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THE WAYSIDE
AND WOODLAND
M Jf SERIES

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE
BRITISH ISLES

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2016

https://archive.org/details/b28090809

PL T.

Swallow-tail Butterfly.

Male and female, with caterpillars and chrysalids.

Frontispiece,

THE BUTTERFLIES

OF THE

BRITISH ISLES

BY

RICHARD SOUTH, F.E.S.

EDITOR OF

“THE ENTOMOLOGIST,” ETC.

WITH

ACCURATELY COLOURED FIGURES
OF EVERY SPECIES AND MANY VARIETIES
ALSO DRAWINGS OF EGG, CATERPILLAR
CHRYSALIS, AND FOOD-PLANT

LONDON

FREDERICK WARNE & CO.

AND NEW YORK

1906

{Ail rights reserved)

PREFACE.

•<>«

Few things add more enjoyment to a country ramble than a
knowledge of the many and varied forms belonging to the
animal and vegetable kingdoms that present themselves to the
notice of the observing wayfarer on every side.

Almost every one admires the wild flowers that Nature
produces so lavishly, and in such charming variety of form and
colour ; but, in addition to their own proper florescence, the plants
of woodland, meadow, moor, or down have other “blossoms”
that arise from them, although they are not of them. These
are the beautiful winged creatures called butterflies, which as
crawling caterpillars obtain their nourishment from plant
leafage, and in the perfect state help the bees to rifle the
flowers of their sweets, and at the same time assist in the work
of fertilization.

It is the. story of these aerial flowers that we wish to tell, and
hope that in the telling we may win] from the reader a loving
interest in some of the most attractively interesting of Nature’s
children.

There are many people, no doubt, who take an intelligent
interest in the various forms of animal life, and yet do not care
to collect specimens because, as in the case of butterflies for
instance, the necessity arises for killing their captives. Such
lovers of Nature are quite satisfied to know the names of the
species, and to learn something of their life-histories and habits.

VI

PREFACE.

Still, however, there are others, and possibly a larger number,
who will desire to capture a few specimens of each kind of
butterfly for closer examination and study. It is believed that
this little volume will be found useful to both sections of
naturalists alike.

The author in preparing the book has been largely guided by
a recollection of the kind of information ^he sought when he
himself was a beginner, now some forty odd years ago.

In conclusion, he desires to tender his most sincere thanks to
the undermentioned gentlemen, who so kindly furnished him
with eggs, caterpillars, and chrysalids ; or favoured him with
the loan of some of their choicest varieties of butterflies for
figuring ; without their valued assistance many of the illustra-
tions could not have been prepared : — Rev. Gilbert Raynor,
Major Robertson, Messrs. F. Noad Clark, T. Dewhurst, C. H.
Forsythe, F. W. Frohawk, A. H. Hamm, A. Harrison, H. Main,
A. M. Montgomery, E. D. Morgan, G. B. Oliver, J. Ovenden,
G. Randell, A. L. Ray ward, E. J. Salisbury, A. H. Shepherd,
F. A. Small, L. D. Symington, A. E. Tonge, B. Weddell,
F. G. Whittle, and H. Wood.

Varieties — Messrs. R. Adkin, J. A. Clark, F. W. Frohawk,
and E. Sabine.

With kind permission of the Ray Society, figures of the
following larvae and pupae have been reproduced from Buckler’s
“Larvae of British Butterflies”: — P. daplidice , C. edusa, M.
athalia , P. c- album, S. semele , A. hyperanthus , C. typhon ,
C. pamphilus , C. rubi , C. argiolus , A. thaumas , A. acta’on.
Larva only — L. sinapis, A. selene , A. aurinia , and T. pruni.

Figures of A. cratcegi , A. lineola , and C. palcevion have been
made from preserved skins.

For coloured plates, 1,30, 42, 48, 58, 66, 98, 100, 1 12, 1 16, 1 18,
and the accurately drawn black-and-white figures, including
enlargements, the author is greatly indebted to Mr. Horace
Knight.

INTRODUCTORY.

-•o

Butterflies belong to the great Order of insects called
Lepidoptera (Greek lepis, a scale, and pteron, a wing), that is,
insects whose wings are covered with minute structures termed
scales. Moths (Heterocera) also belong to the same order,
and the first point to deal with is how may butterflies be
distinguished from moths? In a broad kind of way they may
be recognized by their horns (antenna), which are slender as
regards the shaft, but are gradually or abruptly clubbed at the
extremity. For this reason they were designated Rhopalocera,
or ‘ club horned,” the Heterocera being supposed to have
horns of various kinds other than clubbed. As a matter of
act this method of separating moths and butterflies does not
hold good in dealing with the Lepidoptera of the world, and

1S \ StUC*y ^lese’ as a whole, that systematists have
arm ed at the conclusion that there is no actual line of division
b ween moths and butterflies. In modern classification, then,
utterfhes are reduced from the rank of a sub-order, which
y ormeily held, and are now dovetailed into the various
newer systems of arrangement between certain families of moths.

these :rbd\BntlSh bUttGrflleS’ however> it will be found that
these maybe known, as such, by their clubbed horns. Only the

Burnets among British moths have horns in any way similar

iese are thickened gradually towards the extremity rather

B

Vlll

INTRODUCTORY.

than clubbed. Day-flying moths, especially the bright-coloured
ones, might be mistaken for butterflies by the uninitiated, but
in all these the horns will be found not at all butterfly-like.

Although varieties of the species will be referred to in the
descriptive portion of the book, a few general remaiks on
variation in butterflies may here be made. All kinds aie liable
to vary in tint or in the markings, sometimes in both. Such
variation, in the more or less constant species especially, is
perhaps only trivial and therefore hardly attracts attention. In
a good many kinds variation is often of a very pronounced
character, and is then almost certain to obtain notice. Rxcept
in a few instances, where the aberration is of an unusual kind,
it is possible to obtain all the intermediate stages, or gradations,
between the ordinary form of a species and its most extieme
variety. A series of such connecting links in the variation of a
species is of greater interest, and higher educational value, than
one in which the extremes alone have a place.

In those kinds of butterflies that attain the perfect state twice
in the year, the individuals composing the first flight are some-
what different in marking from those of the second flight. Such
species as the large and small whites exhibit this kind of varia-
tion, which is termed seasonal dimorphism. The males of
some species, as for example the Common Blue and the Oiange-
tip, differ from the females in colour ; this is known as sexual
dimorphism. The Silver- Washed Fritillary, which has two
forms of the female, one brown like the male, the other green
or greenish in colour, is a good example of dimorphism con-
fined to one sex. Gynandrous specimens, sometimes called
“ Hermaphrodites,” are those which exhibit both male and
female coloration, or other wing characters ; when one side
is entirely male and the other side entirely female, the
gynandromorphism would be described as complete.

The ornamentation on the under side of a butterfly difteis
from that of the upper side, and is found to assimilate or

INTRODUCTORY.

IX

harmonize in a remarkable manner with the usual resting-place.
It is therefore of service to the insect when settled with wings
erect over the back, in the manner of all butterflies, except
some few kinds of Skippers.

The number of known species of butterflies throughout the
world has been put at about thirteen thousand, and it has
been suggested by Dr. Sharp that there may be nearly twice
as many still awaiting discovery. Dr. Staudinger in his
“ Catal°g ” gives a list of over seven hundred kinds of butterflies
as occurring in the whole of the Palrearctic Region. This
zoological region embraces Europe, including the British
Islands, Africa north of the Atlas range of mountains, and
tempeiate Asia, including Japan. The entire number of species
that can by any means be regarded as British does not exceed
sixty-eight. Even this limited total comprises sundry migratory
butterflies, such as the Clouded Yellows, the Painted Lady, the
Red Admiral, the Camberwell Beauty, and the Milkweed
Butterfly; and also the still less frequent, or perhaps more
accidental visitors, the Long-tailed Blue and the Bath White.
Again, the Large Copper is now extinct in England, and the
Mazarine Blue does not seem to have been observed in any of
its old haunts in the country for over forty years. The Black-
veined White is also scarce and exceedingly local.

The majority of the remaining fifty-seven butterflies may
be considered natives, and of these about half are so widely
distributed that the young collector should, if fairly energetic
secure nearly all of them during his first campaign. The other
species will have to be looked for in their special localities, but

llT, T f are 50 StHct,y attached t0 Particular spots, that a
k°°d deal of Patience will have to be exercised before a chance
may occur of obtaining them.

A few remarks may here be made in reference to the names
an auangement adopted in the present volume.

As will be adverted to in the descriptive section, the English

X

INTRODUCTORY.

names of our butterflies have not always been quite the same
as those now in general use. There has, however, been far
less stability in scientific nomenclature, and very many changes
n loth generic and specific names have been made during he
l"st twenty years, more especially perhaps withm the last

^Genera are now founded by some specialists on characters
winch formerly served to distinguish one species from anothei,
I.hiht other authorities merge several genera m one upon
certain details of structure that are common to them all.

Patient research into the entomological antiquities has re-
veille! much important material, some of which may furnish a
ref Interpretation of the Linnean classification of Lepidopteim
The discovery of the earliest Latin specific name bestowed
upon an insect, is a labour which entails a large expendituie
ofllme and requires fine judgment. Great credit is therefore
lue to those who undertake such investigations, the lesult o
lie i mav tend to the establishment of a fixed nomenclature
“"tie prlably not remote, future, although it sadly hampers

and nerplexes students in the meanwhile. .

M things considered then, it has been deemed advisable
not to make many changes in specific names, and to retain e
Old genera as far as possible. The arrangement of families,
geliera, etc., will be found to accord with that most generally
accepted both in England and on the continent.

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE
BRITISH ISLES.

PART I.

THE LIFE CYCLE OF A BUTTERFLY.

As is the case with all other Lepidoptera, butterflies pass
through three very distinct stages before they attain the perfect
form. These ^stages are i. The egg {ovum, plural ova).
2. The caterpfllar {larva, larva). 3. The chrysalis {pupa,
pupa). The perfect insect is called the imago (plural imagines).

The Egg.

Butterfly eggs are of various forms, and whilst in some kinds
the egg-shell {chorion) is elaborately ribbed or fluted, others
are simply pitted or covered with a kind of network or reticula-
tion ; others, again, are almost or quite smooth. If the top of an
egg, such as that of the Purple Emperor (Plate 28), is examined
under a good lens a depression will be noted, and in this will
be seen a neat and starlike kind of ornamentation. In the
middle of this “ rosette ” are, present in all eggs, minute aper-
tures known as micropyles (little doors), and it is through these
that the spermatozoa of the male finds entry to the interior of
the egg and fertilization is effected. The changes that occur in
the egg after it is laid are of a very complex nature, and readers

2 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

who may desire information on this subject are referred to
Sharp’s “ Insects,” Part I., in the “ Cambridge Natural History,'
where also will be found much interesting and instructive matter
connected with the caterpillar and chrysalis, to which stages
only brief reference can here be made.

The Caterpillar.

The second stage is that of the caterpillar, and in some
species, such as the Red Admiral, this is of very short duration,
a few weeks only, whilst in others, as for example the Small
Blue, it usually lasts for many months. There is considerable
diversity both in the shape and, where it is present, in the hairy
or spiny clothing ( armature ) of caterpillars. All, however, ate
alike in one respect, that is the body is divided into thirteen
more or less well-defined rings ( segments ), which together with
the head make up fourteen divisions. In referring to these
body-rings, the first three nearest the head, each of which is
furnished with, a pair of true legs ( thoracic legs'), are called the
thoracic segments, as they correspond to the thorax of the
perfect butterfly. The remaining ten rings are the abdominal
segments ; the last two are not always easily separable one from
the other, and so for all practical purposes they may be con-
sidered only nine in number. These nine rings, then, coi 1 espond
to the abdomen of the future butterfly. 1 he third to sixth of
this series have each a pair of false legs {prolegs), and theie is
also a pair on the last ring ; the latter are the anal claspers.

The warts {tubercles) are the bases of hairs and spines, and
are to be seen in most butterfly caterpillars, but they geneially
require a lens to bring them clearly into view, lhese waits aie
usually arranged in two rows on the back {dorsal sc? tes) and
three rows on each side {lateral series).

All the various parts referred to, or to be presently mentioned,
may be seen in Fig. i, which also shows a peculiarity that is

THE CATERPILLAR.

3

found in very young" caterpillars of the Orange-tip, and in
some others of the “ Whites ” ( Pieridce ). The odd thing about
this baby caterpillar is that the fine hair arising from each wart
is forked at the tip (Fig. i, a), and holds thereon a minute globule
of fluid. When the caterpillars become about half grown these
special hairs are lost in a general clothing of fine hair. Fig. I, b ,
represents a magnified single ring of the caterpillar, and this
shows a spiracle and the folds of the skin ( subsegments ). The
manner in which such folding occurs is to be observed in the
higher study of larval morphology.

On each ring, except the second (including now the three
thoracic with the
nine abdominal,
and so making
twelve rings), the
third, and the
last, there is an
oval or roundish
mark which indi-
cates the position
of the breathing
hole {spiracle).

Through these
minute openings
air enters to the
breathing tubes {trachccs), which are spread throughout the
interior of the caterpillar in a seemingly complicated kind of
network of main branches and finer twigs ; air is thus conveyed
to every part of the body. In the event of one or two aii -holes
becoming in any way obstructed, the caterpillar would possibly
be none the worse ; but if all the openings were closed up
effectually, it would almost certainly die. lotal immeision in
water, even for some hours, is not always fatal.

Turning again to the “ feet ” of the caterpillar, it will be seen

Fig. i.

Young caterpillar of Orange-tip highly magnified.
{After Sharp.)

4 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

from the figure that the true legs (a) differ from the false legs (Z))
in structure. The former are horny, jointed, and ha\e terminal

claws ; the latter are fleshy,
with sliding joints, and the foot
is furnished with a series of
minute hooks which enable the
caterpillar to obtain a secure
hold when feeding, etc. The
false legs are also the chief
means of locomotion, as the
true legs are of little service for this purpose. The true legs,
however, appear to be of use when the caterpillar is feeding, as
the leaf is held between them so as to keep it steady whilst
the jaws are doing their work.

In the accompanying figure of the head of a caterpillar the
mouth parts are clearly shown. The biting jaws ( mandibles )
are slightly apart, above them, is
seen the upper lip ( labrum ), and
below them is the under lip ( labium
or lingua). The maxilla’ are very
tiny affairs, but they should be
noted because in the butterfly they
become the basal portions of the
two tubes which, when united to-
gether, form the sucking organs
( proboscis ). The eyes, or ocelli as
they are termed, are minute, and
are said to be of slight use to the
caterpillar as organs of sight, so
that it probably has to depend on its little feelers (antennee) for
guidance to the right plants for its nourishment. Attention
should also be given to the spinneret, as it is by means of this
that the silken threads, etc., for its various requirements are
provided ; the substance itself being secreted in glands placed

a, labrum ; b , mandible ; c,
antenna ; d, ocelli ; e, max-
illa ; f, labium ; g, spin-
neret ; h, labial palp.

THE CATERPILLAR. 5

in the body of the caterpillar. The palpi are organs of touch,
and seem to be of use to the caterpillar when moving about.

Immediately after hatching, many caterpillars eat the egg-
shell for their first meal ; they then settle down to the business
of feeding and growing. It should be remembered that it is
entirely on growth made whilst in the caterpillar stage that the
size of a butterfly depends. In the course of a day or two the
necessity arises for fasting, as moulting, an important event, is
about to take place. Having spun a slender carpet of silk on a
leaf or twig, the caterpillar secures itself thereto, and then
awaits the moment when all is ready for the transformation to
commence. After a series of twistings from side to side and
other contortions, the skin yields along the back near the head,
the head is drawn away from its old covering and thrust
through the slit in the back, the old skin then peels downwards
whilst the caterpillar draws itself upwards until it is free. The
new skin, together with any hairs or spines with which it may be
clothed, is at first very soft. In the course of a short time all is
perfected, and the caterpillar is ready to enter upon its second
stage of growth. At the end of the second stage the skin-
changing operation is again performed, and the whole business
is repeated two or more times afterwards. Finally, however,
when the caterpillar has shed its skin for the last time, the
chrysalis is revealed, but with the future wings seemingly free.
These, together with the other organs, are soon fixed down to
the body by the shell, which results from a varnish-like ooze
which covers all the parts and then hardens.

