1G 
NOTES OF OBSERVATIONS 
these being of a light yellow when laid, turning before hatching to a 
deep orange; but, as noted in some other cases, the larvae died a few 
days after hatching. A much-worn specimen of the variety Helice was 
captured in the neighbourhood on the 20tli of August; and other 
specimens of this variety were noticed. In the Exeter and South 
Devon district the Edusa was first observed by Mr. Edw. Parfitt, on 
the 7tli of June, and is noted by him as literally swarming in the 
fields from June till September, especially on Barley, near Prawle- 
Heads, and in such numbers on Scabious flowers that several 
specimens could be taken with one sweep of the net. Fresh specimens, 
as if newly hatched, were still to be taken in the middle of October; 
and two of the variety Helice in good condition were captured near 
Exeter, about the 20th of November. At Cliagford, on Dartmoor, the 
most south-westerly of the stations observed, Mr. W. H. Grattann 
notices the prevalence of the Colias Edusa wherever he went, whether 
amongst hedges, or in the fields, or on the moor itself. 
Abraxas grossulariata. 
15. Abraxas grossulariata. Gooseberry Caterpillar. Is noticed 
as little observed near Northwicli, by Mrs. Leathes; also as little 
present in Essex, or in the South Devon district. At Maxwelltown, 
Mr. Service mentions it as not destructive to the Currants or Goose¬ 
berries, in fact rarely seen on the bushes; but that the leaves of the 
white Ribes are every year stripped by the caterpillar. Mr. W. Tait 
notes it as being as yet absent in the immediate neighbourhood of 
Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, although it is plentiful on various sides, at 
distances of from five to seven miles ; the circumstances accompanying 
this difference of appearance would be well worth noting. Near 
Islewortli there was no appearance of the caterpillar in my own 
garden, where the bushes have the soil well stirred beneath them; 
