166 



Lepidoptera in the winter, and of rearing, and perhaps naturalizing, exotic species of 

 Lepidoptera. 



" The advantages of causing Lepidoptera to emerge frona the pupa during the 

 winter appear to be that the collector has more time to devote to their setting, and 

 more space upon his setting-boards than during the summer; and that very often the 

 collector may travel during the summer, in which case his pupas cannot easily be 

 attended to. 



" I have reared the following species during the winter (placing the pupae in a warm 

 room for the purpose): — Papilio Machaon, Thais Hypsipyle, Polyommatus lolas, 

 Smerinthus Populi, Phseosia Dictsea, P. Dictaeoides, Saturnia Spini, S. Pavonia- 

 Major, Phalera bucephala, Clostera curtula, Plusia Moneta. 



" Specimens of each of these species (and of many others) emerged from the pupae 

 during the months of January and February at Boulogne-sur-Mer ; and at Oxford, 

 during the month of April, I reared Thais Hypsipyle and Polyommatus Tolas (in 1860). 

 In no case was there any variation from the usual type of the species, except in the 

 case of Smerinthus Populi, and this was due to the various kinds of food with which I 

 supplied the larvae of that species, and which produced some singular varieties. I have 

 also reared various species of Exotic Lepidoptera from imported pupae ; e.g., at Bou- 

 logne I reared Vanessa (Araschnia) Prorsa, Polyommatus Tolas, Saturnia Pavonia- 

 Major, Thais Medesicaste, T. Cassandra, and T. Hypsipyle, from pupae sent from the 

 South of France ; and also Catocala Fraxini from German pupae : and at Oxford I 

 reared Thais Medesicaste, T. Hypsipyle and T. Cassandra ; also P. Tolas, Heliothis 

 dipsacea and Ophiusa Geometra from French pupae. T also reared Plusia Moneta and 

 Deilephila Nicaea from Italian pupae at Boulogne. 



" In the ' Butterfly Vivarium,' published some years since, a suggestion was made 

 of the possibility of naturalizing some of the beautiful species of Exotic Lepidoptera. 

 So far as I can learn, no notice seems to have been taken of this suggestion, though 

 it cannot be devoid of interest to many of our British collectors, and I have made 

 these few remarks, showing the possibility of rearing Lepidoptera from imported pupae, 

 in the hope that some of our collectors may be induced to try this mode of enriching 

 our native Fauna. Whether such artificially-reared species would, if set at liberty, 

 propagate themselves is a question which entomologists resident in Britain must set 

 at rest. I have not myself had facilities for settling this point, but I have, I trust, 

 shown the possibility of introducing foreign species into our country. We have suc- 

 ceeded in destroying some of our native species, e.g., Chrysophanus Chryseis and C. 

 Dispar, which appear to have become nearly if not quite extinct; and may it not 

 be worth while to see whether we cannot enrich as well as impoverish our native 

 Fauna? 



"The specimens which I have had the pleasure of exhibiting this evening will 

 prove the truth of my assertion, that they do not offer any variety or deviation from the 

 ordinary types of the species, and they will at the same time disprove the ancient and 

 oft-quoted opinion, that Lepidoptera, unless reared in their natural state and under 

 their natural condition of temperature, are never properly developed.'' 



Mr. Pascoe, after announcing the appearance of Professor Lacordaire's sixth 

 volume, containing the Curculionidae, and speaking in terms of admiration of the 

 author's masterly treatment of the subject, took the opportunity of stating that 



