WICKEN FEN : ITS CONSERVATION FOR ENTOMOLOGY. 187 



of the double-brooded var. rutilus live in the marshlands 

 of Bordeaux. 



In a paper published by me in the ' Entomologist ' (vol. xliv. 

 pp. 385-389) I gave a very short account of this species in the 

 Gironde. The fen round Bordeaux is as restricted as at Wicken, 

 and much more accessible ; but so long as fen it remains, so long 

 will var. rutilus remain there, judging by the quantity of this 

 lovely Chrysophanid I saw on the wing the first week of August, 

 1911. What struck me at once was the favourable nature of the 

 terrain for the food-plant. The vegetation of the ditches where 

 I found belated larvae was not too rank to strangle it ; the banks 

 of the little river where the butterfly was commonest were 

 comparatively clear of over-growths, and the hydrolapathiwi 

 flourished amazingly. If, then, we are to resuscitate the Large 

 Copper in Wicken, whether from French, Hungarian, or German 

 stock, it will be necessary to " garden " the ditches and their banks 

 to this extent, and, further, I suggest that this treatment would 

 encourage rather than quench the fertility of the Wicken 

 specialities affecting other pabulum than reeds. Acclimatisation 

 and the colonisation of species does not figure in the propaganda 

 of the National Trust and the Society for Nature Eeserves, but 

 permission to use their property for such experiments would 

 no doubt be readily conceded. Papilio machaon apparently 

 requires no artificial stimulus. But here once more I would 

 suggest that, if dealers are warned off altogether, amateurs also 

 should be cautioned and asked to give the captured wasted 

 females their liberty. Notices to that effect might be posted with 

 other rules and regulations in conspicuous places at the entrance, 

 and in the village of Wicken itself where collectors usually stay 

 during the season. Especially are such precautions advisable so 

 long as the whole of the collecting fen is not under the control of 

 the Trust. Finally, I venture to appeal to the several fen 

 proprietors whose lands are not for sale to give our keeper 

 jurisdiction over them in their absence. Of these plots there are 

 not many. One at least is well-defined and segregated from the 

 rest of the fen by broad and well-kept waterways ; for the others, 

 I would urge upon their owners the benefit to be derived by 

 allowing the Trust, through its servants, to supervise and prevent 

 trespassers ransacking their natural treasures. A small annual 

 contribution to the Wicken Fund would secure this, and at the 

 same time the arrangement would materially assist the none too 

 easy task of the Trust as entomological conservators of one of 

 the most valuable, if not the most extensive, Nature Reserves 

 in England. 



Harrow Weald : June, 1914. 



Q 2 



