154 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF LEYTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD.
stated, the record refers to the garden at Leyton. All the species
entered have been taken by myself unless otherwise stated. To
make the list as complete as possible, I have included many species
which I have never taken in the district myself, but which I have
seen others take, or which are known to me on good authority to be
inhabitants of the locality. Any omissions will, I hope, be supplied
by others who have worked in the same neighbourhood ; one of my
reasons in publishing the list as it stands being the hope that it
will serve as a basis for other collectors to work upon and to enlarge,
especially with respect to the smaller moths (Tortrices and Tineina),
which, at the period referred to, I did not know enough about to
attempt to name.
RHOPALOCERA.
All the commoner species were taken in the garden and neigh-
bourhood, and need only be briefly referred to here :—
Pieridae. Gonepteryx rhamni was fairly common in the
autumn and spring ; but never so abundant as I have seen it in the
southern counties (Kent, Sussex, and Surrey). Of Colias edusa, I
saw one specimen flying over Leyton Green on October 9th, 1869.
Pieris brassicae, rapae and napi were always common. Euchloe
cardamines was occasionally taken in the garden, but more commonly
in the lanes between Walthamstow and Chingford.
Nymphalidae. Vanessa cardui was rare as a garden insect. I
did not see more than two or three at Leyton, the only Essex
specimens taken between 1868 and 1874 having been captured in
the plantations on the Forest near the Wanstead Orphan Asylum.
V. atalanta was quite common in the garden in 1868 and 1869. I
often used to see this butterfly by day on the trunks of trees that
had been sugared the preceding night. I remember also being
struck by the ease with which it was captured in small glass forcing
frames, supported on bricks over plates of beer and sugar, placed
about the garden to attract the wasps, which at that time did much
damage to the wall-fruit. It was not unusual to find a dozen or more
of these handsome butterflies in one small glass frame mixed up
with the swarms of wasps, flies, and other insects attracted by the
bait. The larva of this species and V. urticae used to occur also on
the nettles growing in a narrow lane (now built upon) running along
one side of the garden and leading to the marshes. V. io was fairly
common in the garden. V. polychloros was never seen in the garden.