Generally speaking, newly hatched caterpillars, though of
different kinds, are in certain respects somewhat alike, but the
special characters of each begin to appear, as a rule, after the
first change of skin ( ecdysis ), and these go on developing with
each successive stage ( stadium ) until the caterpillar is full
grown. The form assumed in each stage is termed the instar ,
therefore a caterpillar just from the egg would be referred to as

6

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

in the first instar; between the first and second changes of skin,
as in the second instar, and so on to the chrysalis, which in the
case of a caterpillar that moulted, or changed its skin, four
times before attaining full growth, would be the sixth instar,
and the butterfly would then be the seventh instar. In practice,
however, it is usually the stages of the caterpillar alone that are
indicated in this way.

The Chrysalis.

The term chrysalis more especially applies to such of them
as are spotted or splashed with metallic colour, as, for example,
the chrysalids of some of the Fritillaries. The scientific term
for the chrysalis is -pupa , which in the Latin tongue means “ a
doll or puppet.”

In passing to the chrysalis stage the caterpillars have some-
times to make rather more preparations
than in previous skin- changing provisions.
Those of the Swallow-tail, Whites,
Orange-tip, and similar kinds have to pro-
vide a silken girdle for the waist as well as
a pad for the tail. Chrysalids that hang
suspended, head downwards, such as the
Vanessids, Fritillaries, etc., are attached by
the cremaster — a hooked arrangement on
the tail (Fig. 5) — to a pad of silk ; others,
such as the Blues and the Coppers, appear
to be held in position on a leaf, or some
other object, by means of a fine girdle of
silk, or sometimes a few silken threads
spread net-like above and below them —
rudiments of a cocoon in fact. Chrysalids
of the Skippers are enclosed in a more or less complete cocoon
placed within a chamber, formed of a leaf or leaves of the
food-plant, drawn together by silken cables. Some of these

Fig. 4.

Caterpillar of Small
White, about to
change to chrysa-
lis.

THE BUTTERFLY.

7

chrysalids are furnished with hooks on the tail as well as with
a girdle for suspension ; but others have hooks only.

As almost all the chrysalids here considered are figured in the
illustrations, it will be unnecessary to refer in detail to their
great diversity in form, but a few general remarks on the
structure of a chrysalis may be made.

If the upper ( dorsal) surface of a chrysalis is examined, the
thorax and the body divisions will easily be made out, while,
by looking at the sides and the under
( ventral ) surface, the various organs,
such as the wings, legs, antennas, etc-,
will be found neatly laid along each
side of the “ tongue,” or proboscis,
which latter extends down the centre.

All these are separately encased, but
by reason of the shell mentioned in the
remarks on the caterpillar, they appear
to be welded together. When, how-
ever, the butterfly is ready to emerge,
the shell of the chrysalis is split along the thorax and at the
lower edge of the wing-cases, and the insect is then able to
release itself from the pupal trappings. This breaking open of
the chrysalis shell is termed dehiscence ( dchisco , “ to split
open”), and the manner in which it is effected varies in different
species. The emergence of a butterfly from the chrysalis is
always an interesting operation to observe, and every one
should make a point of watching the process, so that he may
obtain practical knowledge of how the thing is done. A photo-
graph of it will be found in the description of the Wall Butterfly.

Enlarged view of cre-
master, and a hook
still more enlarged.
{After Sharp.)

The Butterfly.

Having safely cleared itself free of the chrysalis shell, the
butterfly makes its way to some suitable twig, spray, or other
object, from which it can hang, sometimes in an inverted position,

8

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

whilst a very important function takes place. This is the
distention and drying of the wings, which at first are very weak
and somewhat baggy affairs, although the colour and markings
appear upon them in miniature. All other parts of the butterfly
seem fully formed, but the helpless condition of the wings alone
prevent it as yet from floating off into the air. In a remarkably
short time, after the insect has settled to the business, the fluids
from the body commence to flow and circulate through the
wings, and these are seen gradually expanding and filling out
until they attain their proper size. Occasionally there is some
obstruction to the equal distribution of the fluids, and when this
occurs a greater or lesser amount of distortion, or cockle, in
the wing affected is the result. When the inflation is com-
pleted the wings are kept straight out for a time ; they are then
motionless, but all their surfaces are well apart. The wings
being now fully developed, the further flow of fluid appears to
be arrested. It has been stated by some authorities that this
fluid is fibrin held in solution, and that when the work of ex-
pansion has been accomplished, the watery medium evaporates,
leaving the fibrin to harden, and so fasten together the upper
and lower membranes of the wing and to fix the veins, or
nerves, in their proper position. Mayer, a specialist on these
matters, referring to the expansion of the wings, remarks that
the blood [the fluid previously mentioned] forced into the freshly
emerged wing would cause it to become a balloon-shaped bag
if it were not for fibres that hold the upper and lower walls
closely together. I he fibres referred to, he states, are derived
fiom those hypodermic cells which do not contribute to the
formation of scales, but are stretched out from one wall of the
wing to the other.

It may be well now to briefly consider some of the structural
details of the perfect butterfly, so a beginning will be made with
the head (fig. 6). When looking at the head of a butterfly,
the first thing to attract the attention is the very large size

THE BUTTERFLY.

9

of the compound eye (a), which seems to take up the largest
share of the whole affair. Although so bulky and so complex
in the matter of divisions, or facets, as they are termed (the
facets are not shown in figure), the power of sight is not really
very keen. A butterfly can see things in a general way readily
enough, but it seems unable to clearly distinguish one object
from another. When engaged in egg-laying, the female butter-
fly rarely fails to place her eggs on a leaf or spray of the plant
that the future caterpillar will feed upon, and it has been
suggested that in making this unerring selection the insect is
guided more by the sense of smell than by that of sight.

The horns ( c ) (antenna), or feelers, as they are sometimes
called, which adorn the head, are now considered to be organs
of smell. These are composed of a number
of rings or segments, which vary in the
different kinds of butterfly, as also does
the shape of the terminal rings forming
what is known as the club. In Fig. 7, e
(Purple Emperor) and f (Marbled White)
represent the gradually thickened club ;
in g (Brimstone) and h (Dark-green Fritil-
lary) the clubs are more or less abruptly
formed. Our Skippers have well-developed
clubs ; these may be hooked at the tip as
in i (Large Skipper), or blunt at the tip as
in j (Chequered Skipper) ; at the base of
the Skipper’s antenna, that is at the point
where it is inserted in the head, there is a Head of Butterfly,
tuft of rather long hairs. a’ co™Poun(l eYe ; t’*

Of the various mouth parts it will only d, proboscis,
be necessary to refer to the suction-tube,

Fig. 6, d ( proboscis ), often called the “tongue,” which is
perhaps the most important, at least to the butterfly itself, as
this organ is, in a way, as useful to it in the perfect state

IO

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

as were the very differently constructed strong biting jaws
( 'mandibles ) of its caterpillar existence. These latter in the
butterfly are only microscopically represented, and the suction-
tube of the perfect insect is an extension of the maxillae, which
in the caterpillar are not conspicuous. When not engaged in
probing the nectaries of flowers for the sweets they contain,
the suction-tube is neatly coiled up between the palpi (Fig. 6, U).
Its great flexibility is due to the many rings of which it is com-
posed. Although seemingly entire, it is really made up of two
tubes, each being grooved on its inner side, and forming, when

Fig. 7.

Antennae of Butterflies.

the edges are brought together, an additional central canal,
through which the sweets from the flowers and other liquids are
drawn up into a bulb-like receptacle in the head, whence it passes
into the stomach. When it is remembered that the passage of
sweet, and no doubt sticky, fluid through the central tube would
most probably result in its walls becoming clogged, there is
reason to suppose that the method of construction permits of
the canal being cleansed from time to time.

The important divisions of the body are the thorax and the
abdomen. I he former is made up of three segments (named
the pro-, meso-, and meta-thorax), each of which, as in the
caterpillar state, is furnished with a pair of legs ; the second and

THE BUTTERFLY.

I I

third, which are closely united, each bear a pair of wings also.
The legs, which in the butterfly are adapted for walking at a
leisurely pace, are made up of four main parts ; these are (a) the
basal joint (coxa, coxes), (b) the thigh (femur, femora), (c) the
shank (tibia, tibia), and (d) the foot (tarsus, tarsi). The small
joint uniting the coxa with the femur is the trochanter (tr.).
The foot usually has five joints, the last of which is provided
with claws (e). The abdomen really
consists of ten rings or segments accord-
ing to some specialists. Examined from
above, the female butterfly appears to
have only seven rings and the male
butterfly eight. This discrepancy arises
from the fact that in the former sex two
rings and in the latter one ring are
withdrawn into the body, and so are
tucked away out of sight. The organs
of reproduction are placed in the ter-
minal ring. The breathing arrange-
ments are pretty much as in the cater-
pillar, but the external openings are not
so apparent owing to the dense clothing
of the body.

The beauty of a butterfly’s wings is
intimately connected with the form and colour of the scales
with which they are covered, as with a kind of mosaic ; but be-
fore the scales and their method of attachment, etc., are referred
to, something should be said about the wings themselves. 1 he
various shapes of these organs of flight will be seen on turning
to the plates, where will be found accurate portraits of every
species that will be dealt with in the descriptive section later on.

A butterfly's wing consists of an upper and a lower mem-
brane, with a framework of hollow tubes, acting as ribs, between
the two layers. Fig. 9, A, shows a fore and a hind wing of the

Leg- of Butterfly.

12

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

Swallow-tail butterfly. The point of attachment with the thorax
is the base of the wing, and the edge farthest from the base is
the outer margin ( termen ) ; the upper edge, or front margin, is
the costa ; and the lower edge is the inner margin (dotsinn). The
point where the upper margin meets the outer margin on the
fore wing is the apex, but on the hind wing it is called the outer
angle ; the angle formed by the junction of outer and inner
margins is the inner angle of the fore wing, but the anal angle of

the hind wing. The term tornus is sometimes used for this
angle on either wing. Dividing the wings transversely into
three portions, we have three areas, termed respectively basal,
central or discal, and outer. These are terms used in descrip-
tions of butterflies, and it will be useful to remember them.

The ribs of a butterfly’s wings are by some authors described
as veins, whilst others style the main ones nervures, and the
branches nervules. Fig. 9, B, represents the venation, or
neuration of the Black-veined White, and the numeral system

THE BUTTERFLY.

13

of indicating the veins has been adopted, as it is the most
simple. In another method of referring to the venation, and
one that has been much in use, vein 12 of the fore wing
would be styled the costal nervure, or vein ; veins 11, 10, 9
(absent in figure), 8, and 7 would be the subcostal nervules

1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 ; 6 would become the upper radial, and 5 the
lower radial ; 2, 3, and 4 would be the median nervules 1, 2, and
3 ; vein 1 would be the submedian nervure, or vein. On the
hind wing, vein 1 a would be the internal vein ; 1 the submedian ;

2, 3, and 4 the median nervules ; 5 the lower and 6 the upper
radials ; 7 the subcostal, and 8 the costal nervures. Just near
the base of the hind wing will be noted a short recurved vein
(p.c.) ; this is the precostal vein, and so named because it comes
before the costal. It is always absent in some species. Com-
paring the venation of A and B, it will be seen that in A the
fore wing has 12 veins
and the hind wing 8 veins,
whilst in B there are only
1 1 veins on the fore wing,
but the hind wing has one
vein more than that of
A. In the Black- veined
White, vein 9 is absent
on the fore wing, and on
the hind wing there is one
internal vein.

Dust-like as they appear
to the naked eye, the
scales from a butterfly’s
wing seen under the mi-
croscope are found to be
exceedingly interesting
structures and very varied in shape. Dr. Sharp describes them
as “delicate chitinous bags.” Chitin, it may be mentioned, is

C

Fig. 10.

Arrangement of Scales.

{After Holland.)

14

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

the horny substance of which the chrysalis shell is formed, and
this was adverted to when discussing the chrysalis stage as a
varnish-like ooze. As seen on the wings, the scales are flat-
tened and the upper and under sides are then almost, or quite,
brought together. They arc attached in lines on the membrane
or covering of the wing by short stalks which fit into sockets in
the membrane. The arrangement of the scales, which has often
been stated to resemble that of the slates on a roof, is shown in
Fig. io.

Colour is chiefly due to pigment contained in the scale or
adhering to the interior of its upper side. Pigments, according
to Mayer, are derived, by various chemical processes, from the
blood while the butterfly is still in the chrysalis. Some scales
have minute parallel lines (strict) on their upper sides, and rays
of light falling on these are turned aside or broken up, and so
produce changes in the colouring of a wing, according to the
angle from which it is looked at.

The males of many kinds of butterfly have special scales,
which are known as androconia, or plumules. It is believed
that these are scent organs. Whatever their particular use may
be to the possessor, these androconia enable the entomologist
to distinguish male specimens from females with great certainty.
In the Fritillaries they are placed on one or more of the median
nervules (veins 2, 3, and 4) of the fore wing. In the Meadow
Brown and its kindred they form brands on the disc of the fore
wing. In the Skippers they are placed in a fold of the costa in
some species, and in other species they are clustered together,
into more or less bar-like marks, about the middle of the fore
wings. .Some of these various shaped “plumules” are shown
in the illustrations.

In the foregoing sketch of the life cycle of a butterfly, the
object has been to condense as much necessary information as
possible into a limited space. Many matters of importance to
the student have not been touched on, but it was considered

THE BUTTERFLY.

15

Fig. 11.

Butterfly Plumules.

a. Tufted Plumule (Satyrs) ;

b. Bristle Plumule (Grizzled

Skipper) ;

c. Hair Plumule (Dingy

Skipper) ;

d. Jointed Plumule (Silver-

studded Skipper) ;

e. Bladder Plumule (Com-

mon Blue) ;

f. Dotted Plumule (White-

letter Hair-streak).
{After Aiirivil tius. )

i6

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

that, as these were more especially connected with a higher
scientific phase of the subject than would here be found helpful,
they might be omitted.

Collecting.

Naturally the first matter for consideration, when the forma-
tion of a collection of butterflies has been decided upon, is how
to set about it. Well, there are two methods of effecting our
purpose. The specimens may be purchased from a dealer in
such things, or we may acquire an outfit comprising net, boxes,
and pins, and go in search of the insects ourselves. Apart
from its healthful and entertaining possibilities, the latter method
has very much to recommend it. In the first place, those who
are at all observant — and no true lover of Nature can be sus-
pected of being otherwise— will become acquainted with the
objects under natural conditions, and so be
enabled to appreciate them more highly than
could be the case if they were obtained in
any other way. The chief purpose in making
a collection of Natural History specimens
should be study of some kind rather than
mere accumulation.

The net may be a simple cane ring one of
home construction, or the more elaborate,
but not necessarily more efficient,
fabrication of steel-jointed ring with
grenadine bag and telescopic handle. A good
serviceable butterfly-net may be fitted up as
follows. Procure a light flexible cane, about
3 feet or so in length. Next, a Y-shaped
holder (Fig. 12) for the two ends of the cane
will have to be made, and either tin or brass may be used
for the purpose. The latter is the better metal, and the

Nets.

COLLECTING.

17

parts should be brazed and not soldered together. (If difficulty
is experienced in the manufacture of this article, it may be
obtained from any dealer in entomological requisites for a
few pence.) The bag may be made of leno, tarletan, or fine
mosquito-netting ; the latter is the most serviceable, and should
be used wherever it can be ob-
tained. The size of the bag at
the top, where it has a wide band
to take the cane, should not exceed
the circumference of the cane ring
when fitted in the two arms of the
Y-piece ; the depth should be just
a little less than the length of one’s
arm, and the bottom should be
rounded off so that no corners are
available for the butterflies to get
into and damage their wings. An
opening about 3 inches in length
is left in the seam of the bag just
under the Y-piece, so that the
cane may be removed and rolled
up when the net is put out of
action. The ring band should be
covered with some stouter material
to prevent it from fraying, thin
leather is sometimes used for this
purpose ; the slit in the seam also requires protecting on
each side, and strengthening at the lower end by a crosspiece.
An ordinary walking-stick, with the ferrule end thrust into the
longer tube of the Y, will serve as a handle to the complete net.

The dealers adverted to above generally stock a variety of
nets ready fitted for use. Among these is a very useful pattern
known as the kite or balloon net (Fig. 13). This is made in
two sizes, and as the writer has used this kind of net for at least

1 8

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

twenty years, he is able to speak well of its merits. It does not
need a stick for ordinary work, and the long end of the socket
should be about 9 inches in length.

