IO<S THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



1876, in which year it was first observed in this country, and 

 the present time, does not much exceed thirty, and about one- 

 third of these were obtained in September, 1885. In 1876 

 single specimens were captured at Neath, S. Wales ; Hayward's 

 Heath and Keymer, Sussex; and Poole, Dorset. In 1896 

 single specimens were reported as seen at Lymington, Hants, 

 in May ; Newlands Corner, Surrey, in July ; and the Lizard, 

 Cornwall, in September. The years in which the butterfly 

 has been noticed in Britain are 1876, 1881, 1884, 1885, 1886, 

 1887, 1890, and 1896. It was first observed on the Continent 

 in 1877, when, according to Barrett, a specimen was taken in 

 La Vendue, France. In 1886, when half a dozen were recorded 

 from England, single specimens were obtained in Guernsey, and 

 at Oporto and Gibraltar. " More recently," Barrett states, 

 " Mr. H. W. Vivian found it, I believe not uncommonly, in the 

 Canaries, and very kindly brought me a specimen." 



There seems to be no question that the species is migratory 

 in its habits, but exactly how it reaches this country is not 

 definitely known. Neither is it known whether the species, 

 having arrived, is able to reproduce its kind here. From the 

 fact of its recurrence in England for four years in succession, 

 the possibility of its breeding in this country might be assumed. 

 One objection to any such inference, however, is that it is a 

 many-brooded species, but, with the exception of two records in 

 1896, all British specimens were captured or seen in August, 

 September, or October, and none seem to have been observed 

 in the earlier months of those years in which the autumnal 

 butterflies were obtained. 



The Milkweeds {Asclepias) are not indigenous plants, but, as 

 pointed out by the late Mr. J. Jenner Weir, A.fturftitrescens and 

 A. tuberosa are hardy in this country. He endeavoured to 

 ascertain whether these plants, or either of them, were grown in 

 any of the gardens in the Cornish locality where four fresh 

 specimens were captured in September, 1885. I do not find 



