Article beginning on page 76.
Psyche 12:76, 1905.

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7 6
PS YCLW [ June-August
becoming gradually black toward the end; tibise black, annulated with white near the
base; anterior metatarsi tipped with white, the others entirely black; the second and third joints of the tarsi white, the terminal joints black; halters dark brown. Wings grayish hyaline, the relative length of the second submar- ginal cell the same as in B. clavipes. Length of body 8mm., of wing 7 mm., and of the posterior legs 15mm.
One specimen from Mt. Taxoway, North Carolina, at an elevation of between 3000 and 5000 ft. Collected in August, 1904, by Mr. Frank M. Jones of Wilming- ton, Delaware, to whom I dedicate this interesting species. VARYING ABUNDANCE OF CERTAIN BUTTERFLIES. Many collectors of butter-
flies in New England have noticed the remarkable scarcity of Anasia plex'pfus during the last five or six summers, but little or no mention of this phenomenon has appeared in print. Since 1899 I have found it impossible to obtain supplies of larvae for class-room use, where previously the species had swarmed. In Alstead, N. H., the almost total disappearance of the species was remarked even by non-entomological observers. In 1899 it was common; in 1900 hardly a specimen could be found. Last year a diligent search revealed four of them in a region where they used to abound.
Current comment among members of the Cambridge Entomological Club suggests that @is milberti is rapidly increasing in abundance, particularly in eastern Massachusetts. My own observations seem to support this idea. Laertiasphilenor appears occasionally in great numbers in the neighborhood of Boston, but after a season or two of plentifulness it vanishes. Along the southern border of New England, PapiZiu thoas and CaZZidryas eWe come and go. The range of each species widens and shrinks and widens again in response to certain changing conditions, but our knowledge of those conditions is very fragmentary. It would be interesting to compare a large series of observations, and perhaps such a comparison would help us to a better understanding of the struggle for existence among the butterflies.-W. L. W. FIELD.



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