20 JONES — ON NOTA SCOTIAN DIURNAL LEPIDOPTERA. 



Po'^tia rap&ey (Steph.) 



Although an Englishman and justly proud of the productions of 

 my native land, yet I must confess that in introducing to the 

 notice of the farmers and gardeners of Nova Scotia, this the well 

 known small cabbage butterfly of England, I am for once ashamed of 

 my fellow-countrymen, for of all the persistent destroyers of cabbage, 

 or cauliflower, perhaps this is the worst. All kinds of remedies 

 may be applied but still their green caterpillar does its work, and 

 whole beds of choice cauliflowers will become so leaf-eaten that 

 they will barely show a head larger than a dahlia. In my own 

 garden last summer I had a plot of some seventy or eighty 

 cauliflowers entirely ruined by this insect, and I heard repeatedly 

 from the country people in the market that they had suflfered in a 

 similar way. It has only been known in the North American 

 continent within the last few years, having been introduced from 

 Europe. It was observed in Canada Proper some years ago, and 

 has b^en making its way eastward rapidly, until about three years 

 ago it first became known about Halifax. That it will increase 

 •and finally overrun the Province, is very certain, and farmers and 

 ^gardeners will now have to lament the destruction of their cabbage 

 ^nd cauliflower crops just as they do the red currants ; and when 

 they consider that in this country we do not possess the sparrow 

 and tomtit, those inveterate enemies of insect life in ^11 its forms, 

 it is really a matter for the serious attention of agricultural and 

 horticultural societies, whether it would not be advisable to intro- 

 duce these birds in order to counteract such injurious effects. The 

 citizens of New York, and I believe some of the Canadian towns, 

 have already introduced the common house sparrow of England, 

 and apart from its cheerful appearance and recall of home remem- 

 brances, the good it does in clearing away myriads of injurious 

 insects might be a sufficient inducement to recommend it to our 

 local authorities. 



Colias philodice, (Godt.) ** Clouded Sulphur." 



This may be considered our commonest butterfly ; at least in the 

 neighbourhood of the Atlantic coast. They do not appear abun-« 

 dantly in wet seasons. 



