88 THE ENTOMOLOGIST’S RECORD. 
a great number of years. April, in my experience would be a most 
unusually early (? possible) date for carthami. Possibly it applied to a 
single early specimen, captured several weeks before the real emergence 
of the species ; and, as for August, only the last 2s survive to that 
month, except in very late seasons. Kane’s date, May to August, is 
more normal, but his note about the size and coloration of the ‘earlier 
brood” is, to me, quite incomprehensible. The earliest specimens, so 
far as Swiss ones are concerned, are very fine and large and heavily 
dusted with grey. The 9s are, of course, always somewhat browner 
than the gs, but they never emerge as early as the latter; nor do the 
g sever produce anything that could be called a brown form, except- 
ing when very worn. Even in localities where a small race of carthami 
is found (not in Switzerland) I have never noted a tendency among the 
gs to lose their normal greyish-black colour. Mabille’s dates, if the 
result of personal observation, and not just a repetition of previously 
published records, must be founded on the capture of fresh specimens 
in the May, June, and July of separate seasons. Kirby’s date concurs 
with the emergence of the species in the Rhone Valley. ‘The earliest 
record I have is a single g captured at Branson, on May 1Sth. Asa 
rule I have found the g's appear during the last ten days of May, only 
once have I seen a ? in that month; these latter usually emerge in 
early June, and are seldom abundant before the middle of the month. 
At that date the gs are still in excellent condition, and occasional 
freshly emerged specimens still to be had. By the end of June both 
sexes are getting worn. Throughout July they continue in diminish- 
ing numbers; until at the end of the month the g's are only repre- 
sented by a few very worn examples, though then usually a fair 
number of ¢s are left. Amongst these latter one can generally pick 
up a few in moderately good condition, but they are obviously not 
freshly emerged. The ?s continue into August, but in a week or 
fortnight they have usually disappeared. One very late season I took 
two 2s on August 22nd, but they were so worn as to be scarcely 
recognisable. ‘These dates show the ordinary emergence and duration 
of the species in the Rhone Valley, where it is, beyond doubt, single 
brooded. The period of flight is probably longer than in any other 
species of Hesperia, which has doubtless given rise to theory of two 
broods existing. Further, it is worth noting, that the species of 
Hesperia which are double-brooded, occur regularly much earlier and 
later (7.e., in April and September) than carthami, and there is an 
appreciable time between their broods when one cannot find a single 
specimen. 
All through the Canton Valais one finds a very fine form of 
carthami, equally large at all levels; considerably Jarger than speci- 
mens from more southerly localities, such as Digne, and close on 
twice the size of carthami from the Pyrenees, where the smallest race 
of the species, | know of, occurs. 
In variation carthami offers little of interest, being quite the most 
constant species of Hespéria. The var. reducta occurs not uncommonly, 
but it makes very little difference in the look of the specimen, even 
when the inner edge of the median band is perfectly straight; and 
apart trom this there is little variation worth mentioning. 
(Lo be continued.) 
