Insects. 801 



Note on the Quadrennial Appearance of Colias Edusa. I have received a great 

 many letters communicating the occurrence of Colias Edusa during the present year: 

 these are too numerous to publish ; I have, however, made a selection from them, 

 which I trust will be satisfactory to contributors, and agreeable to my readers. From 

 other sources I learn it has occurred in vast profusion in several localities along the 

 Sussex coast. 



From the published and unpublished communications on this subject, I think 

 several facts in this insect's history are clearly established : — 1st. Its abundance for 

 two successive autumns, proves that its appearance is not limited to any fixed number 

 of years as was suggested in former numbers of ' The Zoologist.' 2ndly. Its geo- 

 graphical range seems nearly restricted to the southern and littoral counties of 

 England. 3dly. The date of its appearance is chiefly the month of September. — 

 Edward Newman. 



Note on the occurrence of Colias Edusa. In answer to your inquiry (Zool. 282), 

 whether Colias Edusa and Hyale have been observed during the present autumn, I 

 am able to state that, on the 13th September, whilst out shooting near Bushmead 

 Priory, Beds, I observed a male Edusa on the wing; and on returning with my net 

 to the spot (a known locality for that insect), I saw and captured three specimens, all 

 males. I have since then taken about half a dozen others ; among them a very small 

 variety, about the size of the insect figured in ' Humphreys' British Butterflies,' as 

 Chrysotheme? These were also all males. — J. F. Dawson, September 27, 1844. 



Note on Colias Edusa and Limenitis Camilla. Having seen in the last number of 

 ' The Zoologist' (for October) some remarks on the appearance of Colias Edusa this 

 season in different parts of the country, it may not be uninteresting to record its occur- 

 rence in the Isle of Wight, where, though far from being equally abundant during 

 the past summer and autumn as it is at particular periods, I have repeatedly noticed 

 it within these last three months. Indeed, though unquestionably only to be observed 

 plentifully in certain years, I think the appearance of this insect is annual with us, 

 because I cannot call to mind any one summer during which I have entirely failed to 

 remark it, since I became resident here. I captured a specimen in September, at 

 Sandown, in the garden of the King's Head Inn, on the flowers of Centranthus ruber, 

 about which Cynthia Cardui and Vanessa Atalanta were actually swarming, as they 

 were on my return to the spot on the 4th of the following month. I am inclined to 

 believe the assertion that Colias Edusa appears only every four years to be erroneous, 

 but that particular seasons may be unfavourable to its development in any degree of 

 plenty, or even effect its apparent extinction for a year or two, seems a fact pretty well 

 established. It is probably the same with the beautiful C. Hyale, occasionally found 

 in this island, but its far greater rarity makes the determination of that point difficult. 

 It may not be out of place to remark, that for these last two or three years I have 

 missed the easy and gracefully sailing Limenitis Camilla, which used to be very 

 common in the woods about Ryde. — W. A. Bromfield ; Ryde, Isle of Wight, 

 October 7, 1844. 



Note on the capture of Colias Edusa at Blackheath. I have taken two specimens 

 of Colias Edusa, both on the 12th of August. The Rev. W. Marsh has also taken 

 two, and I hear that Mr. Engleheart, and some youthful entomologists in this neigh- 

 bourhood, have met with others, but I do not know the exact date. I am not aware 

 that C. Hyale has been seen. — J. B. Spencer ; Blackheath, October 12, 1844. 



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