52 



SCIEXCE-GOSSIP. 





ZOOLOGY! 



^ 



Erebia epiphron, var. Cassiope, in Ireland. — 

 After forty years this mountain butterfly has again 

 been taken in Ireland. The lucky captor was the 

 Rev. R. A. M'Clean, who found it at Rockwood, 

 near Sligo, during the summer of 1894. As this 

 locality is about fifty miles from where the late 

 Edwin Birchall took a fine series in 1854, it seems 

 as though the butterfly only needed working for to 

 be fully established again in the Irish fauna. 



Early Butterflies. — Last week (February 

 28th) I saw a common white butterfly flying about 

 in this district (Bangor, co. Down). The day was 



by no means warm, and the snow had melted 

 away only a day or two previously. A gentleman 

 also informed me he saw one flying about near the 

 end of January. What with early records of 

 flowers out in bloom and insects on flight, which 

 have of late years been recorded fairly often, it 

 appears to me that both animals and plants are 

 gradually accommodating themselves to live in a 

 climate which has, during the past years,, become 

 so changeable as our British one, and that we may 

 expect each year still more marked progress in the 

 same direction. — J. H. Barbour, Queen's College, 

 Belfast; March, 1S95. 



Rare Lepidoptera in South Essex. — In con- 

 sequence of reading a paper upon the entomology 

 of the Essex side of the Estuary of the Thames, by 

 Mr. John T. Carrington. in his series of "Localities 

 for Beginners," published some years ago in the 

 " Entomologist/' when he was Editor of that 

 magazine, I have paid some attention to the 

 district. The result has been most satisfactory, for 

 I have been enabled to add to my collection many 

 rare or local species of lepidoptera, such as 

 Hesperia lineola, our new skipper butterflv, being 

 among its first captors; Bombyx castrensis; Pho- 

 rodesma smaragdaria, so long one of our greatest 

 rarities ; the scarce Efkhnopteryx reikella, which is 

 one of the most elegant but difficult moths to 

 capture ; the new Gelechia suaddla and many other 

 species of interest. — F. G. Whittle. 3, Marine Avenue, 

 Southend-on-Sea ; March 6th, 1895. 



V* arning Colours and Mimicry. — Professor 

 Felix Plateau, in the most recently issued part of the 

 " Memoires de la Societe Zoologique de France," 

 gives the results of his experiments to ascertain 

 whether the Magpie moth is really, as has often been 

 stated, an example of what is termed "warning 

 colour. ' ' This daring Professor actually himself ate 

 a number of caterpillars and found that the flavour 

 was very pleasant, reminding him of almonds. It 

 would indeed be well if all the examples of 

 " warning colouration "' were subjected to as careful 

 an examination. Equally cautious also should 

 naturalists be before accepting examples of 

 "mimicry" among animals and plants. In some 

 cases the so-called "advantageous mimicry- " falls 

 to the ground, for the insect which is supposed to 

 imitate one of its fellows appears at quite a 

 different time of year from it. — H. C. Fyfe, 

 Kensington. 



Planorbis nactileus in Surrey. — I can add 

 another locality for P. nautileus in Surrey (vide 

 Science - Gossip, Vol. i. N.S., p. 45). I have 

 specimens which were found in one of the smaller 

 ponds in Richmond Park. — II*. J. Lucas, Gordon 

 Road, Kingston-on-Thames. 



Mortality of Mollusca by Frost. — The 

 long and continuous severe weather of the past 

 winter months has been very destructive to the 

 terrestrial mollusca of the district around Folkestone. 

 Helix aspersa and Cyclostoma elegans being, so far 

 as I have noticed, the greatest sufferers. Of the 

 former, whole colonies, numbering scores of 

 individuals each, have been totally destroyed by 

 the frost, and the number of broken shells in the 

 hedge banks demonstrate the vast destruction 

 caused amongst this species by hunger-driven 

 birds. Of Cyclostoma I dug up hundreds on 

 Saturday. 16th of March, and fully ninety per cent. 

 were dead. Whilst searching for the last-named 

 species I came across many colonies of hibernating 

 Zonites nitidulus, clustered together as is the custom 

 with H. aspersa. They were at least two inches 

 below the surface. On the same date several 

 tortoise-shell butterflies and hone}' - bees were 

 noticed feeding on the newly expanded celandine 

 blossoms. — Captain W.J. Farrer, 86, Coolinge Road, 

 Folkestone; March i8ih, 1895. 



Aquaria and Frost. — I lost the contents of my 

 aquarium from frost three times, during compara- 

 tively mild winters ; so I had it bricked round and 

 under the zinc tank, forming a hollow cell 3-ft. x 

 2-ft. x i-ft. 3-in., into which I inserted a small lamp, 

 costing is. 3d., through a sliding panel in the room, 

 and put a thick rug round the outside. The 

 window faces NN.W., an extremely cold aspect. 

 The last has been one of the severest winters on 

 record, but my aquarium has only been frozen over 

 one night ; the following morning I increased the 

 size of the flame a little, which had the desired 

 effect of thawing. At the present time, my animals 

 and water-plants are quite health}', and I have an 

 abundant supply of micro-organisms for this time of 

 the year. Last summer I frequently found Volvox 

 globaior and Hydra viridis in it, and the stickleback 

 nursery was a source of great interest ; unfor- 

 tunately, I broke the glass that I transferred the 

 young ones to when they were about three months 

 old, and consequently they were lost. — F. Harrisson, 

 Holly Grove, Cheadle, Stoke-on-Trent : March, 1895. 



Gulls in London. — On a small wharf just above 

 Blackfriars Bridge, on February nth, there was a 

 number of large gulls ; they were about the size of 

 a small goose. I made them out to be the herring 

 gull, Larus argentatus. It was noticeable that none 

 of the smaller species were with them, probably 

 because the larger gulls are of a predatory dispo- 

 sition, and apt to steal food from any of their 

 smaller relations who may be unable to resist ; 

 but just beyond, in a piece of clear water, there 

 were immense numbers of the smaller kind — Larus 

 ridibundus, I think, — besides many flying about and 

 perched on the ice. There was a more than liberal 

 supply of food, which lay about and floated on the 

 water in all directions, and yet, it was singular to 

 observe that, if a gull seized anything freshly- 

 thrown, it was immediately surrounded by a crowd 

 of others who fought with it and each other, and 

 attempted to take the piece away. This was quite 

 unnecessary because of the quantity all round to be 

 had for picking up, and was probably a habit 

 acquired owing to the scarcity of provisions under 



