592 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



wing — a I'are species, not known to occur elsewhere in Ireland. 

 Corycia temerata, Acidalia immntata and remutata, were pretty abun- 

 dant about the Upper Lake. Among the Rhopalocera I noticed Thecla 

 rubi very abundant everywhere, and Yanessa io. Lyctena argiolus 

 also was very plentiful towards the end of April ; but I was unable to 

 learn whether it is monogoneutic or digoneutic at Killarney. Holly 

 forms the chief feature of the underwood; and all along the Mucross 

 Demesne there is no want of ivy to feed the second brood. 



Pieris napi, which I took in some numbers, did not present any 

 topomorphic or horeomorphic peculiarity; but I noticed Coenonympha 

 typhon to be characterized by a paler colour on an average, and with 

 ocelli more diminished in number and size than such as 1 have taken 

 in the bogs of the centre of Ireland — Sligo, and Galway. Those from 

 Killarney tally very closely with specimens I have lately received 

 from Norway ; while the examples in my possession from the central 

 and western portions of Ireland approximate somewhat to the ab. 

 Philoxenus of Yorkshire and Central Europe ; and for this I have the 

 authority of Professor Christ of Zurich. Mr. BirchaU's note, there- 

 fore, on this butterfly, in which he says, " All the Irish and Scotch 

 examples of this insect which I have seen are the typical form of 

 Davus Fab.," should be restricted in its application to the South of 

 Ireland form, and perhaps of other districts which I have never ex- 

 plored. 



^inother observation of this distinguished naturalist also is cal- 

 culated to give a false impression, judging from my own experi- 

 ence. Eeferring to Erastria fasciana, Baukia argentula, and Hydrelia 

 uncula, he says : — "Anyone who has traversed the bogs of Kerry in 

 the early part of June will not soon forget the astonishing numbers of 

 the three last-named insects, which rise around him as he pushes his 

 way through the thick growth of Myrica gale." I was therefore 

 much surprised to find that the two latter insects were extremely 

 local in their occurrence, and it was not without hard labour and 

 traversing considerable tracts of moor and mountain that I came upon 

 one or two limited areas where B. argentula was plentiful and H. un- 

 cula in limited numbers, namely, at a portion of Garrymeen Bog, near 

 Lord Brandon's Cottage, and on another patch, about half a mile distant. 

 Single specimens were seen elsewhere, and on a spot on the slope of 

 Maugerton, on the Killarney side, B. argentula is abundant. Erastria 

 fasciana is more widely distributed, and seems to frequent any outcrops 

 of rock at the edges of bogs. 



I saw but few specimens of Gonepteryx rhamni, but could form 

 no opinion of its comparative abundance in less exceptional seasons. 

 At the copper mines in Mucross I noticed Silene maritima growing in 

 i;reat profusion. This abounds all along the Irish seaboard, and if its 

 existence in Killarney be any evidence of a former intrusion here of 

 the ocean, it might be possible that some of the coast-haunting species 

 of Dianthoecia, which feed on the capsules of this plant, may have 



