82 



female var. helice, varying in colour from almost pure white to 

 rich orange, showing a complete gradation of intermediate coloration, 

 including very rare shades of clear lemon-yellow and bright lemon- 

 yellow. Of var. helice some had very large pale patches replacing 

 the black colour and gradations of underside coloration. A second 

 series of 67 specimens varying from lemon-yellow to deep orange 

 was also shown with the striking aberrations ; 1. With black 

 suffusion from the apex to the discoidal spot ; 2. A lemon-yellow 

 specimen with black hindwing ; 3. A female with drab marginal 

 borders and a complete row of inter-nervule lemon-yellow spots; 

 and 4. A large female measuring 67mm. in expanse. 



Mr. Eobert Adkin read a paper entitled " Colias edusa in Britain," 

 and illustrated his remarks by a large scale map of Western Europe 

 and the British Islands, and a long series of <'.ediif<a which included 

 many of the forms to which he referred. (See page 17.) 



In the discussion which followed, Mr. A. Sich said too much 

 reliance should not be placed on Moufett's work, as a great deal 

 of it was taken from Gesner, the great Swiss writer, and might 

 not apply to British insects. The form of helice was a sex-limited 

 variation, but there was an idea that a specimen had been taken, 

 showing the wings of a normal male on one side and those of 

 helice on the other. If C. ednsa followed the lines of migration 

 suggested, it might account for its comparative scarceness in 

 Germany, where C. hijale was the commoner species of the two. 

 C. edusa was not the only butterfly which would die out in the 

 British Isles but for migration. Pieris brassica, could pass the 

 English winter in the pupa stage, but would die out if there were 

 a series of hard winters and no immigration. 



Mr. J. Piatt Barrett said he had taken a great deal of interest in 

 the species ever since he came to London in 1858, in which year he 

 captured his first specimen at Eiddlesdown. He resided for many 

 years in Margate, and he thought he was right in saying that in 

 no part of England was clover, lucerne, and sainfoin grown more 

 commonly than in that neighbourhood, nor was C. edusa met with 

 more frequently in any part than there, and he had met with it 

 or heard of it being taken practically every year while he was there, 

 and he had come to regard it as a yearly immigrant. He regarded 

 Sicily, where he had been a frequent visitor, as one of the homes 

 of C. edusa. There throughout the winter, on sunny days, speci- 

 mens could be met with quite commonly ; the first emergence 

 was in May, and was followed by brood upon brood throughout the 

 year. He considered the species was common in the North of 



