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time it was changing its character, appearing as lie says, " in a very 

 singular and unusual manner, a brood of it flies in May at Gamlingay 

 (Cambridgeshire), but not near London, and another separate brood of it 

 flies in September near London, but not near Gamlingay, and never 

 contrary -wise." The spring brood is now lost altogether. 



It is only fair to our subject to mention these three species, and we 

 will altogether omit other British butterflies now admittedly lost to our 

 lists, but reverting to those we still have amongst us we find the whites 

 almost holding their ground, though I do not think apart fi'om their 

 bright appearance, many would object were the converse the case. But 

 twice in the last ten years has the comparative paucity of the large white 

 been noted in our journals. The wood white (Leucophasia sinapis) has 

 been lost fi'om not only many of our southern woods, but almost fi'om 

 counties, and is rapidly becoming single-brooded; which it is even already in 

 some parts of the country. Of the browns, one, a most abundant garden 

 species of my boyhood (Lasiommata megfera, the common wall) has already 

 excited surprise by its lessening numbers, and enquiries are yearly made 

 how long it will continue with us; whilst egeria, another of the same family 

 has in places changed to a single-brooded insect, intermediate in its 

 appearance between the dates when it formerly occurred, and the two 

 broods of the last of the three (pamphilus) have become merged into a 

 continual flight, but less in numbers ; the first step towards a curtailment 

 of the ends, and consequent loss of one of the broods. One of the 

 Vanessas, ui'ticce, the common tortoiseshell, holds it ground, but the other 

 one C. album is vicarious, sometimes being in excess in the spring, at 

 others in the autumn, but seldom in both. The small copper even is 

 becoming less in numbers and erratic in appearance, although its food- 

 plants, dock and sorrel everywhere abound, yet the insect holds its own 

 sufficiently to attract attention annually. The two skippers, tages and 

 alveolus, feebly do the same, the summer brood of each appears dying 

 away whilst the spring one is iu abundant. But few collectors remember 

 either of our small wood fritillaries euphrosyne or selene upon the wing 

 in the Autumn as well as May, now they show themselves in June, and 

 are universally single-brooded. Argiolus is occasionally abundant in the 

 south of England, either in May, (formerly it used to be early in April,) 

 or August, but not in both months, unless sparingly, and in many places 

 it is intermediate and of one brood, and the other blues are also showing 

 decadence. 



This is indeed a black list, a change of 70 per cent upon our total 

 number, yet it would be worse if I included the five butterflies formerly 

 inhabiting these islands, but now lost to us, or almost so. 



To go through our list of moths would be tedious, and we should 

 come out of the enquiry equally badly, whilst a friend who has busied 

 himself among the beetles for nearly fifty years, assures me that in that 

 group too his experiences are the same. May -we not assume the same 

 influences to have affected the two-winged flies, diptera, and the 



