114 Mr. P. H. Gosse on the Insects of Jamaica* 



scribed. Here they flit to and fro without any regularity, a few 

 inches above the ground or herbage, alighting every instant. 



The habit which the yellow Pieridce have of resorting in num- 

 bers to the margin of water is common to the Jamaican species as 

 well as their fellows in other parts of the world. During the 

 rainy season, when the afternoon showers fill the hollows of the 

 highways with broad but shallow pools, which the intense morn- 

 ing sun either wholly or in part dries up, one may see towards 

 the middle of the day, each little patch of slushy mud surrounded 

 by a yellow fringe, composed of a multitude, truly surprising, 

 of these butterflies, large and small, chiefly Callidryas and Terias, 

 which sit on the very edge of the water, side by side, their wings 

 erect and closed, and their long suckers protruded and busily 

 extracting the moisture. For the most part a considerable num- 

 ber on the wing are hovering about the spot, some alighting and 

 some rising every moment. If compelled to take to flight, which 

 they do very reluctantly, the multitude of yellow wings that in a 

 moment throng the surrounding air is quite astonishing, and 

 forms a very pleasing sight. 



18. Danais Berenice var. ? Very common in company with 

 the Teriades just mentioned, over large open pastures, such as 

 that of Robin^s River in particular ; where in the month of March 

 great numbers may be seen either resting on the blossoms of 

 the common Red-head {Asclepias curassavica) and other Ascle- 

 piade<2, or heavily flying to and fro in pairs, united in sexual 

 copula. It has not the lofty and powerful flight of D. Archippus, 

 but hovers over the low pasture -herbage, with so little power of 

 wing, that it is caught without the slightest trouble, and may be 

 veiy readily taken with the fingers. 



19. Danais Cleothera. This handsomely-marked species oc- 

 curred at intervals throughout the year, but cannot be considered 

 other than rare. It aff'ects road-sides and openings in the woods 

 rather than pastures, and mountain-sides of moderate elevation 

 rather than the lowlands ; in both of which particulars it dificrs 

 from D. Berenice. 



20. Danais Archippus. This I found still more rare than the 

 preceding ; a very few specimens only were seen by me, and those, 

 though at widely separated intervals of time, only (if I remember 

 rightly) in one locality ; that part of the road to Savanna le mer 

 w-hich runs through Paradise morass, very near the dwelling- 

 house of the estate. It flew low, about the logwood hedges ; but 

 there are no trees near, or it would probably have towered above 



them. 



[To be continued.] 