The “ring” being made of four separate rods, in addition to
the Y-piece, some care will have to be taken when a balloon
net is unshipped. It will be found a good plan to leave the
two short curved canes in the hem or band of the bag, remove
the two straight arms from the Y-piece and the band, place
these on top of the bag when folded, and then roll all up
together. A canvas or linen pouch or pocket, opening at one
end, may be made to contain the whole affair.

The umbrella-net, when in its case, looks very like the
familiar “gamp.” Its chief merit is that it is quickly put up
for use, and its principal defect is that the stick, which crosses
the mouth of the bag, frequently damages the quarry.

Another implement of the chase known as the “ Ortner ” net
is used pretty extensively on the Continent. English entomo-
logists who have used it speak of it most favourably. Its great
advantage over other nets is found in the simple and rapid
method of its adjustment for use.

In connection with nets it may be well to advise the wielder
to remember that carrying a threaded needle is a useful
practice. Tears and rents are apt to occur, and it is well to
have the means of repair handy.

Some collectors seem to be expert at killing butterflies by

pressing the sides of the thorax together. The method is not,

however, as satisfactory as one could wish, and so no
Killing. 7 .... . .

more need be said about it. For the happy despatch

of insects, the cyanide bottle is frequently used. All that has

to be done is to clap the open bottle over the captive while

still in the net, then draw the gauze or what-not over the

mouth of the bottle until the bung can be inserted, and the

whole affair withdrawn from the net.

Cyanide of potassium is a deadly poison, and no inexperienced

COLLECTING.

19

person should attempt to charge a cyanide bottle himself. In
fact, chemists are not permitted to supply the poison to
unknown customers. Under certain conditions, however, a
chemist might consent to make up a killing bottle, and the
following instructions may help him in doing this. A fairly
strong, clear glass bottle, holding about 4 to 6 ounces ; the
mouth must be pretty wide, and closed with a well-fitting bung
that has been dipped in melted wax ; if the bung is of fine
grained cork, the wax will not be needed. At the bottom of
the bottle place a thick layer of the cyanide, and over this
pour plaster of Paris which has been mixed with water and con-
verted into a cream-like paste : one-third of the depth of the
bottle to be occupied by the poison and plaster, but only a thin
layer of the latter should cover the former.

Dealers who supply cyanide bottles (uncharged) also have
in stock a brass bottle for chloroform, which some people
prefer as a killing agent because it does not change the
colour of insects as cyanide is occasionally apt to do. In using
this, the insect should be boxed, then a drop of the chloroform
may be allowed to run from the bottle over the perforated lid
or bottom of the box, and a finger put over the hole or holes for
a short time.

The majority of butterflies, if transferred to pill boxes from
the net, settle down quietly. In this way they may be taken to
one’s home and there placed, boxes and all, into the ammonia
jar, a simple but very effective contrivance. To start one of
these lethal chambers, procure a good sized pickle jar, one of
the brown earthenware kind, holding about 2 gallons. At the
bottom put in several layers of stout blotting-paper, and have
ready a covering for the mouth of the jar. This covering may
be of skin, waterproof-apron material, or even thick brown paper.
Before turning the boxes into the jar, lift up the blotting-paper,
drop in about half a teaspoonful of strong liquid ammonia (-88o)
and replace blotting-paper. Directly the boxes are in the jar,

20

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

put on cover and tie it down securely. If brown paper is used,
a piece of pasteboard should be put over it and a weight on top
of that. Suffocation takes place directly the gas reaches the
insect, but it often happens that one or more of the boxes
exclude the gas longer than others. At the end of half an hour
all may be removed, but the insects will not hurt in any way if
left in all night.

The best kind of boxes for field work are those known as
“ glass bottomed,” as in these the captives can be examined and,
if not wanted, may be set free. It is always better to retain
only those specimens that we know are really useful, rather
than to incur the necessity of throwing away insects after we
have deprived them of life.

If butterflies are pinned on the spot, a collecting box will be
required, and the most useful and convenient is one of an oval
shape. This should be made of zinc, and lined with
Pinning. corj, ^at js held jn piace by zjnc clipS. The cork

should be kept damp when in use, and the water used for
damping should have a few drops of carbolic acid mixed with it
so as to prevent the formation of mould. Insects may remain
in such a box for several days without injury. This box will
also be useful for relaxing specimens that have been badly
set, or have been simply pinned during the busy season.

In the matter of pins, it is not altogether easy to make
suggestions. There are, perhaps, only two makers in this
country of entomological pins, and each of these supplies a large
number of sizes. The selection of suitable pins will largely
depend on the method of setting adopted. Black pins are,
however, the best for butterflies, and are now used almost
exclusively.

In pinning a specimen care should be taken that the pin
passes in a direct line through the centre of the thorax. Insects
that are properly pinned set better, and have a neat appear-
ance when arranged in the collection. For regulating the

COLLECTING.

21

height of specimens on the pin, a handy graduated stage has
been devised by Dr. Scarancke (see Fig. 14). Each of the
little rests are hollowed to receive the body of the insect, so
suppose we wish a quarter of an inch of the pin to show below
the body of a specimen, the pin is pushed through a perforation
in the centre of the rest groove marked “ ^ ” until the point
touches the wooden base, and we have the required length.

Beginners would, perhaps, find three sizes of pins quite
sufficient for almost every purpose — say, Nos. 10, 8, and 5 of one
maker ; or Nos. 9, 17, and 5 of the other. In each case the
first size pin would be suitable for small butterflies, the second

Fig. 14.

Pinning: Stage.

size for all other butterflies except quite the largest, for which
No. 5 would remain. English pins are sold by the ounce.

Setting, as it is called, that is, spreading out and fixing the
wings so that all their parts are displayed, arranging the
Setting horns, etc., is perhaps the most tedious work that the
collector will be called upon to perform. The various
methods will be referred to, and he must then decide as to which
he will adopt. Each style may possibly be found to have its
difficulties at first ; but time and patience will overcome these,
therefore he must be prepared for a good deal of troublesome
practice before he quite gets “the hang of the thing,” and can

22 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

set out his specimens without removing a greater or lesser
number of the scales.

First, as to the flat and high setting as practised by almost
every lepidopterist abroad and by some in our own country.
Boards of the pattern, shown in the illustration, will be required ;
also some tracing cloth, and a pair of entomological forceps,

bead-headed pins, etc. In
these boards, it will be noticed,
the sides tilt outwards ; this is
to allow for drooping of the
wings, which generally occurs
after insects are removed from
the “sets.” In this case the
wings would settle dead flat,
which is considered to be the acme of perfection in this style of
setting. Carlsbad or other foreign pins would be used for this
kind of work. They are of a uniform length, about one inch
and a half, but vary in thickness, and are usually sold by the
100 or 1000.

Manipulation of the specimen on these boards is as follows.
Having carefully pinned it, leaving the greater length of pin
below the insect, guide the pin carefully through the narrow
opening ( a Fig. 15) and the cork (Fig. 16) below to a suitable
depth, so that the body of the insect rests in the groove and
the wings lie easily on the board. Then take two strips of
tracing cloth, glazed side dowmvards, and pin them on at the
end of each side of the setting-board (Fig. 17). The strip should
be just wfide enough to cover all but the basal part of the wings.
Now pass the strips over the wings, press one side lightly with
the fingers of the left hand while the wings are moved into
position with the setting needle (a fine needle with eye end
fixed into the stick of a small penholder will do for this) from
the uncovered base, a pin being inserted below the fore wing
while the hind wing is brought into position, but when this has

COLLECTING.

Fig. i 6.

Longitudinal Section
of Setting-board.

Setting-board in use.

24

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

been done and another pin inserted to keep it in place, as

shown in the diagram, the first pin may be removed ; repeat

the same operation on the other side. Other pins will be

required to keep the horns, etc., in place. In dealing with the

next specimen the strips will have to be turned back while it is

fixed into position, then proceed as before. An imaginary line

following the inner margin of the fore wings and passing through

the pin on the thorax is an excellent guide to uniformity in

setting. The groove

will prevent the pin

leaning to either

side, but care should

be taken that it does

not incline either for-

-n. o wards or backwards,

r IG. Io.

“ Saddle ” Setting-board. 1 he stnP oi tracing

cloth may be used

more than once, but the roughness of the pin holes should be
removed by drawing the strip across the back of a knife.

The setting-boards most frequently used in this country have
sloping sides, and are known as saddles (Fig. 18). Where
tracing cloth is used, the modus operandi is exactly
( J ) similar to that just described, but small pins will do

v, for pinning down the strips, as the saddles are made
v, of cork, or cork carpet, instead of wood.

The following me-
thod of setting butter-
flies on the English
kind of “board” or
\ Fig. 19. saddle is frequently

' Setting-bristle- adopted. Select a suit-

able saddle, that is
one that has the groove wide enough to take the body, and
rather wider than the wings when expanded. A setting bristle

COLLECTING.

25

will then be required. This is made, as shown in Fig. 19,
by fixing a fairly long and stout bristle, or a very fine needle,
or a thin length of quill, in a cube of cork : the cork cube has
a stoutish and sharp-
pointed pin pushed
through it as indi-
cated. Having placed
the first insect on the
saddle with its body
comfortably resting
in the groove and
the wings flush with
the surface, the set-
ting bristle is then
brought into action.

The point of the pin
is rested on the saddle
directly in the rear
of the hind wing, and
the top of the bristle
touching the saddle
in advance of the
front wing. Tilt the
pin slightly forward
until the bristle
presses lightly on the
central area of the
wings, then with the
setting needle push
the wings into the

required position, and at the same time drive pin of bristle
into the saddle. After the wings have been secured by means
of braces (triangular pieces of thin card or stout paper,
with a pin through the base of the triangle), proceed in the

Fig, 20.

Brace and Band Modes of setting-.

26

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

same way with the other side. Finally, fix a brace to the tip and
angle of each fore wing to keep them from turning up in drying,
and a pin or two may be required for the horns if these are not in
a good position. Instead of using braces, a strip of transparent
paper may be pinned over the wings beyond the bristle, but in
this case the bristle must be pressed across the wings at a point
nearer their base than in the previous method (see lower figure
in Fig. 20). In lieu of a setting bristle a length of sewing-
cotton may be used. Tie a double knot at one end, and through
this pass the point of a pin in such a way that the cotton lies
flush on the saddle when in use. Insert the pin firmly in the
saddle a little in advance of the fore wing, then draw the cotton
downwards across the wings and hold it taut, with the fore
finger of the left hand placed on it just in rear of the hind wing.
Whilst so held the wings can be got into pose with the setting
needle, and braces may then be applied as previously directed.

Fig. 21 shows a specimen set by a method that is in vogue
in the north. Blocks of soft pine, grooved and bevelled as
in the cork saddle, are easily made. Down the centre of the
groove there is a saw cut for the point of the pin to enter, and
nicks are cut along the bottom edge at each end. One end of
a length of cotton is knotted and fixed in a nick, then a turn is
taken over the wings on one side ; these are placed in position
and secured by other turns of the cotton. The other side is
then treated in the same manner, and the end of the cotton
fastened off in one of the nicks. This is a quick and, in skilled
hands, a very neat method.

As specimens after being set will have to remain on the setting
boards or saddles for at least a fortnight, it will be necessary to
protect them not only from dust, but from possible attack by
ants, cockroaches, mice, etc. This is best ensured by placing
the sets into a receptacle called a setting or drying house.
Dealers supply these, but the young collector may have a
knowledge of carpentry and could make one for himself. The

COLLECTING.

27

height and depth of such a construction would depend upon the
number and the width of the boards or saddles that would be
put therein. The width would be that of the length of the
boards, which is usually 14 inches. About a quarter of an
inch of cork is cut off each end of the saddles, and grooves are
cut in the sides of the house for these to run in. The back and
the door should have a square of fine perforated zinc inserted
in them for ventilation. As an example of holding capacity it
may be well to note that a house with a height of 12 inches,
and a depth of 6 inches,
inside measurement,
would take eighteen 2-
inch boards if the
grooves were cut at 2
inches apart, or twenty-
four boards of same
width if I? inch only
were allowed between
the grooves.

In taking insects off
the sets, the braces or
strips should be re-
moved from the wings,
and the pins from the
horns, with care, as a
good deal of damage can be done in the performance of this
operation, simple as it seems to be. A little twist of a brace
and away goes a patch of scales, a side slip of a pin and oft
comes a horn.

Pending the arrival of that twelve or twenty drawer cabinet
the beginner will probably be content to arrange his specimens
in boxes. A handy sized box is one measuring 14 inches by 10
when closed, and it should have a cell for naphthaline.

Before putting the specimens away into boxes or drawers

Fig. 21.

Cotton Method of setting1.

28

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

they should be labelled with the date of capture, the locality,
the name of the captor, and any other detail of interest in
connection with it. All these particulars may be written on
small squares of paper and put on the pins under the specimens.

Cabinets or boxes containing insects should always stand
where they are free from damp, otherwise mould may make its
appearance on the specimens. Mouldy insects may be cleaned,
but they never look nice afterwards ; so it will be well to bear
in mind that prevention is better than cure. Where drawers
and boxes are not properly attended to in the matter of
naphthaline, mites are apt to enter and cause injury to the
specimens. If these pests should effect a lodgment, a little
benzine poured on the bottom of box or drawer will quickly
kill them. The benzine, if pure, will not make the least stain,
and of course the drawer or box must be closed directly the
benzine is put in. Do this only in the daytime.

Rearing butterflies from the egg is much practised, and is a
very excellent way. One not only obtains specimens in fine
condition, but gains knowledge of the early stages at the same
time. The eggs of most of the Whites, the Orange-tip, the
Brimstone, and some others are not difficult to obtain, but
searching the food-plants for the eggs of many of the butterflies
is tiresome work, and not altogether remunerative. Females may
be watched when engaged in egg-laying, and having marked
the spot, step in when she has left and rob the “nest.’’ The
best plan is to capture a few females and enclose them in
roomy, wide-mouthed bottles, or a gauze cage, putting in with
them a sprig or two of the food-plant placed in a holder
containing water. The mouth of the bottle should be covered
with gauze or leno, and a bit of moistened sugar put on the
top outside. Either bottle or cage must be stood in the sun-
shine, but it must be remembered that the butterflies require
plenty of air as well as sunshine, and that they can have too
much of the latter.

PART II.

DESCRIPTIONS OF SPECIES.

The Swallow-tail ( Papilio machaon).

The Swallow-tail butterfly is the only British member of the
extensive and universally distributed sub-family Papilioninoe,
which includes some of the largest as well as the most handsome
kinds of butterfly. Our species has yellow wings ornamented
with black, blue, and red, and is an exceedingly attractive
insect. The black markings are chiefly a large patch at the
base of the fore wings, this is powdered with yellow scales ; a
band, also powdered with yellow, runs along the outer or hind
portion of all the wings. There are also three black spots on
the front or costal margin, and the veins are black. The bands
vary in width, and that on the hind wings is usually clouded
more or less with blue. At the lower angle of the hind wings
there is a somewhat round patch of red, and occasionally there
are splashes of red on the yellow crescents beyond the band.
The male and female are shown on Plate 2.

The eggs are laid on leaflets of the milk parsley {Pcucedanum
palustre), which in the fenny home of the butterfly is perhaps
the chief food-plant of the caterpillar. This is one of the few
eggs of British butterflies that I have not seen. Buckler says
that it is globular in shape, of good size, greenish yellow in
colour when first laid, quickly turning to green, and afterwards
becoming purplish.

