8 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXIV. 



The cabbage butterfly, Pieris rapae Linn. 

 I never go info my garden and see a host of these 

 butterflies flying about the cabbages, without think- 

 ing of the halcyon days that must have existed in 

 Gosse's time, for he does not record this greatest of 

 pests, although he mentions the Grey-veined White. 

 Surely the march of civilization brings a trail of 

 evils in its wake ! 



The clouded sulphur, Eurymus philodice 

 Godt. This is a very common and well distributed 

 species, being more plentiful, however, m some sea- 

 sons, than in others. It is fond of congregatmg on 

 moist places, especially on roads, where I have seen 

 as many as fifty gathered together so closely, as 

 to be almost touching one another. There are at 

 least two broods, the first appearing m May, and 

 the second in August, my dates for fresh examples 

 ranging from May 1 5, to as late as Oct. 27. They 

 vary considerably m size, several of the second 

 breed especially, bnng merely dwarfs, whilst many 

 cf the females are albinos, but I have never come 

 across a melanic form of the male as yet. 



The pearly eye, Enodia portlandia Fabr. I 

 only came across this species in 1918, and then only 

 two examples were met with, one on July 31, and 

 the other on Sept. 3. In the following year, con- 

 ditions were evidently similar, for I only saw four 

 examples between July 1 2 and 1 7, so that it is 

 evidently an uncomm.on species here. In "The 

 Canadian Naturalist," Gosse, 1840, p. 246, there is 

 an illustration of it drawn by the author himself, 

 who speaks of it as a rarity here in those days, al- 

 though plentiful in the Southern States. 



The clouded wood-nymph, Cerc^onis alope 

 form nephelc Kirby. Probably the present excep- 

 tionally humid season, may have been responsible 

 for my finding two male examples of this dimorphic 

 variety of Cercyonis alope, shawing rather more yel- 

 low on the fore wings than is quite typical, in fact 

 a mild compromise between nephelc and alope. 



Harris' Checker-spot, Melitaea harrisi Scud. 

 Of the smaller crescent-spots this apparently is the 

 rarest, there being only one meadow where I have 

 taken it so far, and even there it seems to be very 

 scarce, only one specimen being seen in 1918, and 

 none during the present prolific season of 1919. 



Nycteis, Phydodes nycteis Dbl. and Hew. As 

 this little butterfly may be mistaken on the wing for 

 Melitaea harrisi, with which it is often found flying, 

 it is not so easy to define its exact status here, but 

 so far as my experience goes, I have found it 

 next to Harris' Checker-spot, to be the rarest of the 

 smaller crescent-spots. I only came across one ex- 

 ample in 1917, none in 1918, and only five during 

 the present season. 



The violet tip, Polygonia inierrogationis Fabr. 

 Of the genus Polygonia, this is certainly the rarest 

 species here, for I have only come across it this 

 season (1919), and then only three examples have 

 been noted, as against large numbers of P. comma 

 and P. progne. 



The green comma, Polygonia faunus Edw. 

 Of the four Graptas (now genus Polygonia) men- 

 tioned by Gosse, this is the only one that I have 

 been unable to verify so far, which seems some- 

 what strange, in view of the fact that the present 

 season (1919), has been an exceptionally good one 

 for the other members of this interesting genus. 



The compton tortoise, Aglais j-album Bdv. 

 and Lee. This large and handsome butterfly, al- 

 though having a wide range, is more or less uncom- 

 mon everywhere, and its numbers at Hatley of late 

 years, seem to be on the decrease if anything, al- 

 though in July, 1911, it was quite common on the 

 "meadow road" to the east of the village, which at 

 that time was bordered by willow trees (on which 

 the larvae feed) most of which, however, have since 

 been cut down. Apparently there are two forms 

 of the underside, one dark and the other light, but 

 probably this difference is only sexual, the males 

 being the brighter colored. 



Hunter's butterfly, Vanessa virginiensis Dru. 

 Until the year 1918, I had always looked upon this 

 handsome butterfly as being particularly scarce here, 

 but during June, August and September, quite a 

 number of specimens were observed, probably owing 

 to its being a good year for the species, the same as 

 1911 was for Aglais j-album. The hot summer of 

 1919 seems to have suited it also, for its numbers 

 have been even greater than in the previous year. 

 Gosse does not record it in his work, nor yet the 

 still more showy Red Admiral. 



The painted lady, Vanessa cardui Linn. Ap- 

 parently this is an uncommon, if not a somewhat 

 rare butterfly here, as I have never come across it 

 until the present year (1919), and then only four 

 examples have been noted, one on Aug. 7, and the 

 other three at the end of September. 



The banded purple, Basilarchia arthemis Dru. 

 This beautiful butterfly is fairly well distributed, 

 and may be found from about June 1 1 to the middle 

 of July, although I have seen worn specimens at the 

 end of the latter mcnth. Gosse in "The Canadian 

 Naturalist," 1840, p. 306, however, records an 

 example as late as September 4, which he con- 

 cludes was only an occasional straggler, or one of 

 an unusual late hatching. 



The viceroy, Basilarchia archippus Cram. This 

 handsome butterfly mimics the Monarch (Danaus 

 archippus Fab.), and is one of the most striking cases 

 of mimicry, which occurs in our fauna. It is by no 



