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all parts of the county, and was almost common in the North Eastern corner." 



Vanessa antiopa was first taken in England in the year 1748, and was not 

 noticed again till 1789, when numbers were seen in Kent during the month of 

 August, and also in the spring of the following year after hibernation. 



According to Donovan, it was very abundant in 1793, but curiously enough 

 the fact is ignored by Lewin. Donovan also mentions that not one was to 

 be seen in 1794, although it was a most favourable year for insect life gene- 

 rally, nor does any appear to have been met with again till 1819, when it was 

 common, especially in Durham and Suffolk. 



A few were taken in 1820 and 1821, and one was recorded as being taken 

 in Hampshire in 1828, by the Rev. F. W. Hope; for 1833 there is one 

 record, and two for 1834, two were recorded in 1835, one in 1837, and two 

 in 1845. The year 1840 was unusually productive of the species, several 

 being taken in the counties of Yorkshire, .Norfolk, Suffolk, Es^ex, Ken(, 

 Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex, Middlesex, Hertfordshire, Lincolnshire, Bedford- 

 shire, Nottingham, and Ayrshire. 1846 was a remarkable year* with a mild 

 winter. All the rare Hawk Moths were unusually common, and so was the 

 Queen of Spain Fritillary. There was also a migration of Locusts and the 

 White Butterflies ; but very few Clouded Yellows. 



It was scarce in 1847, and none appear to have been seen again till 1855, 

 when one was taken in North Wales; scarce in 1856, one record in 1857, 

 scarce in 1858 one being taken at Rannoch in April: several were taken in 

 1859 and 1860, one in 1862, and one in 1864; a few were taken in 1865 

 including one at Killarney, in Ireland, one in 1867, and one in 1869; it 

 was scarce in 1870, and but one was taken in 1871. 



Now comes its great year 1872, in which it appeared in greater numbers 

 than it has ever been known to do before or since, especially in the North 

 Eastern counties of England ; and it was also abundant in Holland, from 

 which direction the migration probably took place. In 1872, we had a cold 

 backward spring and a rough stormy summer until the middle of August, 

 when three weeks of glorious weather, with continuous easterly winds, super- 

 vened, during which the best part of the year's work was effected. At this 

 period, so writes Dr. Knaggs, " the grand surprise " of the season was in 

 store for us ; three of our rarest butterflies Daplidice, Latkonia, and Antiopa 

 turned up in such numbers as had never previously been heard of in Britain, 

 at any rate in the present century. Antiopa especially, eclipsing all former 

 displays within the memory of living man, and throwing into the shade the 

 so-called " Great Antiopa \ears" of 1789 and 1846, for in those years the 

 captures were recorded by tens only, whilst in 1872 they were reckoned by 

 hundreds, mostly on the eastern coast from Dover, in Kent, to Forres, in 