D

30 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The caterpillar when full grown, as figured on Plate I, is
bright green with an orange-spotted black band on each ring
of the body, and blackish tinged with bluish between the
rings. The head is yellow striped with black. When it first
leaves the egg-shell, which it eats, the caterpillar is black
with a noticeable white patch about the middle of the body.
After the third change of skin it assumes the green colour, and
at the same time a remarkable V-shaped fleshy structure of
a pinkish or orange colour is developed. This is the
os?nateriu7n , and is said to emit a strong smell, which has
been compared to that of a decaying pine-apple. The organ,
which is extended in the figure of the full-grown caterpillar,
is not always in evidence, but when the caterpillar is annoyed
the forked arrangement makes its appearance from a fold in
the forepart of the ring nearest the head. Other food-plants
besides milk parsley are angelica ( A7igelica sylvest7'is ), fennel
( Foc7iiculu77i vulga7'e ), wild carrot (Daucus ca7Mota ), etc. From
eggs laid in May or June caterpillars hatch in from ten to
twelve days, and these attain the chrysalis state in about six
or seven weeks. If the season is a favourable one, that is fine
and warm, some of the butterflies should appear in August,
the others remaining in the chrysalids until May or June
of the following year ; a few may even pass a second winter
in the chrysalis. Caterpillars from eggs laid by the August
females may be found in September, nearly or quite full grown,
and chrysalids from October onwards throughout the winter.
They are most frequently seen on the stems of reeds, but they
may also be found on stems or sprays of the food-plants, as
well as on bits of stick, etc. It would, however, be practically
useless to search for the late chrysalids as the reeds are usually
cut down in October, when the fenmen keep a sharp look-out
for them, and few are likely to escape detection in any place
that would be accessible to the entomologist.

On Plate i three forms of the chrysalis are shown. The

PL 2.

Swallow-tail Butterfly.

i male ; 2 female.

D 30.

PL 3-

Black-veined White Butterfly.

Eggs , natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis.

THE SWALLOW-TAIL.

31

figures are drawn from specimens collected in Wicken Fen in
October, 1905. Occasionally a much darker, nearly black,
form is found.

This butterfly was known to Petiver and other early
eighteenth-century entomologists as the Royal William. There
is every reason to believe that at one time it was far more widely
distributed in England than it now is. Stephens, writing in
1827, states that it was formerly abundant at Westerham, and
gives several other localities, some very near to London.

During the last twenty-five years or so, the butterfly has been
seen on the wing, from time to time, in various parts of the
Southern and Midland counties. Caterpillars have also been
found at large in Kent. Possibly attempts may have been
made to establish the species in certain parts of England, and
the presence of odd specimens in strange places may thus be
accounted for. Or such butterflies may have escaped from
some one who had reared them.

On the Continent the butterfly is common in woods as well as
in meadows, and even on mountains up to an elevation of 5000
feet. It occurs also, but less commonly, at much higher alti-
tudes. It therefore seems strange that in England it should be
confined to the low-lying fens of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire.
Such is the case, however, and a journey to one or other of its
localities will have to be made by those who wish to see this
beautiful creature in its English home.

It may be added that the geographical range of the butterfly
extends eastwards through Asia as far as Japan. A form,
known as the Alaskan Swallow-tail, is found in Alaska.

The following ten species belong to the Pierinm, another
sub-family of Papilionidm.

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

32

The Black-veined White (Aporia, cratcegi).

The Black- veined White (Plate 4) may be at once recog-
nized by its roundish white wings and their conspicuous veins,
which latter are black in the male butterfly, and in the female
brownish on the main ones (nervures) and black on the branches
(nervules). As the scales on the wings are denser in the male
than in the female, the former always appears to be the whiter
insect. On the outer margin of the fore wings there are more
or less triangular patches of dusky scales, and these in occasional
specimens are so large that their edges almost or quite meet,
and so form an irregular, dusky border to the fore wings. These
patches are also present on the hind wings, but are not so well
defined. .Sometimes the patches are absent from all the wings.
The fringes of the wings are so short that they appear to be
wanting altogether. The early stages are figured on Plate 3.

The egg is upright and ribbed from about the middle to the
curiously ornamented top, which appears to be furnished with
a sort of coronet. The colour is at first honey-yellow, then
darker yellow, and just before the caterpillar hatches, greyish.
The eggs are laid in a cluster on the upper side of a leaf of
sloe, hawthorn, or plum, etc., in the month of July.

The caterpillar when full grown is tawny brown with paler
hairs arising from white warts ; the stripes along the sides and
back are black. The under parts are greyish. The head,
legs, and spiracles are blackish. Caterpillars hatch from the
egg in August, and then live together in a common habitation
which is formed of silk and whitish in colour. They come
out in the morning and again in the evening to feed, but a few
leaves are generally enclosed in their tenement. In October
they seem to retire for the winter and reappear in the spring.
During May they become full grown and then enter the

PI.

4-

Black-veined White Butterfly.

i, 2 male ; 3, 4 female.

D 32.

PL 5.

Large White Butterfly.

Eggs-, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalids.

D

OJ*

THE BLACK-VEINED WHITE. 33

chrysalis state. The butterflies are on the wing at the end
of June and in July.

The chrysalis is creamy white, sometimes tinged with greenish,
and dotted with black.

This butterfly was mentioned as English by Merret in 1667,
and by Ray in 1710. Albin in 1731, who wrote of it as the
White Butterfly with black veins, figures the caterpillar and the
chrysalis, and states that caterpillars found by him in April
turned to chrysalids early in May and to butterflies in June.
Moses Harris in 1775 gave a more extended account of the
butterfly’s life-history, and what he then wrote seems to tally
almost exactly with what is known of its habits to-day. This
species has seemingly always been somewhat uncertain in its
appearance in England. Authors from Haworth (1803) to
Stephens (1827) mention Chelsea, Coombe Wood in Surrey,
and Muswell Hill in Middlesex, among other localities for the
butterfly. It has also been recorded at one time or another,
between 1844 and 1872, from many of the Midland and Southern
counties. In 1867 it was found in large numbers, about mid-
summer, in hay fields in Monmouthshire. The latest informa-
tion concerning the appearance of the species in South Wales
relates to the year 1893, when several caterpillars and four
butterflies were noted on May 22 in the Newport district.
At one time it was not uncommon in the New Forest, but no
captures of the butterfly in Hampshire have been recorded
during the last quarter of a century. At the present time it is
probably most regularly obtained in a Kentish locality, pre-
sumably in the Isle of Thanet, which is only known to a few
collectors. It may be mentioned that some thirty years ago
caterpillars of the Black-veined White could be obtained from
a Canterbury dealer at a few shillings per gross.

The species is widely distributed, and often abundant, on the
Continent, and its range extends through Western and Northern
Asia to Yesso, Northern Japan.

34

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The Large White ( Pieris brassicce).

This butterfly is probably almost as familiar to those who
dwell in towns as it must be to those who live in the country.
It is perhaps unnecessary to describe it in any detail, and it
may therefore suffice to say that it is white with rather broad
black tips to the fore wings ; there are some black scales
along the front margin of these wings, and on the basal area
of all the wings. The male has a black spot on the front
margin of the hind wings, and the female has, in addition, two
roundish black spots on the fore wings, with a black dash from
the lower one along the inner margin.

As there is a rather important difference between the speci-
mens of the spring ( vernal ) and the summer {(Estival) broods,
figures of a male and a female of each brood, and showing
the upper and under sides, are given. Those on Plate 6
represent the spring form, which was at one time considered
to be a distinct species, and named chariclea by Stephens.
Plate 9 shows the summer form. The chief point of differ-
ence is to be noted in the tips of the fore wings, which in the
spring butterflies are usually, but not invariably, greyish ; in
the summer butterflies the tips are black, as a rule, but not
in every case.

Occasionally the black on tip of the fore wing in the female
is increased in width, and from it streaks project inwards
towards the upper discal spot. In some examples of the male
there is a more or less distinct blackish spot on the disc of
the fore wings. Very rarely the ground colour is creamy or
sulphur tinted.

The greenish tinge about the veins, sometimes seen in these
butterflies, is due to some accidental cause, probably injury to
the veins.

The egg is yellowish in colour, somewhat skittle-shaped,
and very prettily ribbed and reticulated. On Plate 5 there

Large White Butterfly (Spring Brood)

i. 2 malt ; 3, 4 ft wale.

6.

34-

PL 7-

Small White Butterfly

Resting.

D

THE LARGE WHITE.

35

are two figures of the egg from enlarged drawings by Herr Max
Gillmer, to whom I am greatly indebted for the loan of them.
In the figure on the right, the dark spot at the shoulder of the
egg represents the head of the young caterpillar, and in that
on the left is seen the caterpillar about to come out of the egg.
The head is already out, and the jaws have left their mark
on the egg-shell. Most caterpillars of the Whites, as well as
those of other butterflies, devour their egg-shells.

The eggs are laid in batches of from six to over one hundred
in each batch. They are placed on end, and on either side of
a leaf, chiefly cabbage. Herr Gillmer writes that he watched
a female depositing her eggs on a leaf of white cabbage in the
hot sunshine, and found that she laid twenty-seven in about
nine minutes. A previous observer had timed a female, and
noted that she produced eggs at the rate of about four in the
minute. Caterpillars hatch from the egg in about seven days
in the summer. The caterpillar (Plate 5) when full grown is
green tinged with blue or grey above, and greenish beneath.
There are numerous short whitish hairs arising from little
warts on the back and sides ; the lines are yellow. The
caterpillars feed in July, and sometimes again in September
and October, on all plants of the cabbage tribe, and also on
tropaeolum and mignonette. A number of these caterpillars
may often be seen crowded together on a cabbage leaf, and
they sometimes abound to such an extent that much loss is
sustained by growers of this most useful vegetable. A pecu-
liarity of these caterpillars is that even when not numerous,
their presence is indicated by an evil smell that proceeds from
them. The unpleasantness of the odour is greatly intensified
if the caterpillars are trodden upon.

The chrysalis (Plate 5) is of a grey colour, more or less
spotted with black and streaked with yellow. It is often to
be seen fixed horizontally under the copings of walls, the
top bar of a fence, or a window-sill ; but it sometimes affects

36

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

the upright position when fastened in the angle formed by two
pales. A position that affords some measure of protection from
weather is generally selected.

Although this butterfly is almost annually to be seen, in
greater or lesser numbers, throughout the country, it is occa-
sionally scarce, either generally or in some parts of the British
Islands. For example, during the past year (1905) it was
abnormally plentiful in Ireland, but at the same time com-
paratively rare in England. It is a migratory species, and no
doubt its abundance in any year in these islands is dependent
on the arrival of a large number of immigrants. Possibly in
some years none of the migrant butterflies reach our shores,
and that it is largely to this failure the rarity of the species
in such years is to be attributed. Caterpillars resulting from
alien butterflies may absolutely swarm in the autumn of one
year, but the eccentricities of an English winter may be too
much for the vitality of such of them as escape their enemies,
Apanteles glomeratus , and other so-called “ ichneumons,” and
reach the chrysalis state. So, with immigration on the one
hand and destructive agencies on the other, it may be under-
stood how it comes about that the Large White is sometimes
abundant and sometimes scarce.

This species seems to range over the whole of the British
Islands, with the exception, perhaps, of the Shetlands. Abroad,
it has been found in all parts of the Pahearctic Region, except
the extreme north, and Eastern Asia.

The Small White ( Pieris rapce).

The Small White butterfly (Plate 1 1) is, perhaps, more often in
evidence then its larger kinsman just referred to. It also is a
migrant, and although it never seems to be absent from these
islands, in its proper season, its great increase in numbers in
some years is almost certainly due to the arrival of immigrants.

THE SMALL WHITE.

37

The spring form of this butterfly, named metra by Stephens,
who, together with others, considered it a good species, has
the tips of the fore wings only slightly clouded with black ;
and the black spots near the centre of the wings are always
more or less faint in the male. Sometimes the central spot
and also the blackish clouding of the tip are entirely
absent. The summer brood, on the other hand, has fairly

blackish tips and distinct black spots — one in the male
and three in the female, the lower one lying on the inner
margin. Occasionally examples of this flight bear a strong-
resemblance to the Green- veined White, the next species. The
wings are sometimes, chiefly in Ireland, of a creamy colour^
more especially in the female, or, more rarely, of a yellowish
tint. In North America, where this species was accidentally
or intentionally introduced some years ago, bright yellow forms
are not uncommon in some localities, and the variety is there
known as novanglicz.

In certain favourable years a partial third brood has occurred,
but such specimens are often small in size.

The egg (Plate 8) is at first pale greenish, but later on
it turns yellowish, and this tint it retains until just before the
caterpillar hatches out.

The caterpillar when full-grown has a brownish head
and a green body ; the latter is sprinkled with black and
clothed with short blackish hairs emitted from pale warts.
There is a yellowish line on the back, and a line formed of
yellow spots on the side. It feeds on most plants of the
cabbage tribe, and in flower gardens on mignonette and nastur-
tiums. It is often attacked by parasites, and especially by the
Apanteles , referred to as destructive to caterpillars of the Large
White.

The chrysalis may be of various tints, ranging from pale
brown, through grey to greenish ; the markings are black,
but these are sometimes only faint. It is to be found in

38 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

similar situations to those chosen by the caterpillar of the last
species, but often under the lower rail of a fence or board of
a wooden building. Where caterpillars have been feeding in
a garden, they often enter greenhouses, among other places,
to pupate ; and where these structures are heated during the
winter, the butterflies sometimes emerge quite early in the year.
Distributed throughout the British Islands, except the Hebrides
and Shetlands. It is common over the whole of Europe, and
extends through Asia to China and Japan. In America, where it
was introduced into the United States some forty-five years ago,
it has now spread northwards into Canada, and also southwards.

The Green-yeined White (Pieris ncipi).

This butterfly is not often seen away from its favourite
haunts in the country ; these are woods, especially the sunny
sides, leafy lanes, and even marsh land. As in the case of
the two Whites previously noticed, there are always two
broods in the year. The first flight of the butterflies is in May
and June, occasionally as early as April in a forward season.
These specimens have the veins tinged with grey and rather
distinct, but are not so strongly marked with black as those
belonging to the second flight, which occurs in late July and
throughout August. This seasonal variation, as it is called, is
also most clearly exhibited on the under side. In the May and
June butterfly (Plate 13, left side) the veins below are greenish-
grey, and those of the hind wings are broadly bordered also
with this colour. In the bulk of the July and August specimens
(Plate 13, right side) only the nervures are shaded with
greenish-grey, and the nervules are only faintly, or not at all,
marked with this colour.

Now and then a specimen of the first brood may assume the
characters properly belonging to the specimens of the second
brood ; and, on the other hand, a butterfly of the second brood

PL 8.

Small White Butterfly.

^££s> natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalids.

D 38-

Large White Butterfly (Summer Brood).

i, 2 male ; 3, 4 female.

D 39-

THE GREEN-VEINED WHITE

39

may closely resemble one of the first brood. As a rule, how-
ever, the seasonal differences referred to are fairly constant.
By rearing this species from the egg it has been ascertained
that part (sometimes the smaller) of a brood from eggs laid in
June attains the butterfly stage the same year, and the other
part remains in the chrysalis until the following spring, the
butterflies in each set being of the form proper to the time of
emergence.

The strongly-marked specimens (Plate 14) are from Ireland,
and are of the first or spring brood. The seasonal variation
in this species is not so well defined in Ireland as in England.

A form of variation in the female, and most frequent perhaps
in Irish specimens, is a tendency of the spots on the upper side
of the fore wings to spread and run together, and so form an
interrupted band.

Specimens with a distinct creamy tint on the wings are some-
times met with, but such varieties, as well as yellow ones (var.
flava , Kane), are probably more often obtained in Ireland and
Scotland than in England. Occasionally male specimens of the
second brood have two black spots on the disc of the wing.
Some forms of this butterfly have been named, and these will
now be referred to.

Sabelliae (Petiver), Stephens, has been considered as a species
distinct from P. napi , L. Stephens (“Brit. Entom. Haust.,” I.
PI. iii., Figs. 3, 4) figured a male and a female as sabellicce ,
which he states differs from napi in having shorter and more
rounded yellowish-white wings. No locality or date is given
in the text (p. 21) for the specimens figured ; but referring to
another example which he took at Highgate on June 4, he says
that it agrees with his Fig. 2. Probably, however, it was his
second figure that he intended, the Fig. 4 of the plate, which is a
female. This is rather more heavily marked with dusky scales
than is usual in specimens of the first brood, at least in England,
although it agrees in this respect with some Irish June examples.

40

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

Fig. 3 represents a male which certainly seems to be referable
to the spring form. Most authors give sabcllicce as belonging
to the summer flight, but this does not seem to be correct.

Var. napccce is a large form of the summer brood, occurring
commonly on the Continent, in which the veins on the under
side of the hind wings are only faintly shaded with greenish-
grey. Occasionally specimens are taken in this country in
August, which both from their size and faint markings on the
under side seem to be referable to this form.

Var. bryonice is an Alpine form of the female, and in colour
is dingy yellow or ochreous, with the veins broadly suffused
with blackish grey, sometimes so broadly as to hide the greater
part of the ground colour. This form does not occur in any
part of the British Islands, but some specimens from Ireland
and from the north of Scotland somewhat approach it.

