NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 303 



our ignorance, we are unable to supply. When hybernating larvae 

 are exposed to the many changes and mishaps by which they are 

 surrounded, it is extraordinary that so large a proportion should 

 survive, hence the enormous fecundity of many species ; possibly in 

 some cases not one in a thousand reaches maturity. It sometimes 

 happens that an insect gradually becomes scarce, and each successive 

 year witnesses a decrease. In my collecting days the beautiful 

 CallimorpJia dominula was very common here, the moths in their 

 heavy and undulating flight being often seen in the street, whilst the 

 larvae were common upon the nettles in the lanes, though their most 

 usual food was the comfrey and meadowsweet by the river-side. 

 Gradually the species disappeared, and now, as far as I can gather, 

 it is quite extinct in its old haunts. It is obvious that the number of 

 larvte taken and bred in the hope of obtaining the yellow variety of 

 the moth must have helped the decrease. But there were certain 

 parts of the river where the larv£e perhaps were most abundant, and 

 where collectors were forbidden to go ; there the large rough leaves 

 of comfrey grow as abundantly as ever, and the scent of the flossy 

 meadowsweet fills the air, but not a vestige of dominula anywhere 

 in any stage. Will it ever occur again ? — G. B. Corbin ; Eingwood. 



Butterfly Collecting in Sicily and Calabria in 1911. — 

 Oh June 7th I took train to Syracuse (113 miles) with the 

 intention to work back. I broke my journey at the junction 

 station of Valsavoia, and spent three hours on the limestone 

 slopes near the shore of Lake Lentine, but took nothing fresh. 

 At Syracuse next day I found Melanargia galathea (var. syracusana, 

 Zell.) in plenty, but the other species I took are not worthy of 

 mention except one fine helice. On the morning of June 8th I 

 alighted from the train at Megara Hyblea, a solitary station where 

 the trains stop to get water for the engines. The station master 

 strongly protested against my getting out, and urged me to go on to 

 the next station, assuring me there was nothing to eat there. I 

 merely touched my bag and held my ground. The station is well 

 protected by netting from mosquitoes, and the only building near is 

 an immense old ruin, the town being situated on the low hills miles 

 away. Passing the station in 1910 I had noticed here a swarm of 

 Melanargia galathea, and in the field between the station and the sea 

 I found the var. syracusana very common. By moving about a 

 little I obtained specimens of circe fresh out, helice, and liho^he ; and 

 within the old ruins, where vines are planted, pairs of podalirius, 

 machaon and Vanessa were chasing each other. I had a most 

 enjoyable day, and left early for a less malarial locality. At Catania 

 a friend joined me, and we spent the week-end at the village of 

 Zaffarano, on the southern slope of Mount Etna. Mainly owing to 

 the weather our visit was not the success we hoped for, our best 

 capture being gordius, rather common. 



We had an unexpected festa on June 15th, and my son could 

 join me for a day. I chose Scaletta, where I had my drenching, 

 being keen on " marbled whites," and I had spotted a possible 

 locality there. We hired the only cab to take us as far as the road 

 went up Monte Scuderi, and were soon set down at a village called 



