Fishes — Insects. 4915 



a second time : the cut is a simple incision, but both edges recede in healing, and 

 thus the notch is formed ; and 2ndly, that variation in colour, as both sides white, both 

 sides black, and one or both sides piebald, is not extraordinary. Mr. Yarrell has a 

 specimen with the natural colour on the wrong side, not a dextral flounder, but looking 

 to the left like a Rhombus. Seeing, then, that the notch is artificially caused, and 

 that the altered point of the commencement of the dorsal is a consequence of the 

 mutilation, and seeing also that the colour is a mere lusus or freak of nature, we have 

 only the altered form and greater length of pectorals and ventrals to deal with ; and 

 here I confess that there appears a marked difference, but whether sufficient for the 

 establishment of a new species it requires a far more skilful ichthyologist than myself 

 to decide. — Edward Newman.'] 



Double-broodedness of Gonepteryx Rhamni. — I did not think I should have raised 

 such a controversy when I made a few remarks on the question whether G. Rhamni 

 be double-brooded or not. All that I will positively contend for is that there are two 

 periods of the year, viz. the early spring and July, August, &c, when the butterfly is on 

 the wing in a perfectly fine and bright condition. Mr. Greene, I think, must have 

 been singularly unfortunate in his collecting excursions; for he states (Zool. 4872) 

 that " though he has captured dozens, and seen hundreds on the wing at that season 

 [the spring] he has never been fortunate enough to take one worth placing in his 

 cabinet." I should hardly have thought it worth while to say another word on the 

 subject had it not been that Mr. Greene asks, with an air of considerable confidence, 

 as if the question could not be answered in the affirmative, " Has any entomologist 

 ever seen G. Rhamni, fine or otherwise, on the wing either in June or July? It 

 would be presumptuous in me, on my own individual authority, to deny positively 

 that it has been so seen ; but I have collected in Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Buck- 

 inghamshire and Suffolk, and I can confidently affirm that, as far as my acquaintance 

 with those counties extends, G. Rhamui has never been on the wing in June or July." 

 Now this statement does appear to me to be passing strange, having myself seen 

 G. Rhamni on the wing repeatedly in each of these months. On referring to my 

 ' Calendar of Nature,' kept for many years, I find the appearance of G. Rhamni 

 recorded on the 5th, 18th, 21st, 22nd, 24th, 29th, 30th and 31st of July; and to 

 several of these entries I had, in my simplicity added "2nd brood," because the spring 

 appearance of the insect had been previously recorded for the same year. The June 

 appearances have not been recorded in my ' Calendar,' for this obvious reason, — I con- 

 sidered them as belonging to the spring flight which had already been noted. I have 

 had no opportunity of tracing the insect from the egg or caterpillar state, like some 

 more favoured entomologists. Rhainnus catharticus does not occur in this immediate 

 neighbourhood, and though R. Frangula does, I have often examined this shrub for 

 the caterpillar of G. Rhamni in vain. The butterfly itself, too, like several others, has 

 become comparatively scarce in this neighbourhood. In conclusion, I would merely 

 tlyow out a suggestion for the consideration of some more fortunate entomologists, 

 especially Mr. Doubleday, who appears to have traced the insect from the very laying 

 of the eggs. May not some of the later-bred caterpillars turn to chrysalis and remain 

 in that state through the winter, making their appearance in the winged state in the 

 early spring? Should this be so, it would account ibr the fine condition in which 