All the early stages are shown on Plate io.

The egg is of a pale straw colour when first laid, but it soon
turns to greenish, and as the caterpillar within matures, the
shell of the egg becomes paler. The ribs seem to be fourteen
in number.

The eggs are laid singly on hedge garlic ( Sisymbrium
alliaria ) and other kinds of plants belonging to the Cruciferae.
The egg in the illustration was laid on a seed-pod of hedge
garlic, but the caterpillar that hatched from it was reared on
leaves of garden “ nasturtium ” and wallflower,
t The caterpillar when full grown is green above, with black
warts, from which arise whitish and blackish hairs. There is
a darker line along the back, and a yellow line low down on
the sides. Underneath the colour is whitish-grey. The
spiracular line is dusky, but not conspicuous, and the spiracles
are blackish surrounded with yellow. It has been stated that
caterpillars fed upon hedge garlic and horseradish produce light
butterflies, and that those reared on mignonette and watercress
produce dark butterflies. Barrett mentions having reared a

PL IO.

Green-veined White Butterfly.

^SSsi fiat ural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

D 40.

«

Small White Butterfly.

THE BATH WHITE.

41

bvoocl of the caterpillars upon a bunch of watercress placed in
water and stood in a sunny window, but he does not refer to
anything peculiar about the butterflies resulting therefrom.
He states, however, that from eggs laid in June the earliest
butterfly appeared within a month, and the remainder by the
middle of August, only one remaining in the chrysalis until
the following June.

Caterpillars may be found in June and July and in August
and September.

The chrysalis is green in colour, and the raised parts are
yellowish and brown. This is the most frequent form, but it
varies through yellowish to buff or greyish, and is sometimes
without markings.

Generally distributed throughout the British Islands, but its
range northwards does not seem to extend beyond Ross.

In Europe it is generally common, and extends through
Western and Central Asia to Siberia, and, according to Leech,
is found in North Japan. In Amurland and Corea it is repre-
sented by the form orientis , Oberth. It occurs in North-West
Africa, the Canary Isles, and the Azores. In America it is
found in the Northern States and in California.

The Bath White {Pier is daplidice ).

The Bath White (Plate 14) is such a rare visitor to this
country, that any one who captures a specimen may congratulate
himself on the event. During the whole of the last century not
more than sixty specimens seem to have been recorded as taken
in England, and ten of these were captured between 1895 and
the present time. Nearly all of these were netted on the south
or south-eastern coast, and in the months of July or August, but
chiefly the latter. The occurrence of specimens in Mayor June
appears to be quite exceptional.

Although it might be passed over for a Green-veined White,

42

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

or other common butterfly, when seen on the wing, it is very
different from any of our other species when seen at close
quarters. In the greenish mottling of the under side of the hind
wings, the male has some likeness to the female Orange-tip, but
on the Bath White the green is heavier and less broken up.
On the upper side of the fore wings the black markings comprise
a spot, sometimes divided, at the end of the cell, and a patch on
the tips of the wings ; the latter enclose spots of the ground
colour. The markings of the under side show through blackish
on the upper side of the hind wings. The female differs from
the male in having a black spot between veins i and 2 of the
fore wings, and the markings of the hind wings are blacker,
especially on the outer area.

The egg is stated by Buckler to be of a bright pinkish-red
colour, agreeing in this respect, as well as in size, with the
anthers of the flowers of mignonette, upon which plant it is laid
in an upright position. The shape is compared to that of an
acorn without the cup, and it has twelve or fourteen rather
prominent ribs.

The full-grown caterpillar is bluish-grey, dotted with glossy
black warts, from each of which there is a short blackish hair.
The lines along the back and sides are yellow, or white spotted
with yellow. Head yellowish, dotted with black, and hairy.
August and September. It feeds on garden as well as wild
mignonette {Reseda).

The chrysalis is at first similar in colour to the caterpillar,
but it afterwards becomes whitish. It has numerous black dots,
and is marked with yellow along the sides and on the back of
the thorax.

The above descriptions are abridged from Buckler’s more
detailed account of the life-history of this species. Of the
caterpillars resulting from thirty-three eggs, only two attained
the chrysalis state, in September. One of these turned black
and died in November, and from the other a butterfly emerged

PI. 12.

Bath White Butterfly.

Caterpillar and chrysalis ( after Buckler).

D 42.

PL 13. D 43.

Green-veined White Butterfly.

i, 2 male (spring), 5, 6, do. (summer) ; 3, 4 female ( spring), 7, 8 do. (summer).

THE ORANGE-TIP. 43

in the following June. The figures of caterpillar and chrysalis
on Plate 12 are from Buckler’s “ Larvae.”

It has been suggested that specimens taken in July and
August are the offspring of immigrants that arrive here in May,
but there is no conclusive evidence of this. It has, however,
been proved that our climate is not suitable for the permanent
establishment of the species here.

The earliest writers on English insects called this butterfly
“Vernon’s Half Mourner,” or “The Greenish Half Mourner.”
It was first mentioned by Petiver, some two hundred years ago,
and about that time only two British specimens were known.
One of these was taken in Cambridgeshire, and one at Hamp-
stead. According to Lewin, who wrote about it in 1795, the
name “ Bath White” was given to the butterfly “from a piece
of needlework executed at Bath by a young lady, from a specimen
of this insect, said to have been taken near that place.” In
1796 Donovan only knew of the Bath specimen ; and in 1803
Haworth mentions a faded specimen taken in June at Gamlingay
in Cambridgeshire.

The species is more or less common in many parts of Europe,
but it seems to be most at home and abundant in the south.
Its range extends to North Africa, Madeira, the Canary Isles,
and the temperate parts of Asia, including Northern China and
Corea.

The Orange-tip ( Euchloe cardamines).

This butterfly (Plate 17), as its name suggests, has a large
patch of orange colour on the outer third of its white, or creamy
white, fore wings, and the extreme tip is blackish ; at least, this
is so in the male. The female is without the orange patch, and
this is replaced by a smaller one of blackish-grey. The lower
portion of this patch is broken up by the ground colour, and by
white spots on the outer margin and around the tips^of the

44

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

wings. The hind wings, in both sexes, appear to be dappled
with greyish-green, and this is caused by the green marking on
the under surface of the wings showing through. Some speci-
mens, chiefly from Ireland, have all the wings in the male, and
the hind wings in the female, distinctly tinged with yellow. The
discal black spot varies in size and in shape ; often it is roundish,
and sometimes it is crescent-like. It is always larger in the
female than in the male, and may be entirely absent in the latter
sex ; but this probably occurs very rarely. Usually the orange
patch of the male extends very near to the inner angle of the
wing, but sometimes it is continued through to this point. It
ranges in colour from deep to pale orange, and occasionally to
almost yellow. Small specimens, some not more than one inch
and a quarter in expanse, occur from time to time. In these
dwarfs the orange patch does not reach beyond the black discal
spot, which in normal specimens it usually does. This small
form has been considered a distinct species, and the name
hesperidis has been proposed for it. Female specimens with
splashes or streaks of the male colour on the upper or the under
sides have been noted not infrequently ; and more rarely
specimens with one side entirely male and the other entirely
female have been taken.

The egg (Plate 15), when freshly laid, is whitish, faintly
tinged with greenish ; it soon changes to yellow, and, later on,
turns orange and then dark violet. When the latter colour
appears, the little caterpillar may be expected to hatch out very
shortly. The eggs are placed upright on the foot-stalks of the
flowers, and may be readily found in June by searching the
blossom-clusters of hedge-mustard or cuckoo-flower.

The caterpillar, when mature, is dull bluish-green, with
raised dots and warts ; from the former arise whitish hairs,
and from the latter longer blackish hairs. There is a white
line, or stripe, along the sides, and the underparts of the body
are greener than the back. Both in colour and marking the

PL 15. E 45-

Orange-tip Butterfly.

Egg, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

THE ORANGE-TIP.

45

caterpillar agrees so closely with the seed-pods of its food-
plant that its detection is not always easy. A peculiarity in
very young caterpillars of this species, and also those of some
of the “ Whites,” is, that the hairs are forked at the tips, and
bear globules of moisture thereon (see figure and remarks on
P- 3).

The caterpillars feed in June and July on lady’s smock or
cuckoo-flower ( Cardamine pratensis ), charlock {Bras sic a sina-
pistrum ), hedge-mustard ( Sisymbrium officinale ), garlic mustard
( S . alliaria ), rock-cress (Arab's), horseradish (Cochlearia armo-
racia), dame’s violet ( Hesperis matronalis ), watercress (Nas-
turtium officinale ), etc.

The chrysalis, as will be seen from the figure (Plate 15), is
curiously elongated, and tapers towards each end ; the outline
of the back is curved, and the wing-cases bulge out into an
angle about the middle of the under side. The colour is pale
grey or whitey-brown, sometimes with a strong rosy tinge ; the
back is speckled with brownish, and has an olive-grey dorsal
line, and the veins of the wings are well defined. This stage
lasts, as a rule, from August of one year until May of the follow-
ing year. When the chrysalis is first formed, it is green, with
the wing-cases brighter, and this colour is sometimes retained.
It has been stated that the chrysalids assume the colour of their
immediate surroundings, and this may be so ; but all that I
have had under observation were of the colours described above,
although some were fastened to green stem, others to muslin,
and others, again, to glass.

Towards the end of May and in June is the usual time for
this butterfly to be on the wing. It has, however, been noticed
as early as about the middle of April, and as late as the middle
of July, and rarely in August and September. The specimens,
seen in the last-mentioned months, may have represented a
second brood, and, if so, a very unusual event. Possibly, how-
ever, they may have been specimens whose emergence had for

E

46

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

some reason not understood, been retarded. There is at least one
record of the insect remaining in the chrysalis for two winters.

Although generally distributed throughout England, Wales,
and Ireland, and occurring in Scotland as far north as the Cale-
donian Canal, it seems to be more common in some districts
than in others. Abroad, its range extends over Europe, and
through Asia as far east as Amurland and China.

The Wood White (Lcucophasia sinapis).

The graceful little butterfly figured on Plate 19 is creamy
white, with a rather square black or blackish spot on the tip of
the fore wings of the male. In the female the spot is reduced to
some blackish scales on and between the veins. Occasionally
there is a second brood in the year, and the specimens of this
flight have smaller and rounder black spots in the males, and
almost none at all in the females. Specimens of the female sex
entirely devoid of black marking are referable to var. erysimi
(see fourth figure in second row, Plate 16). Series of each brood
are shown on Plate 16, which is reproduced from a photograph
by Mr. Hamm. The lower specimen in each series has been
reversed to show the seasonal variation of the under side. The
row of specimens on the left are of the first brood, and the second
and last examples in this series show the characters of var.
lathyri — black tips to the fore wings, and dusky band-like
shades on the hind wings ; the under sides of the hind wings dull
greenish — to which form a good many of our spring specimens
belong. The specimens of the second generation are referable
to var. diniensis. The species is sometimes referred to Lcptosia ,
Hub.

The egg, which is figured on Plate 18, is yellowish-white in
colour ; it is ribbed, and rather glassy in appearance. The
caterpillars have been known to hatch out about a week after
the eggs were laid.

\

« Z^.lrrooct

E 46.

PI. 16.

Wood White Butterfly.

2

PL 17-

Orange-tip Butterfly.

1, 5 male, 2 do. (Irish); 3, 6 female; 4 do. (Irish).

E 47-

THE WOOD WHITE.

47

The caterpillar when full grown is, according to Hellins,
“a beautiful green, the front segments minutely dotted with
black ; dorsal line darker green, edged with yellowish-
green ; spiracular line distinct, of a fine clear yellow, edged
above with darker green ; spiracles indistinguishable.” The
chrysalis in shape is something like that of the last species,
but the back is not curved, and the ends are less tapered.
The colour is a “lovely delicate green; the abdomen rather
yellowish ; just in the spiracular region there runs all round
the body a stout pink rib, enclosing the greenish spiracles ;
from this a strong pink line branches off, bordering the outer
edge of the wing-case, and the nervures of the wings themselves
are delicately outlined in pink” (Hellins). Sometimes the
chrysalids are green without marking.

Mr. A. M. Montgomery, who on one occasion had four
batches of eggs, and the subsequent caterpillars, under observa-
tion, states that the caterpillars hatched about June 2 from
eggs laid about May 22. Pupation took place about July 3,
and, except from one batch that remained for the winter in the
chrysalids, the butterflies emerged between July 16 and 22.
The food-plant in this case was bird’s-foot trefoil ( Lotus cornicu-
latus). The yellow pea ( Lathyrus pratensis) is a favourite
pabulum, but the caterpillar will also eat a vetch {Vicia
cracca ), and probably many other plants belonging to the order
Leguminosm. Caterpillars from the July butterflies would feed
in August and September.

This fragile-looking little species is somewhat local, but
is not altogether uncommon in some of its particular haunts.
As its English name implies, the butterfly is fond of the woods,
or, perhaps, is rather more partial to their shady rides and
margins. On dull or wet days, it settles on the under side of
a leaf. The first brood is on the wing in May, and the second
— when this occurs, which is not every year — in July and
August. In Ireland, where it is abundant in the south and

48

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

west, there seems to be only one flight, and this is in June. It
may be well to remember that this butterfly does not like the
pill-box, and will not settle down quietly therein.

Possibly the Wood White had a much more general distribu-
tion in England at one time than it now seems to have. It was
not uncommon in parts of Sussex some years ago, but there
appears to be no record of its occurrence there now. It is cer-
tainly much scarcer in the New Forest than it used to be.
However, it is still to be found, no doubt, in many parts of
England and Wales, but chiefly perhaps in the counties of
Berkshire, Devonshire, Cornwall, Worcestershire, Hereford-
shire, Lancashire, and Cumberland. Also in the south and
west of Ireland. It occurs throughout Europe, Western and
Central Asia, and its range extends eastwards through Siberia,
Amurland, China, and Corea to Japan.

The Pale Clouded Yellow ( C alias hyalc).

This usually scarce butterfly (Plate 21) is of a primrose-
yellow colour in the male, and, as a rule, almost white in the
female ; sometimes the latter sex is of the yellow male colour.
The outer margin of the fore wings is broadly black in both
sexes, but there are some more or less united spots of the
ground colour in the black towards the tips of the wings, and
below vein 3 the black is usually confined to the outer margin.
There is a black spot near the middle of the wing, and some
blackish dusting quite near the base of the wing. The hind
wings have a pale orange central spot, sometimes two spots,
and the blackish border on the outer margin is generally narrow,
and often interrupted or broken up into spots. The fringes
of all the wings are pinkish, as also are the antennre. The eg^g
is pearly yellowish-white when first laid ; a few days later the
top becomes transparent, white, and glassy, shading down-
wards into yellow, and then clear rosy orange ; the base is

PL 1 8.

Wood White Butterfly.

F-ggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar (after Buckler) and chrysalis.

E 48.

2

PI. 19

o

Wood White Butterfly.

1, 4, 6 male ; 3 do. (var.); 2, 5, 1 female.

E 49.

THE PALE CLOUDED YELLOW.

49

pale, but less transparent than the top. It has a number of
transverse ribs, ranging from nineteen to twenty-two. Before
the caterpillar hatches out, the egg changes to a purplish leaden
colour.

The caterpillar in October, before hibernation, is about a
quarter of an inch long, and deep clover-green in colour ; it has
a number of pale, shining warts along the back, from each of
which there is a moderately long black bristle, and there is
a pale yellowish-white stripe above the black spiracles. The
head is pale ochreous green, with warts and bristles as on the
body. It rests upon a pad of silk spun on the centre of a
leaflet. When full grown the colour is clear light green, but
has a darkish velvety appearance, due to the entire surface
being densely sprinkled with black warts, the bristles from the
warts on the back are black, and those on the lower surface are
white, the line above the spiracles, which are white outlined with
black, is made up of lemon-yellow, orange-vermilion, and
orange with an upper border of white. The head, claspers, and
legs are green. It feeds in June, and again in August, on clover,
trefoil, etc. The figure on Plate 20 is after Hiibner.

The chrysalis is very similar to that of the Clouded Yellow,
the chief differences are that the head-beak of the present
species is straight instead of being slightly upturned, and the
tip of the wing-case extends further down the body.

