about 

 August 22nd in even larger numbers. When I first came to 

 Dovercourt, in 1886, this butterfly was quite a rarity and only an 

 occasional one was met with each season. However, a few years 

 ago I received a large supply of ova of the first brood from the 

 south of Ireland, and obtained more myself from Northants, and 

 from these in the following August I bred about 200 butter- 

 flies which were " turned down " in two localities within a mile 

 of Dovercourt. Next spring it was fairly numerous in both 

 places and since then has spread all over the neighbourhood. I 

 have even seen them in my garden. They are a remarkably fine 

 type and much larger and brighter than those met with here 

 years ago. This morning I saw a female fluttering among some 

 dead stems of coarse grass in a hedge-row. She crawled down 

 as far as she could towards the ground when she stopped and I 

 could see by her action that she was egg-laying. Then, after a 

 short rest, she struggled up, Hew a few yards further on and 

 repeated her operations. 



Scarcity of Vaiiessids. — Up to May 8th, the day I returned 

 here, I had noticed very few Vanessids at Instow, North Devon. 

 A single P. atalanta was seen on January 23rd, single examples 

 of A. urticce and V. io on April 8th, and several of each on 22nd 

 and 23rd of the same month, and those were all. Here, at 

 Dovercourt, the only Vanessid I have so far observed (August 15th) 

 was a single worn P. cardui on May 11th, flying wildly about 

 some clumps of spear-thistle. I have not seen any nests of the 

 lavvse of io or urtica, although they are usually abundant, and 

 beds of nettles this year are plentiful and luxuriant. 



AdojxBii lineola and Epinepliih jurtina. — On August 6th I saw 

 a male A. lineola flirting and attempting amorous relations with 

 a female E. jartind as she sat on a thistle-flower. Jurtina did 

 not appear to object to these attentions, but before lineola was 

 able to accomplish his purpose another male arrived on the 

 scene, a battle ensued and they all three liew away. A. lineola 

 has spread all over this neighbourhood and seems to be quite 

 abundant this season. When I first discovered it here, in 1886, 

 it was confined to two small areas on the coast, some distance 

 from Dovercourt, but now it may be seen almost anywhere on 

 the sea front. On August 9th I saw one flying in the High Street ; 

 it settled on a brick wall and I had a clear view of it as I passed. 

 A. Jiava (linea) is a comparative rarity here and is very local. 

 Dovercourt, Essex. 



