NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 247 



formis, which emerged on June 21st. Visiting the same locality 

 again to-day, I was fortunate enough to take a fine female, flying 

 round a tree-trunk in the afternoon sunshine, doubtless in search of 

 a suitable place to deposit ova. I do not know whether the insect 

 has been recorded from this locality before, but without doubt a con- 

 siderable colony is established there. I had previously found empty 

 pupa-cases which I had supposed to be this species, but as they are 

 rather small compared with the older Welsh specimens I have seen 

 in collections, I could not feel certain that they were not merely 

 M. culiciformis. — H. C. Hayward; The Croft, Kepton, July 1st, 1913. 



Papilio xuthus at Woking. — The occurrence of a living speci- 

 men of an exotic butterfly in this country is always of sufficient 

 interest to be placed on record, even if no satisfactory explanation 

 of its appearance can be offered. On May 27th, at about 4.15 p.m., 

 Miss Eleanor Balfour noticed a strange butterfly hovering over some 

 bushes of Skimmia japonica in the garden at Fisher's Hill, Woking. 

 She netted the specimen, and, recognizing that it differed materially 

 from our only native " swallow-tail " (P. machaon), sent it to me for 

 inspection. It was obviously a stranger to this country, and a 

 reference to the British Museum Collection enabled Sir George 

 Hampson to identify the insect as Papilio xuthus, a native of China, 

 Japan, and Corea. I am quite at a loss to account for its presence 

 here ; it must, of course, have been imported, but how ? — as larva, 

 pupa, or imago ? There are no conservatories about the premises 

 where directly imported exotic plants are cultivated, and such foreign 

 shrubs, &c, as are grown in the garden are procured in the usual 

 way through nurserymen. So far as concerns scaly covering, the 

 wings are in good condition, but large notched pieces are symmetri- 

 cally jagged out of the hind wings, thus suggesting that the butterfly 

 had emerged from the pupa here, and had been attacked by some 

 bird (?) as a stranger. At any rate, apart from the mutilation 

 referred to, the condition of the wings is such that the specimen 

 cannot be regarded as a casual immigrant in the ordinary sense. I 

 am quite ignorant of the life-history of this species ; perhaps some 

 entomologist who is familiar with its history may be able to make 

 some more definite suggestion as to the possible mode of intro- 

 duction of this exotic — I vouch only for its capture as a living speci- 

 men. — Kaphael Meldola; 6, Brunswick Square, W.C., July 11th, 

 1913. 



Araschnia levana at Cardiff. — Whilst out yesterday in search 

 of Brenthis euphrosyne, I caught a good specimen of Araschnia levana 

 (as described by Kirby), and was naturally surprised to find it near 

 this locality. I could not find this fritillary mentioned in ' Butter- 

 flies of the British Isles,' and consequently conclude it is not a re- 

 cognized British species ; I should therefore be glad to hear whether 

 this is so.— T. Butt Ekins ; Cardiff, May 29th, 1913. 



Scarce Sympetra (Odonata). — On looking through a box of 

 dragonflies taken by Mr. C. B. Williams, I was pleased to find a speci- 

 men of Sympetrum fonscolombii, male, and another of S. flaveolum, 

 male. The former was taken on August 12th, 1911, at Merton, 