The above particulars of the early stages of the Pale Clouded
Yellow are adapted from Mr. Frohawk’s account of the life-
history of the species (. Entomologist , 1892 and 1893).

From eggs laid in September by a captured female, Mr.
Williams reared two butterflies in November of the same year.
Other caterpillars from the same batch of eggs hibernated and
recommenced feeding in the spring, but failed to attain the
chrysalis state. Young caterpillars from eggs obtained in
August were successfully hibernated by Mr. Carpenter, and
many of these produced butterflies in the following May.

5°

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

In rearing this species from eggs laid in the autumn, a fairly
dry treatment appears to be the best. Protect the young cater-
pillars from frost, and do not water the plants during the winter.
When they become active again, about February, transfer them
to other growing plants, which should be kept ready for the
change. Do not water the plants much, or wet the foliage
at all, and keep a sharp look-out for earwigs.

It seems pretty clear that this species passes the winter as a
caterpillar, and from the evidence available it appears equally
certain that the caterpillars would not survive an ordinary
winter in this country. Possibly, however, in very mild winters,
or in certain warm nooks on the south coast, some may be able
to exist until the spring, and then complete their growth and
reach the butterfly state. In such native-born butterflies the
ancestral migratory habit may be lost, owing to climate, and
they would not, therefore, wander far from the spot where they
emerged from the chrysalis, but found a colony, which probably
would be cleared off sooner or later by the severity of an English
winter.

The Pale Clouded Yellow was not mentioned as an English
butterfly until Lewin wrote about it in 1795. He states that he
only met with it “ in the Isle of Sheppey and on a hilly pasture-
field near Ospringe in Kent.” He seems to have noted it in
different years at both places. Stephens, in 1827, referred to
it as a rare British species, and from that date until 1867 it
seems to have been common only in 1835, 1842, 1857, and 1858-
In 1868 it was abundant in the southern and eastern counties,
and was observed as far north as Lancashire and Yorkshire,
also in Ireland. It was common on the south coast in 1872,
and rather more so in 1875, when it spread into Essex and
Suffolk, and also inland. Until 1875 the butterflies seem only
to have been noticed in the autumnal months, but in that year
specimens had been seen in May and June. In 1876 the
species was pretty plentiful, but after that date it did not again

PI. 20.

Pale Clouded Yellow Caterpillar.

( A/ter Hiibner.)

E 50.

i , 2 male ; 4 female.

THE CLOUDED YELLOW.

51

occur in numbers until 1892, when it was recorded from most
of the southern and eastern counties. In 1893 one or two
specimens were reported as seen in April or May, but less than
a dozen were recorded as captured during the autumn of that
year. Not much was seen of the butterfly again until 1899,
when a score or so were recorded from Kent. Two or three
specimens were seen on the south coast in June, 1900, and the
species was plentiful in the autumn of that year in many parts
of the country. Single specimens were seen in June, 1901, and
in the autumn the butterfly was again fairly common in several
southern counties, and abundant in parts of Essex. In 1902
a male was taken near Dartford in March, and one example in
May in a locality where two specimens had been captured on
October 20 of the previous year ; six males and one female
were obtained between June 27 and July 12 at Sheerness.
The summer of 1902 was a cold one, and, with the exception of
four specimens at Folkestone in August, the species was not
again seen during that year or the following one ; but in 1904
a good many specimens were secured at Chatham in September,
and one or two at Margate in August.

When it occurs in this country the butterfly should be looked
for in clover and lucerne fields.

Common throughout the Pakearctic Region. It is probably
a species of Eastern origin, but with a tendency to spread
westward.

The Clouded Yellow ( Colias edusa).

In its typical colouring — orange with broad black borders — •
this butterfly (Plate 22) will be recognized the first time it
is seen. Both sexes have a black spot about the centre of the
fore wings, and a deep orange spot near the middle of the hind
wings — the latter is subject to variation in size and shape. The

52

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

female usually has the black borders spotted with yellow, but
in some examples these spots are almost (Plate 24, Fig. 1)
or quite absent. Another form of the female, known as var.
Jielice (Plate 24, Fig. 2), has the orange colour replaced by
yellowish-white, and in some years is not altogether uncommon.
Between this yellowish-white at one end of the colour range
and the typical orange at the other, specimens showing all the
intermediate shades have been obtained, chiefly by rearing the
butterflies from eggs laid by a female helice . One of these
intergrades will be seen on Plate 24, Fig. 3. The males vary,
especially bred ones, from “ deep rich orange to the palest
chrome yellow ; the marginal bands also vary in width ; in
many examples the yellow nervules run through the borders of
all the wings. A large proportion of the males have the hind
wings shot with a beautiful amethystine blue” (Frohawk).

The egg (Plate 23) is oval, tapering towards each end, very
pale yellowish in colour at first, but afterwards becoming darker
yellow, and then pink. The eggs are laid, as shown in the figure,
on the upper side of a leaf of clover or lucerne, sometimes
singly, but often in small batches.

The caterpillar when full grown is deep green with minute
black dots, from which fine hairs arise, and a pink-marked
yellow, or whitish, spiracular line. The head is also green,
rather downy, and small in size. When first hatched the
caterpillar is brownish, but soon changes to greenish. It feeds
on clover ( Trifoliitm ), trefoil (Lotus), melilot ( Melilotus ), etc.,
in June and again in September or October.

The chrysalis is yellowish-green above, somewhat paler
below ; the wing-cases are rather deeper in tint than the
thorax and back, and have a central black speck and a row
of slender marks at the edges. The body is marked with a
splash of reddish and tiny black dots on the under side. The
beak-like projection from the head is dark green above and
yellow beneath.

THE CLOUDED YELLOW.

53

The figures of the caterpillar and the chrysalis are taken from
Buckler’s “ Larvae of British Butterflies,” and the descriptions
of these stages by the same author have been followed.

The Clouded Yellow has a great fancy for clover or lucerne
fields, and should be looked for in such places in August and
September. It is not very difficult to rear from the egg, so that
if a female is captured in August (the spring ones should not
be taken), it would be a good plan to try to induce her to lay
some eggs. The best method to succeed in this is to pot up
a growing plant of clover, and over this place a glass cylinder
with a muslin cover. (See further directions in the Introduction,
page 28.)

This butterfly, which was known, to the earliest English authors
as the “ Saffron ” or “ Spotted Saffron,” has always, no doubt,
been erratic and uncertain in its appearance in this country,
sometimes becoming increasingly abundant for three, four, or
even five years in succession, and then scarce or entirely absent
for similar periods. The most recent years of plenty, or when
it was fairly common, were 1877, “the great Edusa year,” 1892,
1893, 1894, 1 S95, 1899, 1900, and 1902. In some of these years
the Pale Clouded Yellow was also common.

In some of the warmer countries that this butterfly inhabits
it has certainly three, and possibly four, broods in the year. It
is therefore conceivable that at times its increase in numbers
may become very great in some particular area. At such times
swarms of the surplus butterfly population set out to seek fresh
fields and pastures new. Some portion of these flights reach
our country from time to time, and this probably always occurs
in the spring of the year. The weather conditions being favour-
able, the offspring of the visitors put in a welcome appearance
in the autumn, and not only gladden the heart of the entomo-
logist, but add a charm to the countryside which every one can
appreciate.

The butterfly has probably occurred, at some time or other,

54

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

in almost every county in England and Wales, Ireland and
Scotland, extending even to the Orkney Islands (1877).

Its home appears to be in North Africa and South Europe,
whence it spreads over the greater part of Europe and Western
Asia.

Note. — According to Kirby, this butterfly should be called
Eurymus hyale , Linn., and the Pale Clouded Yellow be known
as Eurymus kirbyi , Lewis.

The Brimstone ( Goneptcryx rhamni).

This butterfly (Plate 26) has the tips of the fore wings sharply
pointed, and there is a rather acute angle about the middle of
the outer margin of the hind wings. The colour of the male is
bright sulphur yellow, with a central orange spot on each wing,
that on the hind wings usually the largest ; there is also a rusty
dot at the outer end of the upper veins and along the from
margin of the fore wings towards the tip. The female is green-
ish yellow, and is marked similarly to the male. In both sexes
the horns (antennce) are reddish, and the long silky hair on the
thorax is a noticeable character. It is probably this insect to
which the name “butter-coloured fly,” contracted into butterfly,
was first given ; anyway, it is the only species to which the
name applies so well.

The egg. If the under sides of the leaves of buckthorn
(. Rhamnus catharticus ) or of the berry-bearing alder ( R. frail -
gula ) are examined in May or June, the eggs of this butterfly
may be found thereon. They are often placed on a rib of the
leaf, but sometimes they are laid as shown in the illustration
(Plate 25). At first the colour is pale greenish and rather
glossy, but it soon changes to yellowish, and later on, when the
caterpillar has formed inside, to a dull purplish-grey.

The caterpillar when full grown is green, merging into
bluish-green on the sides, thickly powdered with shining black

n. 22

Clouded Yellow.

i, 3 male; 2, 4 female.

E 54-

PL 23.

Clouded Yellow.

Eggs, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

P 55'

THE BRIMSTONE.

55

specks. There is a pale line on each side below the spiracles.
It feeds in June and July on both kinds of buckthorn, and will
generally be found resting along the main rib of a leaf.

The chrysalis is bluish-green in colour and of a curious
shape. The sharp yellowish and brown beak-like projection
in front and raised brownish bases of the wing-covers, to-
gether with the humped thorax, somewhat resemble a bird’s
head when seen from the frorrt. Then, again, the enlarged
wing-cases, which are rather greener than the other parts, in
conjunction with the general outline, give a very good imitation
of a curled leaf.

The butterfly is very constant as regards colour and marking,
but occasionally the fore wings may be more or less suffused
with orange, and in this respect assumes the coloration of the
South European species known as G. clcopatra. The attempt
has been made to establish the last-named butterfly in Ireland,
but the experiment seems to have been only partially successful.
Sometimes female specimens are found to have splashes of the
male colour on their wings. Occasionally their colour is inter-
mediate between their own proper tint and that of the male,
and more rarely the wings on one side may be yellow, as in the
male, while those on the other side are greenish, as in the female.
Such specimens are termed gynandrous examples, and some-
times hermaphrodites. The latter, however, is not correct.

An unusual variation of the butterfly is shown on Plate 27.
This has large oval pale brownish-orange marks on the under
side of the wings. It was taken in the New Forest.

The Brimstone butterfly enjoys a longer existence in the
perfect state than any of the other British species, with the
exception, perhaps, of the Tortoiseshells and their allies. It
leaves the chrysalis at the end of July or beginning of August,
and is usually quite common during the latter month. After
this it takes up its winter quarters, from which, however, it
may be tempted to come out whenever the day is sufficiently

56

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

warm and sunny for it to indulge in a few hours’ flight. The
fine condition of some of the specimens that are seen in May or
June has suggested the possibility of such specimens having
remained in the chrysalis during the winter, but it is not at all
probable that they do so. It may be seen any sunny day from
March, or even February, to June in almost every English and
Welsh county where its food-plant grows, and locally in Ireland.
The best time to take specimens is in the autumn, when they
are often to be seen in numbers flying along the rides in or on
thp outskirts of woods, and also in clover fields.

Distributed over the whole of temperate Europe, and extending
through Asia to the far east and to North Africa.

The thirty butterflies now to be considered belong to the
Nymphalidae, which has a larger membership than any other
family of butterflies. It is divided into several sub-families,
but only four of these concern us ; these are Apaturime (i
species), Nymphalinm (17 species), Danainie (1 species), and
Satyrime(n species). The next butterfly is our only repre-
sentative of Apaturinm.

%

The Purple Emperor (Apatura iris).

On account of its large size and the beautiful purple sheen
over its brownish-black velvety wings, this butterfly (Plate
29) is always counted a prize by the collector. It is, how-
ever, only the male that dons the purple, and he only when
seen from the proper angle. The female is without the purple
reflection and her wings are browner, but the white spots on the
fore wings and the white bands on the hind wings are rather
wider than those of the male. Above the anal angle of the hind
wings, in both sexes, there is a black spot, ringed with tawny
and sometimes centred with white, and a tawny mark on
veins 1 and 2. As will be seen on turning to the figures on

Clouded Yellnw. ^ 5^-

PI, 25.

Brimstone Butterfly.

Egg, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

& 57 •

THE PURPLE EMPEROR.

57

Plate 31, the under side of this butterfly is exceedingly pretty.
On the same plate there is a figure of the rare variety known
as iole (for the loan of which I am indebted to Mr. Sabine), in
which most of the white spots are absent or obscured. Inter-
mediates between this extreme form and the type also occur,
but all such aberrations are uncommon.

The egg (Plate 28) may be looked for in August on the
upper surface of a leaf of the sallow ( Salix caftrea). According
to Buckler, it is pale olive green in colour, and cylindrical in
shape ; the height from base to top being about equal to the
width through from side to side. It has about fourteen ribs.

The caterpillar in October, just before hibernation, is dingy
green roughened with numerous whitish warts from which
arise short bristles, some of the latter appearing to be tinged
with reddish, and those along the sides longer than those on
the upper part of the body ; the straight lines along the
back and the oblique ones on the sides are yellowish. The
head and the two horn-like projections, reminding one of the
horns of a slug, are reddish-grey and covered with warts and
bristles. The anal points (tails), which lie close together, are
tipped with reddish. It should be mentioned here that on
emerging from the egg the young caterpillar is without horns ;
these are not developed until the first skin is thrown off, which
event happens from eight to twelve days after hatching.

The full-grown caterpillar is green, merging into yellowish
towards the anal points (tails) ; the oblique stripes on the
sides are yellowish, edged with reddish. The individual
depicted on the plate took up a position for change to the
chrysalis on June 6. It spun a mat of silk to the under side
of a sallow leaf, and the next day it was found suspended
by the claspers, which were grasping the silken mat. On
the fourth day the chrysalis was fully developed, and from
this a male butterfly emerged on June 24, an unusually early
date.

53

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The chrysalis is whitish, more or less tinged with green, but
having the oblique lines on the sides whitish ; the veins of the
wings also show up whitish.

The caterpillar was well known to entomologists in this
country as far back as 1758, when, in May, four were obtained
from sallow at Brentwood in Essex. It usually occurs on
sallow, but an instance is recorded of it refusing to eat this
plant ; it would probably have starved if willow, upon which it
fed up, had not been substituted. A full-grown caterpillar was
on one occasion found at Raindene in Sussex on poplar, which
is a well-known food of the species on the Continent. Now and
then a full-grown caterpillar has been met with in October, and
Buckler reared two in the autumn from the egg almost to the
chrysalis stage, but they died before the change was effected.

As befits his rank, the Emperor has lofty habits, and after
quitting the clump of sallow bushes, among which its trans-
formations from egg to the perfect insect were effected, it
resorts to the oak trees, around which it flies in July, and,
when not so engaged, rests on a leaf of the higher branches.
To capture the butterfly, when seen at such times, is not
altogether an easy matter, as for the purpose the net must
be affixed to the end of a pole about 14 or 15 feet in length.
The insect’s rather depraved taste for the juices of animal
matter, in a somewhat advanced stage of decay, is a fact well
known to the professional collector and others who have taken
advantage of it to the monarch’s destruction. This method of
attracting a butterfly for the purpose of capture is, however, not
exactly to be commended. It surely is a greater pleasure to
show one’s friends a single specimen that has been captured by
dexterity with the net, than to exhibit fifty that were secured
by a device which is not only unsavoury, but unsportsmanlike.
The female, however, is not to be allured ; she must be sought
among the sallows, and when seen is not easy to net, as she
skims away over the tops of the bushes and is difficult to follow.

Brimstone Butterfly.

i, 3 male', 2, 4 female.

Brimstone Butterfly. Underside (aberration).

Pl. 27.

Common Blue. At rest.

E 59.

THE WHITE ADMIRAL.

59

Although most certainly not so common or so generally
distributed as in former times, the butterfly still occurs in
the larger oak woods in most of the midland, western, and
southern counties of England, but is, perhaps, most frequent
in Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire. In Wales it is found
in Monmouthshire. It has not been recorded from Scotland,
and only doubtfully from Ireland.

In Central Europe it is often abundant, and its range extends
eastward into Amurland, Central and Western China.

Now follow seventeen butterflies of the sub-family Nympha-
linm.

The White Admiral ( Limetiitis sibyl la).

