NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 325 



pupate. I am quite sure from my own experience that there is a 

 second brood of P. atalanta, at least of larvae, every year, as I have 

 found them in October for the past four years ; but in my opinion 

 very few of these late larvas survive in a state of nature. Two years 

 ago I made experiments with some of these late larvae. Some were 

 fed in a cage in the open air, and others in an unheated room. 

 Every one of those under the latter conditions fed up and pupated, 

 and the imagines appeared in due course, the last one emerging as 

 late as the end of November ; all were exceptionally fine specimens. 

 The larvae kept out of doors fed much slower, and most of them 

 shrivelled up, as Mr. Carter states happened to those he had. Of 

 the few that did pupate, the imagines formed in every case, but only 

 two emerged, and the wings of these were so deformed as to be 

 useless for flight. The occurrence of P. cardui was almost identical 

 with that of P. atalanta, excepting that P. cardui was not so 

 abundant ; larvae occurred in June, and produced imagines in July, 

 and larvae again appeared in September. My latest record is of six 

 larvae, half an inch in length, taken October 9th. It seems natural 

 for these two species of butterfly to go on reproducing their kind 

 and not to hibernate in any stage, so that were it not for the 

 periodical arrival of immigrants, the species would soon become 

 extinct in this country, as the larvae seem unable to survive the 

 cold. I believe there is no authentic record of either P. atalanta or 

 P. cardui having been found in hibernation in this country, and the 

 fresh condition of specimens seen in the spring could hardly be 

 possible if they had weathered the vagaries of our English winter. — 

 A. T. PosTANS ; Southsea, Portsmouth, October 14th, 1912. 



Anaeta myrtilli reared in July prom June Larvje. — I do 

 not know if the following is worth recording. On June 17th I 

 obtained locally twelve larvse of A. myrtilli — some full-fed, others 

 about half-grown. Moths emerged from seven pupte about the end 

 of July, and yesterday (Oct. 14th) another emerged, whilst the other 

 four are still in the pupal stage. It seems to me that this species 

 must be double- brooded, although I believe most books state that 

 the imago flies in May. There can be no doubt, I think, that the 

 full-fed larvae I had were from parents which emerged in May, and the 

 fact that seven out of twelve emerged at the end of July really seems 

 to point to the fact that in nature the insect is double-brooded. I 

 shall be interested to notice how the remaining four pupae fare. 

 What is your opinion on the matter ? — G. Talbot Thorne ; 53, Acland 

 Eoad, Bournemouth, October 15th, 1912. 



[It is quite conceivable that, even in the open, A. myrtilli may in 

 certain favourable seasons pass through two life cycles during the 

 year. Mr. Thome's interesting observation is evidence that the 

 species can do this in confinement. The statement has been made 

 that the late as well as the early specimens seen in the same year 

 are alike individuals of one generation, but it would seem to be more 

 probable that specimens on the wing after July are the offspring of 

 parents which were flying in the late spring or early summer of the 

 year. Mr. Thorne notes that he still has four pup^ from the June 

 larvae. Possibly moths from these may not emerge until next year, 



ENTOM. — NOVEMBER, 1912. 2 C 



