122 THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD. 
83 (1918). Sumatra; found in the earth-carton nest of Hamitermes 
dentatus, Hav. 
5. Hpitritus mandibularis, Szab6.—Arch. Zool., 1 (1909). German 
Hast Africa. 
6. Hpitritus marginatus, Santschi.—Voyage Alluaud et Jeannel dans 
Afrique Orientale, Hym., 114, Tf. 21 (1814). 
The disappearing Pararge aegeria. 
By A. KE. GIBBS, F.L.S., F.E.S. 
The subject I chose for a presidential address at the last annual 
meeting of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society was ‘“‘ Hertford- 
shire Satyrid Butterflies: Some disappearing Species: With a short 
study of Pararge aegeria, Li.’ I have consequently been very greatly 
interested in the Rev. C. R. N. Burrows’ article in the last issue and in 
the various notes.which have appeared with regard to this insect. In 
my addess I dealt at some length with the eight Satyrid species which 
are recorded in our county list as occurring, or having occurred, in our 
county. They are:—Pararge aeyeria, P. megaera, Aphantopus hyper- 
antus, Hpinephele tithonus, EH. jurtina, Satyrus semele, Coenonympha 
pamphilus, and Melanargia galatea. Of these eight species three, P. 
aegeria, S. semele, and M. galatea, are, I fear, no longer to be found in 
Hertfordshire. One species, P. meyaera, has disappeared in late years 
in certain districts, while in others it still maintains itself and in places 
is fairly abundant. The other four are common, though it is doubtful 
if they are any of them as plentiful, at any rate in the southern parts 
of the county bordering on the metropolitan area, as they were a few 
years ago. With regard to P. megaera, of which Mr. Burrows speaks 
in his closing sentence, I drew attention to the fact that while it was 
not a rare species at St. Albans when I was a boy, it has now quite 
disappeared from the district so far as my observation goes. My last 
record is in June, 1902. But it still occurs in the northern parts 
of the county, in such localities as Royston and Hitchin. May I point 
out with regard to Mr. Burrows’ quotation from the late Professor 
Meldola’s article in the Hntomologist, 1911, p. 147, that the remarks 
there made apply to megaera and not to aegeria as stated. A cor- 
rection was inserted on p. 187 of the same volume. 
So far as aegeria is concerned I cannot do better than reproduce 
what I said to the members of the Hertfordshire Society on the ocea- 
sion I have referred to:—‘‘I am very much afraid that Pararge 
aegeria can no longer be regarded as occurring in the county. I do not 
think that in the memory of living entomologists it was ever really 
abundant anywhere in Hertfordshire, and in recent years it has been 
gradually dwindling in numbers in those places where it used to oceur, 
until at last, I fear, it has died out altogether, or is quite on the verge 
of extinction. I have never met with it anywhere in the neighbour- 
hood of St. Albans. Our only county records are Stevenage (Matthews), 
Haileybury (School List), Watford (Spencer), and Tring. The first and 
last named of these localities are the only ones in which var. egerides 
appears to have been seen in any abundance, for Mr. H. T. Matthews, 
of Berkeley House, Stevenage, wrote me in 1901 or 1902 that he found 
it to be fairly common near woods in his neighbourhood, and it 1s 
recorded by several observers from more than one spot in the vicinity 
