122 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 
NOTES ON LEPIDOPTERA AT. ALTON IN 1920. 
By E. A.-C. StowEuu. 
THe vicissitudes of the weather produced some erratic 
appearances among the butterflies. February and March were 
very warm. Vanessa io appeared on February 10th by the 
roadside, but the most surprising dates were Celastrina argiolus 
on March 80th, and Euchloé cardamines March 31st. Then the 
season collapsed. The only further sight I had of C. argiolus . 
was on May 15th and September 7th—an odd set of dates! 
The species was common last year, but I fear this was one of the 
fatal seasons that give it a set-back. In April I spent a week in 
the Isle of Wight, and found larve of Melitea cinxia swarming 
near Niton, but very hard to rear. About three dozen larve 
brought home only yielded eight imagines. There were no 
parasites that I could observe, but both larve and pup dried 
and shrivelled up. Yet their habitat on the undercliff is hot and 
dry enough. 
The Vanessids promised well. On May 16th, during a Sunday 
afternoon stroll, I encountered Aglais urtice, V. io, Pyrameis 
cardui and P. atalanta, while something looking like Hugonia 
polychloros flew over a tall barn; I met also the three common 
species of Pieris, Gonepteryx rhamni and E. cardamines, a most 
unusually complete list for the date. P. atalanta was the 
butterfly of the year, often seen in June and abundant in 
September, while a fresh-looking specimen was brought me, 
caught before 9.0 a.m. on November 9th. 
P. cardui was not common in the autumn, and I saw 
nothing of A. urtice till on October 7th a fresh-looking specimen 
appeared in the garden. Presumably the second brood was 
much belated. -V. io was fairly common in the autumn; in 
my experience it has been commoner of late years than A. urtice. 
The woodland butterflies were normal in date, but fewer in 
number than last year. I noted Brenthis euphrosyne, May 22nd, 
Nemeobius lucina, May 28rd, B. selene (not fresh) and Limenitis 
sibylla, June 23rd. The larve of the latter must have been 
abundant in spring, as I picked up three in a few minutes on 
April 24th in the Holt, though not out to look for them. They 
are remarkably accommodating larve. I left them in the glass- 
topped metal box, fed them on the “netted” Japanese honey- 
suckle; they suspended from the glass and emerged the first week 
in June—fine specimens, though I had to raise the lid of the box 
to make room for their wings to expand. The pupa of this 
species is incredibly small to contain such a large butterfly. 
I bred six Zephyrus betule from as many larve beaten on 
June 7th, but could only see one wild imago (August 30th). 
Melanargia-galatea and Argynnis aglaia were out on July 4th. 
Dryas paphia was not out on June 80th, fairly plentiful at the 
end of July, and I captured a male for identification at Selborne 
on September 38rd. 
