166 THE entomologist's record. 



to be obtained, but appears to be getting scarcer. As already mentioned, , 

 the forests became meadow-lands ; the meadows were, no doubt, . 

 enclosed by large hedges, and there were lanes and roads between i 

 them. This type of country, no doubt, supplied conditions suitable to * 

 such species as Gonepteryx r/iavrni, Aphantopiis hyperantlius, Zephyrus, \ 

 betulae, TJieda ir-albui)i and Callophrys riibi, remnants of the forest I 

 species ; while butterflies like Pierix napi and Kuchlde cardamine^ i 

 were in their element. The odd corners of the meadows and road- 

 sides, or the less frequented lanes, gave opportunities of existence'' to < 

 Pararye meyaera, Coenonyiiipha pamplnlus, Polyyonia c-albnm, Vanessa ' 

 io, Aylais urticae, liuniicia phlacas, Polyonuiiatus icariis, Adopaea Jjam, 

 Auyiades t^ylvanus, Hespena mcdrae and Nisoniades tayes. The butterfly,, 

 however, which, above all others flourished at this period j—lvas 

 Epinephele jurtina. 



But the inevitable city kept extending its borders and passing more 

 traffic along the roads. The farmer, as living became more expensive, 

 had to get all he could out of his land, so the hedges were cut down to 

 a minimum, and the grass mown down right up to the hedge every 

 season. Later on, even the hedge-banks in the lanes were annually 

 trimmed, and so the waste corners became less and less. The forest 

 species, except Gonepteryx rliauini, all disappeared, and they were 

 followed by the Skippers, and finally by Pararye tueyaera. 



Things, however, were not destined to stop here for many years, and 

 bit after bit of the meadow was ploughed up and cultivated, until the 

 grass-lands had been turned into market-garden grounds, covered to a 

 great extent during summer with rows of cabbages. We have now 

 entered, so to speak, on the Pieris period, when P. rapae is really the 

 predominant butterfly. P. napi, which has been existing all the time, 

 firstly, as an inhabitant of the borders of woods, and then of the hedge- 

 rows, still continues, but is far outnumbered by P. rapae, which has 

 made the cabbage its home. Nettles still flourish in waste corners 

 where Aylais urticae still breeds, and visits the flowers in gardens ; 

 Vanessa io, and, in some years, Phtyonia polychloros, may also be seen 

 on the flower-beds, where Piiimicia pidaeas and Polyommatus icarus also 

 disport themselves. ('oenonyiupha paniphiliis may also still be seen 

 where the grass grows, and an odd kpinephele jurtina will still haunt 

 an uncultivated spot, though its day is really over. The holly-trees in 

 the private gardens, and the ivy on the tops of the brick walls, still offer 

 hospitality to (Jelastrina aryiolus, and Gonepteryx rliamni in its long 

 flights may still pass over the district. 



But the days of the butterflies are numbered, for the insatiable city 

 still spreads out in all directions, not so swiftly, but not less destructive 

 in its course than the lava from Mount Vesuvius. At last the builder 

 takes possession of the land, and then, for a time, all is chaos. The 

 very ground is dug up and trampled on, and the lepidoptera, in what- 

 ever stage they may be at the time, find no means of existence under 

 such conditions. But P. rapae is not yet finally driven forth. In a 

 year or two the inhabitants of the cottages just built grow nasturtiums 

 in their gardens, and P. rapae again finds a suitable pabulum, and 

 crawls up the cottage walls to pupate. 



Once more the inexorable city moves, and the builder pulls down 

 the cottages and erects shops, without any sort of garden, and thus the 

 city is finally let into the country, and the place knows the Rhopalocera 



