INSECTS 
mens were taken on the west side of Derwentwater by the late W. 
Greenip. Single specimens have occurred recently at Maryport and on 
Wan Fell near Lazonby. Though the larve invariably feed on devil’s- 
bit-scabious, they may at times be found on honeysuckle, plantain and 
great valerian ; but from personal observation I am led to believe that 
the ova are always deposited on the scabious. The larve are much 
tormented by parasitic Hymenoptera, and there are probably two broods 
of the parasite bred at the expense of one brood of the butterfly—one 
appearing at the time the larve leave their hybernacula in early spring, 
the other when they are full fed some six weeks or two months later. 
The imagines vary considerably. A fine form occurring annually has 
the basal three-parts of the wings black. Another has the two yellow 
spots on the inner margin of the primaries very large and confluent and 
the other yellow markings are also usually much enlarged. In the 
‘fifties’ and perhaps before, Vanessa c-album, L., Comma Butterfly, was 
taken in some numbers in Barron Wood to the south of Carlisle by 
Armstrong, Hodgkinson and other collectors now deceased, but since 
then I have heard nothing of it in the county. V. polychloros, L., Large 
Tortoiseshell, is said to appear in the neighbourhood of Keswick at un- 
certain intervals, and many years ago one or two were probably taken near 
the shores of the Solway Firth. V. urtica, L., Small 'Tortoiseshell, is 
universally common. I have seen it careering over the summits of our 
highest mountains. A pretty form occurs in Borrowdale of a salmon- 
pink colour. The late James Barnes of Carlisle had a variety—which 
I always understood was a Cumberland insect—which resembled 
Newman’s fourth figure, but was darker and larger. This in time passed 
into the possession of J. B. Hodgkinson, and when his well-known 
collection came to the hammer in 1897 the ‘ Barnes’ urtice realized 
£7. 10s. V. i, L., Peacock, was formerly as abundant as the preced- 
ing species, but in most parts of the county it is now one of the rarest 
butterflies. I have never myself come across it, though I have spent a 
large portion of the last ten years in active field-work.' V. antiopa, L., 
Camberwell Beauty, has been taken on half a dozen occasions, but not 
very recently. Carlisle and Cockermouth are localities. V. atalanta,L., 
Red Admiral, is invariably common every season. Near Carlisle in 
1894 it swarmed.’ I have bred the butterfly as early as the second week 
of July and as late as the last week of October. Hibernated specimens 
are seldom seen on the wing earlier than June, unlike its congener 
urtice, which is quite active in early April. Though it occurs through- 
out the county, V. cardui, L., Painted Lady, is very erratic in its 
appearance. Near Carlisle in 1887 it was abundant, and since then 
more than two or three have seldom been captured in a season, and in 
several seasons none at all. Perhaps Cumberland’s most characteristic 
butterfly is Erebia epiphron, Knoch, Mountain Ringlet, which has its 
headquarters on the sloppy ground contiguous to Sty Head and Sprinkling 
1 In 1900 V. io was not uncommon near Maryport and several specimens were noticed in the 
Carlisle district —F. H. D. 2 In 1900 V. atalanta was again extremely abundant.—F. H. D. 
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