The “ White Admirable Butterfly,” as it was called by some
of the older English entomologists, needs only to be seen
to be at once recognized (Plate 33). The white markings on
its blackish wings are somewhat similar to those of the Purple
Emperor. As in that butterfly, so, too, in this, the most beautiful
ornamentation is found on the under side. The shape of the
wing is, however, very different in the two butterflies, and there
is no probability of confusing one with the other. A somewhat
uncommon form is shown on Plate 31 (also kindly loaned by
Mr. Sabine) ; this is var. nigrina. Intermediates also occur,
but these, too, are also rather rare. The eggs, which I have
not seen, are stated to hatch in about fourteen days, and are
laid in July. They have been described as pale green in
colour, and of the shape of an orange, but flatter at the base
and top.

The caterpillar (Plate 30) when full grown is dark green
on the back and lighter on the sides, roughened with yellow
dots, and with a yellow-marked white line above the feet. The
bristly spines are reddish with pinkish tips, and those on the
second, third, fifth, tenth, and eleventh rings are longer than

6o

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

the others. The first ring seems to be without spines, but the
brownish head is set with short ones, two on the crown being
rather longer and blacker than the others, and are inclined
backwards.

In the autumn, when still quite tiny, it constructs a winter
retreat ( 'hibernaculum ) (Plate 30) by fastening a growing leaf of
sallow to a twig with silken threads, and then, using more silk, it
draws the edges of the leaf together, and so forms a secure
chamber wherein it can rest until the following spring, when it
quits the domicile and sets to work on the tender foliage around
it. At this time the caterpillar is brownish in colour. The
chrysalis is of the remarkable shape shown on the plate. It is
brownish, with purplish or olive tinge ; behind the rounded hump
there is a patch of bright green, and above the wing-cases a
beautiful golden sheen. There are also other metallic spots and
dots on various parts. Altogether, it is one of the prettiest of
British butterfly chrysalids.

I am tempted here to quote Buckler’s excellent description
of the pupation of this species, as it will serve to show the
remarkable method by which caterpillars are able to perform a
seemingly impossible feat ; that is, to get absolutely free of the
old skin whilst hanging head downwards from the silken pad
or button to which they attach themselves by the anal claspers
when preparing to pupate.

“When full fed the larva becomes rapidly paler, and then
suspends itself by the anal prolegs to a stem of the honey-
suckle or other surface, and hangs with its body downwards in
a sinuous curve, with its head bent a little upwards, facing the
abdomen ; it then remains motionless for three days, becoming
whitish on the abdomen, and remaining very pale green on the
thoracic segments. In the course of the third day the creature
seems to wake up, unbends its head, swings itself to and fro a
few times, then stretches itself downwards in a long attenuated
line, which causes a rupture of the skin dose to the head ;

.PL 28

Purple Emperor.

enlarged; young and full-grown caterpillars ; chrysalis.

E 60.

PL 29.

Purple Emperor.

1 male ; 2 female .

F. 61.

THE WHITE ADMIRAL. 6 1

the skin then is seen slowly to ascend, exposing the bare and soft
shining parts below, from which a flat and forked pair of horns
grow out perceptibly as one beholds this wonderful process ;
the skin continues to glide slowly upwards, and as the soft
parts become exposed, they are seen to swell out laterally, and
to assume the very singular projections so characteristic of this
chrysalis, the skin of the old head gliding up the belly marks
the progress of the disclosure, as the colour of the old and
new surfaces is at this time alike, the new being, however,
rather more shining and transparent. Occasionally during
the bulging out of the soft parts, a kind of convulsive heave
or two occurs, but otherwise it remains still until the creature
is uncovered as far as the ninth or tenth segment ; it then
curves its anal extremity by a sudden twist laterally, and in a
moment dexterously withdraws the tip of the anal segment
from the larval prolegs by an opening on the back of the skin
at that part. At this critical moment one has time to see that
the naked shining point is furnished with black hooks, and to
apprehend a fall ; but in another moment the pupa has forcibly
piessed the curved tip with its hooks against the stem close
to the previous attachment of the anal prolegs, and now it is
strongly and firmly fixed. The creature now seems endowed
with wonderful power and vigour ; it swings boldly to and fro,
and undulates itself as if to gain longer swings, when presently
the old skin that remains is seen to burst away and fall off,
the chrysalis gradually becoming quiescent, the entire meta-
morphosis, from the first waking to the last movement, occupy-
ing nearly seven minutes. In sixteen days the perfect insect
emerged.”

Linnaius in 1767 wrote of the sexes of this butterfly as
Sibylla , or rather sibilla , and Camilla , but, as Kirby points out,
three years earlier the same author had given the butterfly the
name Camilla. It is probable, therefore, that the latter name
will have to be adopted for our butterfly. Certain it is that

F

62

THE BUTTERFLIES OE THE BRITISH ISbES.

the older British authors — Donovan, Haworth, Stephens, etc.,
knew our species as Camilla. The species known on the Con-
tinent as Camilla , and which, owing to the confusion of names
has been supposed to be British, will have to be called drusilla ,
according to Kirby.

This species seems to be pretty much restricted to the
southern and eastern counties of England. In the New Forest,
Hampshire, it is often exceedingly abundant in July. So long
ago as 1695 the butterfly was known to occur in Essex, and
the species is found in some woods in that county at the present
time. It has, however, quite disappeared from several wood-
land localities in Kent and Sussex, where it formerly occurred.
It has been recorded from Shropshire and also from Worcester-
shire, but both these counties appear to be beyond the normal
range of the species.

Almost all writers on our butterflies, from Haworth down-
wards, have commented on the graceful flight of the White
Admiral as it skims aloft and alow through the woodland
glades. This elegance of motion is still retained even when the
wings become sadly torn and frayed, probably by contact with
twigs and thorns.

Widely distributed throughout Central Europe. It is also
found in Amurland, Corea, and Japan.

The Comma ( Polygonia c- album).

The peculiar shape of the wings of this butterfly (Plate 35)
might cause it to be mistaken for a very tattered example of
one of the Tortoiseshells. The irregular contour of the outer
edges of the wings is, however, quite natural, and is subject to
some variation in its jaggedness. Their colour is deep tawny
or fulvous, with brownish borders on their outer margin. On
the fore wings there are three black spots on the front or costal
area, and below the first, which is often divided, there is a

PL 30.

White Admiral.

Young caterpillar ivith hibernaculum (h) ; rater pillar and chrysalis.

F62.

F 63.

1, 2 Purple Emperor; 3 var. iole.
4, 5 White Admiral, var nigrina.

THE COMMA.

63

roundish black spot (sometimes double) just above the inner
margin ; two, sometimes three, other spots lie between this
and the third costal spot. On the hind wings there are three
black spots on the basal half, and a series of pale fulvous spots
before the brownish border ; these are inwardly edged with
brownish, and sometimes this edging is united with the marginal
border. Similar spots are, in some specimens, present in a
like position on the fore wings also. On the under side the wings
are of various shades of brown, sometimes variegated with
whitish, or yellowish, and greenish, the latter often conspicuous ;
other specimens are paler on the outer half than on the basal
half, and, except occasionally having a series of greenish or
dusky spots on the outer area, are without marking. These
differences occur in both sexes. The white comma or c-mark,
placed about the middle of the under side of the hind wings, is
rather stronger in the variegated specimens ; but it varies, gene-
rally, in shape as well as in size.

Var. hutchinsoni , Robson, which has been renamed pallida
and lutescens, differs from the typical form in having the ground
colour much lighter and brighter on the upper side and ochreous
on the under side. It is shown on Plate 35. The outline
of the wings of this form, which occurs in June and July, is said
to be less jagged, and this may be so as a rule, but it certainly
is not always the case. Possibly this is “The Pale Comma”
of Petiver.

There are two broods of this species in the year, but the first
or summer flight of butterflies seems to depend upon a favourable
season, as also does the second or autumnal brood, at least as
regards the number of butterflies representing it. The late
butterflies hibernate and reappear in April, or even March, of
the following year. It has been stated that all the specimens
appearing in the spring are of the form with plain under sides.

From eggs laid between April 27 and May 6, Miss E.
Hutchinson, writing in 1887, says caterpillars hatched between

6,\ THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

May 5 and u. They were “fed on currant and nettle
mixed, and were full grown from June 17th till the 23rd. The
first butterfly emerged on June 26, and the last on July 3,
and all were very fine and of the pale summer variety. Two
of the insects paired on June 30, and the female commenced
laying on July 1, and continued doing so till the 10th, when
there were 120 ova. Unfortunately, a very cold spell of weather
began on July 12, and more than half the eggs perished.
The butterflies resulting from the remainder appeared during
August, from the 17th to the 27th, but they would not pair, pro-
bably because, although they had emerged at an early date,
they properly belonged to the autumnal flight.

In 1894 Mr. Frohawk reared 200 of these butterflies from 275
eggs laid by a female between April 17 and June 1 of that
year. The caterpillars were supplied with nettle only. The
first butterfly emerged on June 30, and the last on August 2. Of
the whole number forty-one were of the light fulvous form,
var. hutchinsoni , and all the others of the dark or typical form.
With few exceptions, the light-coloured butterflies were the
first to emerge, and the major portion of these during early
July, and before any examples of the dark form had come out.

The egg is at first green in colour with ribs whiter, but
changes before the caterpillar hatches out to yellowish. In
confinement the female butterflies deposit their eggs singly or
in chains of three or four ; probably the latter is the usual
method of laying the eggs under natural conditions.

The caterpillar when full grown is black, netted with
greyish ; the spines on the second to fifth rings inclusive are
yellowish, and those on the back of the other rings are white ;
the back from ring 6 to ring 10 inclusive is broadly white,
marked with black, and the upper surface of the other rings
is more or less yellowish. The head is black, marked with
ochreous ; the crown is lobed, and on each lobe is a short club-
like knob.

Comma Butterfly.

Egg enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis.

i

THE LARGE TORTOISESHELL.

65

The chrysalis is brownish tinged with pink ; the wing-cases
and the rings of the body are edged with blackish ; there is
a greyish line along the back of the body and a brownish
stripe along the spiracles ; at the point where the body joins
the thorax there are some silvery or golden spots. The figures
of caterpillar and chrysalis on Plate 32 are after Buckler.

This butterfly seems to have disappeared from many localities
in England where it formerly flourished. About seventy or
eighty years ago, for example, it was plentiful in Epping Forest,
in Plerts, and in Dorset. During the last half-century or so it
has been common in certain parts of many of the counties from
Somerset to Durham and Cumberland, but seems to have
occurred only sparingly or singly in Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex,
Kent, Sussex, Hants, Wilts, and Devon. It still occurs now
and then in the Dover district, the most recent record being of
one taken in October, 1894 ; and it was reported from North
Staffordshire in 1893. Probably it is now almost entirely con-
fined to favoured districts embraced within the area represented
by the counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Mon-
mouthshire, whence it may occasionally stray into the adjoining
counties, or even further afield.

This butterfly is often associated with hop gardens, but it is
by no means restricted to such places. The usual food-plants
of the caterpillars are hop ( Humulus lupulus ), nettle ( Urtica
dioica ), and currant (Rides), but it is reported to eat gooseberry
(R. gross ularia ) and elm (Ulmus).

Abroad it has a very wide distribution in Europe, and extends
through Asia to Japan.

The Large Tortoiseshell (Vanessa polychloros).

Apart from its larger size, and somewhat different outline,
this butterfly may be known from the Small Tortoiseshell by
its duller colour, which is brownish-orange ; on the fore wing

66 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

there are, as a rule, no blue crescents in the hind marginal
border, but there is an extra black spot placed between veins i
and 2 ; on the hind wings a black spot on the front area
represents the black basal area seen on the Small Tortoise-
shell ; and this is an important point of difference, although the
two species are not likely to be confused when both are well
known. The blue spots referred to as not usually present on
the fore wings are stated to occur in specimens emerging from
chrysalids that have been kept in a rather cold temperature for
a certain length of time.

An aberration known as testudo has the black spots of the
fore wings united, and forming blotches on the front and inner
areas ; the ground colour of the fore wings is lighter, and the hind
wings are blacker. This form occurs at large on the Continent,
but it is rare ; it has also been produced in the course of
temperature experiments.

The only eggs of this butterfly that I have been able to obtain
are the batch figured on Plate 34. These were purplish with
whitish ribs, but no caterpillars hatched from them. Hellins,
who squeezed a few eggs from a freshly killed female, states
that the colour apparently is a dull green. The ribs vary from
seven to nine in number.

The caterpillar in the adult stage is black, with a speckled
dark ochreous band traversed by a black central line on the
back ; the sides are dappled with ochreous grey ; the under
parts are brown dappled with darker, and merging into the
black. The spines are dark ochreous tipped with black, and
the head is shiny black and bristly. (The figure is after Buckler .)

These caterpillars live in large companies, often at the top of
a high elm tree, from which they may be dislodged by a well-
aimed stick, if this happens to be heavy enough to jar the
branch when it reaches the mark. Besides elm trees ( Ulrnus ),
they also may be found on willow and sallow (Salix), aspen
and poplar (Pofiu/us), white-beam ( Pyrus ana), and various

Fl- 34-

Large Tortoiseshell.

Eg&si natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

F 66.

6 7

THE LARGE TORTOISESHELL.

fruit trees, especially cherry. Occasionally they have been found
on nettle, but the butterflies from these were small in size.

June is the best month for them.

The chrysalis (Plate 34) is greyish, tinged with pink or
reddish, sprinkled with greenish, and shaded with brown and
black ; the back of the body nearest the thorax is adorned with
golden spots. I once obtained a number of these chrysalids
in July at Mill Hill ; they were found suspended by the tail
from the edges of boards that formed a rickety old cart-shed
standing at one end of a field and beneath an elm tree.

Although this butterfly is often common in the caterpillar
state, the perfect insect, which emerges in July and August, is
more frequently seen in the spring after hibernation than
before that event. It probably establishes itself in suitable
quarters, in old trees, faggot stacks, barns, etc., for its long
rest during the winter, at an early period after emerging from
the chrysalis.

No doubt large numbers are destroyed by their great enemies,
the parasitic flies, chiefly perhaps the Hymenopterous Apantelcs.
An observer states that from fifty chrysalids only one butterfly
resulted, all the others were found to be filled with parasites.
In another case of one hundred caterpillars, some collected
when quite small, only one was not “ ichneumoned.

These butterflies, in common with most other Vanessids, do
not pair until the spring, but Barrett cites an instance of catei-
pillars, from eggs laid by a female in early Septembei, being
reared until about i inch in length, when they apparently laid
up for hibernation.

Lanes margined with trees, especially elms, or the verges of
woods, are the most likely places in which to find the butterfly.
At one time and another it has been observed in nearly eveiy
county of England and Wales, and also in some parts of
Scotland, but not in Ireland. It appears to be more or less
common in all counties around London, extending to Somerset

68

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

in the west ; to Cambs, Norfolk, and Suffolk in the east ; and
to Northampton and Warwick in the Midlands.

Abroad it is found throughout the greater part of Europe,
Asia Minor, and eastward to the Himalayas.

The Small Tortoiseshell ( Vanessa urtica).

This butterfly is one of the most ubiquitous as well as prettiest
that we have in this country. Its reddish-orange colour,
marked with yellow patches, black spots, and blue crescents,
gives it a charming appearance as it sits on a flower, or even

Fig. 22.

on the ground, with wings fully expanded to the sunlight. When
the wings aie closed up, however, the butterfly seems to dis-
appear as the under side of the wings is quite sombre in
colour. The only bright spot on the under side is the yellowish
central area of the fore wing, and when the wings are held erect
ovei the insects back this is not seen, but only the tips of these
wings, which are of the same dull colour as the hind wings.

rhe &iound coloui is subject to modification as regards the
s nic e of led in the mange, and this may be intense or reduced
to just a meie tinge. Specimens have been taken on the wing
m which the colour was some shade of buff, and the same kind
o colour change will sometimes result from an over-long

THE SMALL TORTOISESHELL.

69

exposure to the action of ammonia. The black markings vary
in size, and sometimes those on the costal area are more or less
connected or even confluent (Fig. 22) ; a greater or lesser
amount of blackish suffusion on the hind wings (Fig. 23)
generally accompanies confluence of the costal spots on
fore wings. The two black spots between veins 2 and 4
occasionally enlarge and unite, or, on the other hand, they
decrease in size to vanishing point. Some specimens have
black scales between the second costal spot and the black
spot on the inner margin, and the space between these two
spots may be entirely covered with black, and so form a

central transverse band (var. polaris). A modification of this
form is shown on Plate 38, lower figure. The yellow patch
between the second and third costal black spots is some-
times continued right across the wings to the yellow spot on
the inner margin, and in this respect resembles an Indian form
of the species named ladakensis. Dwarf specimens result, in
most cases, when the caterpillars have fed on hop {Hum ulus) ;
at least, this is so in confinement.

