338 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



OBSEEVATIONS ON VANESSA C- ALBUM. 

 By W. Haecoukt Bath. 



In reading up the bibliography of this interesting insect, one 

 cannot help being much struck with the diversity of ideas which 

 appears to prevail among entomologists concerning its economy. 



Having personally acquired a considerable acquaintance with 

 it in its west-midland haunts, I will therefore venture to vent my 

 own views respecting several points about which there is appa- 

 rently a great variety of opinion. The most important is that 

 relating to its dimorphic tendencies, concerning which I will first 

 of all give, in a condensed form, what has already been written : — 



1st. Edward Newman, in his ' British Butterflies,' pp. 48-49, 

 observes : " There are three very constant varieties observable 



in the colouring of the under side the characteristics 



of which may be described as repletion, variety, and depletion : 

 in the first, the brown is dark, dull, and uniform; in the 

 second, it is richly varied with different shades of brown and 

 metallic green ; in the third, the colour seems partially bleached, 

 and assumes a tinge of fulvous yellow. Mr. Dale .... regards 



the first and third of these as a first and second brood 



Mrs. Hutchinson, of Leominster, who is perhaps better acquainted 

 with this butterfly than any other entomologist in the United 

 Kingdom, considers the uniformly dark brown specimens to be 

 females, and the rich varied specimens to be males. Accepting 

 these views as correct, there still remains a little difficulty in the 

 extreme uniformity of colouring in all the fulvous or vernal 

 specimens ; these are certainly not all of one sex>" 



Sndly. Mr. E,obt. Adkin, in the 'Entomologist' for November, 

 1892 (vol. XXV., p. 818), related his experiences in rearing this 

 butterfly under the heading of the "Autumn form of Vanessa 

 c-album bred from spring larvge," wherein he remarks : " Cases of 

 one brood of a seasonal dimorphic species assuming the form of 

 the other brood under artificial conditions, are of by no means 

 uncommon occurrence ; but obviously similar cases occurring 



under natural conditions are not so easily traceable Vanessa 



c-album afi"ords a good example of such a species, the two 

 emergences being easily separable, the chief point of difi'erence 

 being in the coloration of the under side, which in the earlier 

 brood is of a pale ochreous tint, while that of the latter brood is 

 dark greyish brown." 



3rdly. Humphreys, in his * British Butterflies,' p. 50, says : — 

 " There are two broods in the year; the first appearing in June, 

 and the second in August and September. The latter brood are 

 said to be of a paler colour than the summer ones." 



4thly. Dr. H. C. Lang, in his grand work on the ' European 

 Bhopalocera,' p. 170, writes about its dimorphic tendencies as 



