﻿56 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



ON THE OCCURRENCE OF HESPERIA LINEOLA 

 IN ESSEX. 



By A. J. Spiller. 



The discovery of Hesperia lineola as a new British butterfly 

 is an event of great interest to all entomologists, and in this case 

 there is every reason to believe that the insect, although 

 probably confined to one or two counties, will be found pretty 

 plentiful where it does occur. 



During my residence in Essex in 1885-8, I frequently came 

 across the species referred to. In 1885 Colias edusa appeared 

 sparingly in clover fields, and to obtain a series I spent many 

 August mornings among the fragrant clover blossoms. Here I 

 first noticed H. lineola, and although I suspected at first that my 

 captures might be this species, yet their seeming abundance, and 

 the fact that they flew with ordinary H. thaumas, led me to dis- 

 regard this theory, and to accept as a solution of the problem 

 that they were a local variety, due probably to their occurrence 

 upon a chalky soil. In 1887, which was an exceedingly hot 

 summer, the Pieridse appeared in vast numbers in the clover- 

 fields, and, expecting from the great heat that G. hyale or C. edusa 

 would appear, I again assiduously searched the clover flowers. 

 Neither G. hyale nor C. edusa appeared, but H. thaumas and H. 

 lineola did, and in numbers that rivalled the " whites," nearly 

 every field in one district producing these " skippers " in abun- 

 dance. Still considering H. lineola to be but a local variety of 

 H. thaumas, I did not capture the large numbers I might have 

 taken, but after netting them simply selected those specimens 

 which had the black bar least developed, in the hope of obtaining 

 extreme varieties. I was particularly anxious to obtain males in 

 which the black bars were altogether wanting, and consequently 

 netted large numbers, letting those go which did not come up to 

 my expectation of what a variety ought to be. The species was 

 also plentiful in 1888. 



I have now thoroughly overhauled the specimens in my 

 cabinet, and find that I possess sixteen H. lineola in my series of 

 H. thaumas. In order that no doubt may exist upon the matter, 

 I have forwarded a pair to the Editor of the ' Entomologist ' for 

 identification. [The specimens are certainly referable to H. 

 lineola. — Ed.] 



How long this butterfly has existed in Essex is a question I 

 feel unable to determine. But I resided in 1874 — 6 at Stanstead 

 in that county, and although in several of my entomological 

 peregrinations I collected within a couple of miles of the spot 

 where I recently found it so plentiful, yet I never met with 

 H. lineola there. 



I may say that although its head- quarters in my district were 



