THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



again is an old dodge, but so little is known in England of the habits of the 

 species that no one seems to know exactly what to do. Our old friend Mr. 

 Gregson was once selected as the victim who was to vouch that Hera was 

 really British. He was taken a round of lamps at night, for the idea then 

 was, it was a nocturnal species like caja. Lamp after lamp was examined to 

 no purpose, but as they neared the very last a flash of red was to be seen 

 against the glass. Gregson was off like a Hawk or a Hawk Moth, and in 

 spite of the efforts of his companion to stop him, and precede him up the 

 post, he was up in a moment to find Hera indeed, but Hera with a pin in it, 

 carefully fastened to the angle of the lamp to await discovery. Mr. D'Orville's 

 specimen in 1871 was taken at night, but Mr. Kirby says it frequents stony 

 places covered with flowers, especially in hilly districts, and flies by day. 

 Mr. Brook's took one as " returning from my morning's collection," another 

 " flying in the sun," and though not stated, all the others appear to have 

 been taken in the day-time, except one which was found " as it was getting 

 dark." Mr. Brook's specimens appear to have a partiality for secluded nar- 

 row lanes, and several of them have been beaten out of hedges. Mr. Brook's 

 makes one remark that is worth noticing. He says his specimens " as com- 

 pared with foreign ones are extremely large." I would have expected, if 

 native, to find the species at the extreme of or beyond its range as being 

 small and stunted, rather than any extremely large. Of the examples of the 

 species that I have had in my possession, those from the neighbourhood of 

 Paris were " extremely large," and my examples of the variety lutescens from 

 that district are the largest I have seen. It would be interesting to know 

 the present whereabouts of the dozen examples Mr. Brook has taken, and how 

 many more have been purchased at long prices on the faith of these records. 



Talking these Hera captures over with my friend Mr. John Gardner, in 

 conjunction with the reported capture of C. artemisia, by the same fortunate 

 individual, we stumbled quite accidentally on a most curious discovery, which 

 I may as well relate here, premising that the J. Brooks of the following 

 story is not the W. Brooks of Hera celebrity. 



Some time ago a Mr. J. Brooks offered pupa of Gueullia gnaphalii for 

 exchange. Mr. Gardner answered the exchange, and after some correspon- 

 dence received " one pupa of gnaphalii and one of A. aim" These were 

 carefully tended, but that said to be Mm never emerged, and from the other 

 a very beautiful insect appeared, nothing like gnaphalii and quite unknown 

 to both of us. Remembering the name but not the initial letter we wondered 

 whether the Gnaphalii Brooks and the Artemisia Brooks were the same and 

 Mr. Gardner suggested to get the letters. These were found, and the differ- 

 ence of the names of the writers noted. But while holding the letters of J, 



