VARIATION. lOfi 



the ground, and about three from the roof, whose covering had been 

 reriaoved for the winter. The sides of my butterfly-house were, how- 

 ever, still entirely covered with gauze and wire netting, and the door 

 was securely fastened with a padlock, so that no one, except the 

 gardener, who had the key, could enter during my absence. Before 

 leaving, I had covered the suspended cage with threads of black cotton, 

 at intervals of about two inches apart, and, as a further precaution, put 

 brown paper over all the openings (there are openings for the imagines 

 to emerge from), with the exception of one, which I left with only the 

 black thread over it, as I had a specimen of Vanessa io hibernating in 

 the cage which I wished to leave free to escape. On returning to the 

 country for a few days, late in November, I examined the cage. The 

 brown paper and black thread were seemingly undisturbed, but the 

 hibernating V. io, and all the pup^e of Papilio asterias, with the 

 exception of two, had disappeared. These latter were hidden under 

 the pupffi of Papilio philenor, which were quite untouched. The cage 

 is three feet from any bush or tree, and is suspended by single strands 

 of steel wire, in addition to this, it has an overhanging roof with 

 projecting eaves like a miniature Swiss chalet, and flat sides, so that I 

 do not think it possible for my unknown enemy to have been a mouse, 

 which at first I thought likely. My gardener, who was as surprised 

 as I at the disappearance of the pupte, says that he had seen gray tits 

 inside my butterfly-house, and I have no doubt that these were the 

 culprits. I examined the P. philenor to see whether they show any 

 marks of birds' beaks, but could find none. With regard to insect 

 enemies, I have found that Papilio philenor enjoys no immunity. 

 Predaceous beetles belonging to the Carahidae attack and devour its 

 larvae, and also its pupse before the chitinous envelope of the latter 

 has hardened. In one instance, I found even a pupa which had been 

 exposed for some days to the air, the victim of an attack of this kind. 



W" ARI ATION . 



Variation of Polia chi. — I was much interested in Mr. Harrison's 

 note on the variation of Polia chi, Linn. I quite agree with him as to 

 Nenthead, Cumberland, producing light specimens. The great Carlisle 

 locality, Barrock Pell, very much resembles the latter locality, and is 

 a very bleak place. I have seen some hundreds of specimens on this 

 ground sitting on walls and loose pieces of quarried stones, and all 

 were of the light form. Bryophila perla, also, is very light in this 

 locality. In August, 1896, I spent about a week in the Birtley 

 district, and took a great many specimens of P. chi ab. olivacea and ab. 

 sufusa. I did not notice the light form at all, except at Windynook, 

 Felling-on-Tyne. At Chester-le- Street I saw hundreds of specimens of 

 P. ab. suffusa, and also a number of P. ab. olivacea. The latter were 

 in the proportion of about one in every four. All were taken on a 

 moss-grown wall running towards Newcastle-on-Tyne. At Windynook, 

 the type and ab. sufusa were in about equal proportion, but, curiously 

 enough, my darkest forms came from here. One J was quite black, 

 with a few greyish speckles on the forewings. The body was also 

 black, but lighter between the segments. The dark aberrations are 

 very scarce in Cumberland. I have taken four ab. suffusa, all in the 

 Brampton district, where Mr. Harrison says only the type occurs. I 



