87 



" The first is, that the first few eggs (some 12 to 20 at 

 most) that a hibernated female lays in the spring, are the 

 only eggs that produce the var. hutchinsoni. 



" The second is that the var. hutchinsoni is the only form 

 which pairs and produces the second brood. 



" The first statement is, I think, beyond dispute, I have 

 known it for many years. So has Mr. E. Goodwin, and 

 several others, I believe. The second is open to question. I 

 will now try and prove what I have stated. 



" I go back to 1902, the first year in which I had this 

 species in quantities. Early in the spring I had a female 

 sent to me and from her I obtained a nice batch of eggs. 

 All fed up well, and the first 12 imagines bred (all var. hutch- 

 insoni) I placed in a cage with growing nettles. They paired 

 at once, and soon I had a large quantity of ova. I wanted 

 set specimens badly, so I killed and set the rest of the brood. 



" I next go to 1905, when I again had the species alive; this 

 year a good many females, but all captured late in the spring, 

 some as late as June, and when many of them had already 

 laid most of their ova. Now comes an important point — 

 when the imagines emerged in July, I placed the first forty 

 specimens (about equal quantities of each sex) in my cage 

 for pairing. The same day one pair of var. hutchinsoni was 

 in cop., but not another pairing took place. All the other 

 thirty-eight specimens (dark undersides) fed for a few weeks, 

 and then retired into corners of the cages and went to sleep, 

 though all through August and September the weather 

 was nice and sunny. Now and then, on especially hot days, 

 a few would leave their corners and feed, but very seldom. In 

 November, most of them were still alive, but through neglect, 

 or some other cause, most of them died off by Christmas, 

 only two remaining alive till March, and both these died 

 during that month. 



" I now come to the present year. I sent my man down 

 to the Wye Valley on April 4th. Owing to bad weather he 

 had to stay nearly three weeks, and then only had two or 

 three fine days, when hibernators were on the wing. On these 

 days P. c-album was very common. In one sheltered spot 

 40 to 50 could be counted in a day. He sent me ten females 

 and about a dozen males. The latter came in very handy as 

 two of my " hens " proved to be virgins. All these females 

 laid freely. I kept them all in a large cage with pots of 

 growing nettles, and as soon as about 80 eggs were laid these 

 pots were removed and fresh ones placed in the cage. These 

 first 80 were reared quite separately. By June 20th I was 



