Zb CLOVER. 



the autumn brood, after their prolonged feeding time, all died before 

 turning to chrysalis. 



Possibly this fact, joined to the previous observation of egg deposit 

 specially taking place on sunny days, may give a suggestion as to the 

 requirements of the insect. 



The figure at p. 26 shows the chrysalis suspended, like others of the 

 same family, by a silken thread, or girdle, which helps to sling it to the 

 stem on which it changed from the caterpillar state. The colour of 

 the chrysalis is pale green, varied with yellow tints, black spots, and a 

 stripe of dull dark red beneath. 



The shortest time taken for development from the egg to the perfect 

 butterfly is given by Mr. E. A. Fitch in 1877, — the year known, from 

 the great prevalence of this insect, as the " colias year," — from his own 

 observations, as forty-three days, the longest as sixty-eight days ; he 

 also noted that it might now be considered that the Colias edusa was 

 normally double-brooded, and occasionally triple-brooded. 



The widespread occasional appearances of the Clouded Yellow 

 Butterflies are visits that cannot fail to attract attention even from the 

 unobservant ; but as the butterflies vanish, and, from the similarity of 

 colouring between the caterpillars and their food-plants, their presence 

 is not very observable in the Clover, little record has been made practi- 

 cally ; and the scientific record from daily observation is so inaccessible 

 to a large proportion of the readers who would like to know the 

 history of the occasional visitors, that in the above page or two I have 

 endeavoured to give the main general points, from collation of the 

 accounts of the authorities duly ackuowleged below.* 



In the paper by Mr. Fitch (referred to), notes are given of great 

 appearances of the C. cdusa, and also of the C. hyale, from 1821 

 onwards ; but the first great appearance of which I had general obser- 

 vations myself was that noted in 1877 in my first Annual Eeport. 

 "Without going again into details, I may note that the edusa was 

 recorded in that year as observed across the South of England from 

 June to October, and in the Exeter and South Devon district it was 

 recorded by Mr. Edw, Parfitt as literally swarming in the fields from 

 June till September. The most south-westerly locality of observation 

 of which notes were sent to myself in that year was the neighbourhood 

 of Chagford on Dartmoor, but it was reported as common at Penzance 

 and near the Land's End. In the eastern counties it was recorded as 



* " Colias edusa," by E. A. Fitch (then Hon. Sec. of Eut. Soc), 'Entomologist' 

 for March, 1878, with coloured plate. Notes by Miss Sotheby(same No. pp. 61, G2). 

 ' Larvtu of British Butterflies or Moths,' by W. Buckler, printed for the Eay Society, 

 vol. i., pp. 9 — 15, and plate I. Observations of appearances of C. edusa in ' Report 

 of Injurious Insects for 1877,' by Ed. Also paper on ''Colias edusa, C. hyale, &c., 

 in England in 1892," in No. of 'Entomologist ' for Sept., 1892. 



