160 



hatch, until some extraordinary but undiscovered coincidences awake them 

 to active life." 



John Curtis, in his " British Entomology," 1825, writes : "Until four or 

 five years since, Antiopa had not been seen for nearly forty years, when it 

 was exceedingly abundant in different parts of the kingdom. In the year 

 1819, a few were taken in Suffolk, and Mr. Samouelle captured one the fol- 

 lowing spring that had lived through the winter, since which period it has 

 not been seen." 



Stephens, in his "Illustrations," 1828, writes: "No insect is more re- 

 markable for the irregularity of its appearance than this. Till about the 

 middle of the last century, few specimens had been observed ; but about 60 

 years since it appeared in such prodigious numbers throughout the kingdom, 

 that the Entomologists of that day gave it the appellation of the ' Grand 

 Surprise/ Of late it has again become unfrequent ; the last times that it 

 appeared in plenty being 1789 and 1793, a few only having been captured 

 subsequently. At the present day it still appears to occur occasionally 

 throughout England, as Mr. Backhouse informs me that, about the year 1820, 

 he saw vast numbers strewing the sea shore at Seaton Carew, Durham, both 

 in a dead and living state, and also floating on the River Tees and it has 

 also been taken in the counties of Suffolk, Worcestershire, Surrey, Norfolk, 

 Essex, Berkshire, Oxford, Kent, and Cambridgeshire, and I once saw one on 

 a willow near Hertford." 



Mr. George Wailes, in his " Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Northumber- 

 land and Durham," published in 1858, writes, "About twenty years ago, I 

 enquired of a very intelligent friend, who had passed his early life at Stockton, 

 whether he had any recollection of ever having seen any such butterfly in his 

 vicinity, and his reply was, ' that he knew it well, and that it went by the 

 name of the " White Petticoat/ " Mr. Wailes goes on to say ' No one who 

 knows the insect can question the appropriateness of the name, or its appli- 

 cation to this species/ and adds 'It would seem that the South 'Eastern 

 corner of Durham has been rich in this fine insect." 



The Rev. JP. O. Morris, in his " History of British Butterflies," published 

 in 1853, writes, "The neighbourhood of Kawmarsh, near Rotherham, York- 

 shire, is one of the most uniform localities for this rare insect I am aware of," 

 and goes on to say " The year 1846 has been unusually productive of the 

 species." 



Mr. Stain ton, in his " Manual," published in 1857, writes, "This insect is 

 extremely irregular in its appearance, and has hardly been seen since 1847." 



Mr. Barrett, in his "Lepidoptera of Norfolk," published in 1874, writes 

 it Antiopa, "Usually a great rarity; but in August, 1872, it appeared in 



