REAElNG LIMENITIS SIBYLLA AND PARARGE EGERIA. 385 



Upon several occasions I have looked for this larva hyber- 

 nating, the reason of my non-success being that I have always 

 searched large dead leaves that remain in such plenty about the 

 plants, and overlooked the small and inconspicuous, but, in this 

 connection, important portions of the plant. 



Pararge egeria is one of the most abundant of the "browns" 

 seen in the New Forest, and always to be met with in good or fair 

 condition from April to the end of September; it is triple-brooded, 

 and, like most species of the Satyridifi, can be easily induced to 

 oviposit in confinement. 



Procure females, and place two or three into a wide-mouth 

 bottle containing a few blades of coarse grass, cover over with 

 white muslin, and place the bottle in a window-sill facing the 

 south, and within a week plenty of ova will be the result : of 

 course, the more females kept the better, as it insures a greater 

 number of eggs ; when you have ova in plenty, remove them into 

 a small glass, and as the larvae emerge place them in bottles, and 

 feed every evening with fresh grass cut up into small strips. It is 

 surprising with what ease this species is brought to maturity. 



The following notes I think will interest some entomologists, 

 as by rearing and observing P. egeria I have seen it as an imago 

 alive for twelve consecutive months, and, so far as my experience 

 goes, it is the only British butterfly that has been seen under 

 such circumstances ; none of the Pieridse act so, although it is 

 well known that some of its members emerge early in the year. 

 Undoubtedly egeria is a satisfactory species to rear. 



In August, 1890, I secured a nice lot of females, also a few in 

 the middle of September, from which I obtained ova in abundance, 

 which finally produced perfect insects on the following dates, 

 viz.: — Oct. 24th to 31st, 4 males; Nov., 3 males and 4 females; 

 first females, after which time it is not worth while giving number 

 in sexes; Dec, 7 ; Jan. (1891), 4; Feb., 10; March, 16; three 

 pupae remaining, which I preserved; at the end of April I saw 

 specimens in the Forest, and commonly in each succeeding month 

 to end of September, thus completing the year. The latest date I 

 have seen it in nature was Nov. 2nd, 1887, a perfectly fresh male. 



Several of the pupse were brown, instead of the usual light 

 green. I bred a few striking examples : one male with all the 

 pale spots replaced with tawny, another almost unicolourous dark 

 brown, and several very fully developed females. 



I am now breeding a number of P. egeria, also P. megcera ; 

 the former is veiy late this season, as they have only just begun 

 to pupate (Nov. 6th), quite the reverse of last year. Of P. megcera 

 several are in pupge, and are mostly of the black form*; I think 

 this strange, as I bred above twenty last year, but they were all 

 green, and it is a curious fact that ail emerged by the end of 



* See Entom. 195. — Ed. 



