316 THE entomologist's record. 



" May 9tli, 1893. In 3° 56' N. lat. and 27° 20' W. long. Butterflies all over 

 the ship ; the sailors knocking them clown with their caps from one end of the 

 ship to the other." 



Captain Ellis also informs me that during these days the ship had 

 passed through the region of the doldrums with calms and rain squalls 

 between the N.E. and S.E. trade winds. To the best of Captain 

 Ellis's recollection and opinion all the butterflies belonged to one 

 swarm and were of the same kind on both occasions. The ship was 

 then nearly on the line between Cape St. Eoque and Sierra Leone, and 

 680 miles from the former, 960 miles from the latter. Although the 

 African coast was far more distant than the South American, I cannot 

 doubt that the insects came from the former. Indeed, I put down 

 tropical West Africa as first among the suggestions thrown out in my 

 note (vol. xii., p. 80). The only other possibility is tropical South 

 America, a country in which H. vui^ippns has comparatively recently 

 established itself and is spreading rapidly. The insufficient observa- 

 tions that have been made in South America do not justify the belief 

 that the inaria form of the female is present in larg6 proportion, 

 while two out of the three females captured at sea belonged to this 

 variety — a proportion entirely consistent with our much more exten- 

 sive series of observations upon this species in West Africa. Further- 

 more, the species is not sufficiently abundant in South America to 

 render it probable that these vast swarms can have come from there. 

 The observation throws much light upon the comparatively recent 

 intrusion of the species into South America, and its even later 

 spread to the Canary Islands, and goes far to explain its extraordinarily 

 wide distribution in the Old World. 



I am making a specitxl study of this most interesting species, and 

 should greatly value the help of any of your readers on two points. (1) 

 Any information which may lead to the establishment of the inclusive 

 dates between which the late Thomas Belt was at the Montes Aureos, 

 Brazil. (A specimen in the British Museum from the Godman-Salvin 

 collection was collected there by Belt, and is, as far as I am aware, the 

 earliest recorded example from the New World.) (2) The capture of 

 large series of the species, especially of females, in any of its American 

 localities. These are British Guiana and Brazil in South America, 

 and the Island of Trinidad, Southern Florida in North America, and 

 many West Indian Islands. The specimens are best sent in " papers," 

 with exact dates and localities written upon each. The African form 

 of the female is said to be slightly darker than the Oriental, corres- 

 ponding with the darker richer colouring of its model, Limnas chrysippiis, 

 and, however this may be, the proportion of the inaria form of female 

 differs greatly in different parts of the geographical range. A 

 sufficient series of New World females, carefully examined and com- 

 pared, may be expected to throw light upon the direction of recent 

 lines of migration. 



The specimens brought by Captain Ellis are in the Hope Depart- 

 ment, where they can be seen at any time. — Oxford University 

 Museum. November, 1900. 



Tortrix pronubana in Guernsey. 



By Rev. FRANK E. LOWE, M.A., F.E.S. 

 In 1898 I was able to record the appearance in Guernsey of Tortrix 

 pronuhana, which had hitherto, I think, been known only as a 



