1913. 



2i7 



in different years ; and their abundance here is no doubt largely affected 

 by the vigorous crusade against them by school chikben, " head-money " 

 for no fewer than 6000 " white '• butterflies having been paid to one 

 parish school alone, during the present year. In the autumn of 1917 

 the larvae of P. hrassicae were most abundant, but were infested with 

 the parasite Apanteles glomeratiis to such an extent, that it is doubtful 

 whether 1 per cent, of the whole number were able to reach the 

 pupa state. P. na^n is the commonest butterfly of our flowery water- 

 meadows and river banks, and as usual exhibits a great range of variation 

 in intensity of markings ; in July 1910 I took at Cothill, Berks, an 

 albino example of a clear creamy- white colour, without a single black 

 scale in any part. Euchloe cardamines is also plentiful in most 

 years, and is a conspicuous and beautiful feature of our grassy lanes 

 and wood openings in May and June, specimens in good condition being 

 sometimes seen well into July. Colias edusa and C. liyale are very 

 uncertain in their appearance, and are never as plentiful as on the South 

 Coast, but the former occurs sometimes in fair numbers, as was the case 

 with C. hyale in the lucerne fields near Cowley in 1901 and 1902 ; and 

 a fine specimen of the latter species was observed by Mr. J. Collins 

 and myself in August 1911 at Weston-on-the-Green, Oxon (Ent. Mo. 

 Mag. 1911, p. 217). Gonepteryx rluimni is common throughout the 

 District, and specimens newly awakened from their winter sleep may 

 often be seen in the main thoroughfares of Oxford on bright days in 

 February and March, while tbe larva may be found readily enough on 

 the buckthorn bushes at the proper season. 



Apatura iris is by no means common, but has been taken at 

 intervals in Bagley and other large woods, and Mr. A. H. Hamm on 

 one occasion saw a fine $ on one of the roads near Shotover Hill ; and 

 on August 10th of the present year 1 saw a battered ^ in a wood near 

 Forest Hill, Oxon, where the butterfly had been previousl}'- seen by 

 Mr. Collins, who also reported Limenitis sihylla from the same wood ; 

 the latter species has also occuired at Bagley Wood and near Radley. 

 l?olyyonia c-alhum is also a rare visitor to the District, but it appears 

 to be not uncommon at Wychwood Forest, Oxon ; I saw two S2)ecimens, 

 and caught one, on bramble-blossom near Tubney Wood, Berks, on 

 August 12th of this year, and my friend Lieut. E. G. K. Waters took 

 a fine example at Wytham Park on September 27th. Eugonia poly- 

 cMoros has been found in both the larva and perfect states in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of Oxford, but is decidedly rare, and my 

 experience of the butterfly is confined to the sight of a specimen in one 

 of the main roads in 1911. Ar/Iais urficae is usually plentiful, but in 



