NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 129
The "Painted Lady Butterfly."—Perhaps the most
notable event on our coast during this "un-entomological"
autumn was the abundance during the last few days of the
beautiful insect, Cynthia cardui. Neither my brother nor I have
ever seen anything like it. Strong S.E. winds had been blowing,
and on one or two bright sunny days, scores were flying in one
view in a clover-field on the St. Osyth coast, and they were
quite common even in the town of Brightlingsea. I saw many
at Buckhurst Hill and in other parts of the Forest. Forty years
ago the capture of a Cynthia was a rare event; one to be recorded
with jubulation in the natural history journals; last week five or
six could be caught with a sweep of the net. The majority
were much "worn" and some quite battered. The other
Vanessidae have been uncommon, only occurring singly, with the
exception of V. atalanta, of which moderate numbers have been
seen. As usual in "cardui" as well as in "edusa" years, the
lively little day-flying moth, Plusia gamma, has been swarming all
round our coast.—W. Cole, September 26th, 1903.
Since writing the above, our member Mr. F. W. Elliott,
has kindly sent me a number of newspaper-cuttings from which
it appears that the apparition of C. cardui has been observed in
many parts of the country, mainly on the E. and S.E. Coast,
and even in London itself. A few sample extracts may be given.
Mr. F. C. Warburg wrote on September 26th:—
" In a sunny spot in Hyde Park, on a bed of Sedum spectabile, I saw
yesterday at midday four Painted Lady butterflies, Cynthia cardui, sunning
themselves with outspread wings or sucking the honey from the flowers. The
same bed, besides innumerable flies and bees, had attracted one Red Admiral,
Vanessa atalanta, while two 'Silver Y's,' Plusia gamma, were hovering over
the flowers. On a neighbouring sunflower was another cardui, and close by two
more were settled on another bed of Sedum. Of the seven cardun only one had
a wing clipped, and all the others were in good condition, though not quite
fresh. I have never seen V. cardui in London before."
Mr. Milne, Westgate-on-Sea, counted fifty-one "Painted
Ladies" on one flower-bed, and Miss Vernon-Wentworth wrote
from Blackheath, Saxmundham, Suffolk:—
" At this place, which is on the East Coast, about three miles from
Aldeburgh, Painted Lady butterflies have been, and still are, flying about in
swarms, the air being quite full of them sometimes. On one plant of
Michaelmas Daisy I counted as many as sixteen together. I have also noticed
what was mentioned by one of your correspondents—the battered condition of
some of them owing to the violence of the wind which blew them over."