The egg is at first green, but after a time becomes tinted
with yellow and the ribs stand out clear and transparent. The
eggs are laid in a cluster on the under side of a terminal leaf
of a nettle plant in May and again in July.

7o

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The adult caterpillar is yellowish, closely covered with black
speckling and short hairs ; there is a black line down the centre
of the back, and this is bordered on each side by the clear
ground colour. The spiracles are black ringed with yellow, and
there is a yellowish line above them. The yellowish spines
have black tips. Head black, hairy, and speckled with yellow.
Individuals of another company were almost entirely black, the
spines alone being tinged with yellow. These caterpillars are
gregarious from the time they hatch from the egg until about
the last stage.

The chrysalis is most often of some shade of grey and some-
times tinged with pinkish. The points on the upper parts of
the body are in some examples metallic at the base, and
occasionally the metallic lustre spreads over the thorax and
other parts as well.

There are two broods in the year, one in June, the other in
August and September. The latter brood, or at least some of
the butterflies, hibernate and reappear in the earliest sunny
days of spring. They have been seen on the wing as early as
January and February (1896), and as late as December.

I he geographical range of this species extends through
Europe and Asia to Japan.

The Peacock ( Va?icssa io).

Unlike the last species referred to, this handsome butterfly
is more frequently seen in the autumn than after hiberna-
tion. It is not likely to be mistaken for any other kind,
for on its brownish-red velvety wings it bears its own particular
badge, the “ peacock eyes. The marks on the hind wings are
more like the “ eyes ” on the tail feathers of the peacock than
aie those on the fore wings, and the brownish-red on these
wings is confined to a large patch below the eye-mark, the
lemainder being blackish, powdered with yellow scales on the

Large Tortoiseshell.

i, 3 male', 2, 4 female.

F 70.

/•//

Pl- 37-

Small Tortoiseshell.

I'ggs enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

THE PEACOCK.

71

basal area. Some specimens have a blue spot below the “ eye ”
on the hind wings, and the name cyanosticta has been proposed
for this form by Raynor. The under side is blackish, with a
steely sheen, and crossed by irregular black lines ; the fore
wings are tinged with brown on the inner area, and the central
dot and a series of dots beyond are ochreous ; the hind wings
have an ochreous central dot.

In a state of nature the butterfly seems little given to variation.
In rearing from the caterpillar, however, some curious aberra-
tions occasionally crop up. In my early days of collecting I
raised a number of specimens from caterpillars selected from
a large brood ; every one of these butterflies was of a dull
brownish colour and had a greasy semi-transparent appearance.

I regret to add that I set them all at liberty as they did not
come up to my, then, standard of what a Peacock butterfly
should be. Now and then specimens are bred from collected
caterpillars, in which the eye spots are represented by a broad
white cloud-like suffusion on the fore wings, and by a pale
roundish patch on the hind wings ; in conjunction with this
the black costal spots of the fore wings are all more or less
united (see Plate 41). This extreme variety is known in
the vernacular as the “ Blind Peacock,” and as ab. belisaria
in science ; between it and the typical form there are all kinds of
intermediate modifications, and one of these is also shown on the
plate referred to. It may be interesting to remark that similar
varieties have been produced by subjecting the chrysalids at
a particular period to a very low temperature. Readers who
may wish to know more about “Temperature Experiments”
are referred to a pamphlet on the subject by Dr. Max Standfuss.

The egg, an enlarged figure of which will be found on
Plate 39, is olive green in colour, and has eight ribs, which
start just above the base and turn over the top. The eggs
are laid in April or May in batches on the upper part of nettle
plants and under the young leaves.

72

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The mature caterpillar is velvety black with white dots,
and the divisions between the rings of the body are well
marked. The spines are black and rather glossy, and besides
this clothing, the body is also provided with short hair which
gives the velvety appearance. The head and a plate on
the next ring, also the legs, are shining black ; the prolegs are
blackish, tipped with yellowish. When quite young they are
greenish-grey, and although hairy are *without spines. The
caterpillars usually feed in companies in June and July on the
common stinging nettle. They have also been found on hop.
Once or twice I have reared caterpillars of this butterfly, and
also those of the Small Tortoiseshell and the Red Admiral, on
hop, but the result has been disappointing, as the specimens
produced were always small in size. The individuals for these
experiments were obtained from nettle, and were generally
about half grown at the time they were put on the hop diet.

The chrysalis is figured on Plate 39. Its colour may be
pale greenish, greyish, pale brown, or brownish-grey, but is
usually stippled with blackish, especially the antennae and the
outline of the wing-cases. Some of the points on the thorax
and the ring, or rings, next to it have a metallic lustre. Two
chrysalids among those resulting from my hop-fed caterpillars
were more or less suffused with the metallic sheen. It does not
seem to be very clearly known where the caterpillars retire to
for pupation. Those that I have found have been under a
tent-like arrangement of the lower nettle leaves. In confine-
ment, however, I have noted that in a roomy cage they all go
to one end of it and suspend themselves from the roof ; in a
large flower-pot they crowd together in much the same way.

I he butterfly is on the wing in August and September, and
frequents all and every kind of ground where flowering plants,
especially the taller kinds, are available ; clover fields are
attractive, and so also are orchards. It passes the winter in
some hollow tree trunk, wood stack, or possibly buildings of

Small Tortoiseshell.

i, 2 female ; 3, 5 male; 4 var.

F72.

F

/ j-

PL 39.

Peacock Butterfly.

Egg enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

THE CAMBERWELL BEAUTY.

73

some kind, and in the spring it again comes forth. March and
April are the usual months for its reappearance, but in 1900 it
was seen flying over the snow on February 17. The time last
mentioned is probably an unusual one, but it is interesting to
note that a very similar observation was made by Harris, who in
1778 wrote in his remarks on this butterfly, “ I have seen them
flying in February, when the snow has been on the ground.”

Usually the Peacock butterfly assumes the perfect state but
once in the year. There is, however, a record of half-grown
caterpillars being found in September, and that these produced
butterflies in due course.

Although not always abundant, the butterfly is to be, or has
been, found in almost every part of the kingdom, excepting
perhaps north of the Caledonian Canal in Scotland. Around
Bishop Auckland and in other parts of the county of Durham,
and also in Northumberland, it was common some forty years
ago, but it seems to be hardly ever seen there now. The same
applies to other northern localities where it was once plentiful.
Its distribution includes the whole of Europe, Asia Minor,
Siberia, Amurland, Corea, and Japan.

The Camberwell Beauty ( Vanessa antiopa).

This is a large and handsome insect ; its chocolate-brown
wings are bordered with ochreous speckled with black scales.
1 he border is variable in width, and this is occasionally so
wide that it partly or completely hides the blue spots, which in
the ordinary form are placed on a dark band just before the
ochreous border. Such specimens are known as var. hygicea or
var. hntneri (Plate 41) ; but in the former form the yellow spots
on the front edge of the fore wing are absent, and in the latter
variety these spots are sometimes united and form a blotch. One
authority states that the proportion of these extreme variations
in nature is about 1 in 500. The same form may be produced

74

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

by subjecting summer chrysalids to a temperature of about
no° Fahr. during three to five consecutive days, the chrysalids
being placed in this heat four times a day, and for a period of
one hour each time. Dr. Max Standfuss, who has made many
experiments with this and other butterflies, states that the
result of such treatment as that adverted to, and as regards this
species, has been the production of as many as seven of the
varieties among forty specimens. It would seem probable, then,
that the varieties occurring in the open are from chrysalids
that received a greater amount of heat than those that produce
the ordinary butterfly.

It has been stated that the borders are ochreous, but this
only applies to the specimens seen in the summer or early
autumn. The butterflies hibernate, and when they leave their
winter retreats in the spring, the colour of the border is con-
siderably paler and often even white. For some time it was
considered that white borders were a peculiarity of the British
Camberwell Beauty and stamped it a genuine native. Probably
there are some who may still hold this opinion. An example
of each form is represented on Plate 43, the upper one was
taken in the spring, and the other in the autumn. Both belong
to Mr. J. A. Clark, to whom I am indebted for their loan.

The egg is at first deep ochreous yellow, changing through
olive brown to red brown, and a day or two before the larva
hatches out becoming leaden grey. The ribs, which are eight
or nine in number, are most prominent below the top, and dis-
appear before the base is reached. The eggs are laid on twigs or
stems in small batches of 30 or 40 up to large ones of 150 to 250.

The caterpillar has been described by Mr. Frohawk, who
gives a full account of the life-history of this species in the
Entomologist for 1902 and 1903. The following is an abridge-
ment of his description.

The head is bilobed, having a deep notch on the crown, and
of a dull black colour, covered with black warts, each emitting

Fl 4-

PL 40.

Peacock Butterfly.

1, 3 male ; 2, 4 female.

1

THE CAMBERWELL BEAUTY.

75

a white hair. The ground colour of the body is deep velvety
black, and densely sprinkled with pearl-white warts, each emit-
ting a fine white hair, some being of considerable length, and
the majority slightly curved. Down the centre of the back is a
series of rich deep rust-red shield-like markings, which com-
mences on the third segment and terminates on the eleventh
segment. In the centre of the anal segment is a shining black
dorsal disc, much resembling the head ; the legs ai'e black and
shining, and the four pairs of prolegs are rust colour, with a
polished band above the feet, and the anal pair are black with
pale reddish feet.

, The caterpillars feed on sallow, willow, birch, and elm. They
cover the leaves of their food-plant with a silken web and live
thereon in companies, and do not separate until about to
prepare for the chrysalis state.

The chrysalis. The dorsal half of the head and wing points
are black, and the ventral half orange. Some of the points on
the body are tipped with orange. The whole surface is finely
and irregularly furrowed and granulated. The ground colour is
pale buff, covered with fine fuscous reticulations. The entire
surface is clothed with a whitish-powdery substance, giving a
pale lilac or pinkish bloom to the chrysalis, which, however,
is easily rubbed off, the chrysalis then assuming a brownish
hue. Our figure of the chrysalis is after Holland.

Mr. Frohawk, who had female butterflies living under obser-
vation for about three months, states that eggs were laid in
April, May, and June. Caterpillars from the first batch of 192
eggs hatched early in May, nineteen days after they were laid.
These were full grown by June 20, and entered the chrysalis
state soon after. The butterflies from these commenced to
emerge about the middle of July.

He says : “ Both sallow and willow are equally suitable food
for the larvm, and birch is readily eaten, even when willow has
formed the sole food until the last stage ; they will feed on elm.

7 6

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

Nettle was not appreciated, and not touched by them during the
last two or three stages.”

This butterfly appears to have first attracted the attention
of the earlier British entomologists about the middle of the
eighteenth century. Stephens, writing in 1827, remarks that
“about sixty years since it appeared in such prodigious numbers
throughout the kingdom, that the entomologists of that day
gave it the appellation of the Grand Surprise.” Harris figured
the butterfly under the name mentioned by Stephens, and it
has also been referred to by others as the “ Willow Beauty ”
and the “White Petticoat.” Newman called it the “White-
bordered ;” and from this, as well as from his description of the
butterfly, it would seem that he had not seen any specimen,
caught in Britain, with ochreous borders. Such specimens have
most certainly been captured in these islands, and occasionally
in some numbers, as, for example, in the autumns of 1872 and
1880. In the former year the butterflies were seen or taken in
a great many parts of the kingdom. The single specimens
that are taken now and then in the spring have hibernated,
and possibly they may have just come over from the Continent.
It is, however, equally possible that they may have arrived in
the country the previous autumn and passed the winter here.
After the invasion in the autumn of 1872, specimens were
observed in January, March, and April, 1873, at places widely
apart. In 1881 single specimens were taken in April in Surrey,
Kent, and Brecknockshire ; and in Essex and at Hampstead
in August. One or two specimens were taken in the summer
or autumn of the years 1884 to 1887 inclusive. In 1888 two
were captured in Essex in May ; and in August, three in Kent,
one each Surrey, Hants, and Isle of Wight ; and one in Kent
in September. In 1889 a specimen was taken in Surrey in
April, one in Kent, and one in Cambs in May ; a few also in
the autumn of that year. In 1891 a specimen was seen at
Balham in September. In 1893 one was taken in Epping

F 76.

Pl. 42.

Camberwell Beauty.

Egg enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

n. 43

Camberwell Beauty.

THE CAMBERWELL BEAUTY.

77

Forest in April, and one in South Devon in August. Single
specimens were noted in Oxfordshire, Lincolnshire, Berwick,
and the Isle of Skye, in September, 1896, and one at Epsom
in' December of that year. In 1897 one was recorded from
Yorks (August), and one from Norfolk (September) ; and in
May, 1898, one was taken at Norwich. One or two were
observed in August or September, 1898 and 1899 ; and in 1900
there seems to have been an invasion, on a small scale, of this
butterfly in August into some of the eastern and southern
counties of England. It extended westward to Somersetshire,
and northward to Roxburghshire. A few were taken in various
southern localities, including south-east and north London, in
August and September of 1901. A specimen occurred in the
Isle of Wight in September, 1903, and one in September,
1904 ; and in the latter year one was captured in August at
Raynes Park in Surrey. In 1905 one butterfly was taken at
Harrow, Middlesex, on July 27 ; one at Norwich on August 26,
and one in Suffolk on September 29.

A full record of this fine butterfly in the British Islands would
occupy too much space, but the details given above will show
something of its erratic occurrence since 1880. It visits Ireland
occasionally, but there are no recent reports of its having been
seen there.

Kane, in his Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland ,
mentions a specimen taken in Co. Kerry, July 21, 1865 ; one
from near Belfast [in 1875?] ; and a third example seen by a
friend “many years ago” near Trillick, Co. Tyrone. The
latter was “ settled on the roadside, but not» captured, it being
Sunday.”

Distributed throughout the temperate parts of the Northern
Hemisphere, it is common in the Scandinavian Peninsula,
whence probably our specimens came ; also in Germany. In
some parts of the Continent it is, however, almost as uncertain
in its occurrence as in England.

73

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The Painted Lady (. Pyrameis cardni).

The usual colour of this butterfly is tawny -orange, but in some
specimens, especially fresh ones, there is a tinge of pink, or a
rosy flush ; the markings are black, and there are some white
spots towards the tips of the fore wings. The black markings
on the hind wings are subject to variation in size, and some-
times they run one into the other. Occasionally this union of
the spots is accompanied by blackish suffusion spreading more
or less over the entire surface of the wings, so that they appear
blackish with tawny-orange patches or clouds. A sorriewhat

Fig. 24.

peculiar variety of the species, kindly lent by Mr. J. A. Clark,
is shown on Plate 49. Specimens of this form, or some modi-
fication of it, have been obtained in England, but very rarely.
Similai examples have also been found in other parts of the

globe. Fig. 24 represents another interesting aberration of this
butterfly.

The egg is at fiist green, and gradually becomes darker. It
is strongly ribbed fiom the base to the top, where the ribs
become finer and turn over towards the central hollow, at the

PL 44- G 78

Painted Lady.

Caterpillar , chrysalis end protection-web.

Painted Lady.

THE PAINTED LADY.

79

bottom of which is the micropyle. The fine cross-ribs form
slight bosses at their junction with the upright ribs. The eggs
are laid on the leaves of the thistle, but usually only one on a leaf.

The caterpillar is rather stout for its length. It has a
dark greyish head, which is covered with short bristles. The
ground colour of the body varies from greyish-green and
ochreous-grey to blackish, and in the darker colour is generally
freckled with paler, sometimes yellowish. There is a black line
along the back, often edged with yellowish, and sometimes
much broken up ; the lines on the sides are yellowish, but
not always distinct ; the line below the yellow-ringed black
spiracles, however, is generally broad and yellowish in colour.
Although thistles {Car duns) appear to be the plants most
frequently eaten by these caterpillars, they have sometimes
been found feeding upon mallow (Afalva), burdock ( Arctium ),
viper’s bugloss ( Echium ), and even nettle ( Urtica ). They
commence life by fixing up the edges of a leaf so as to form
a sort of pocket in which to conceal themselves, but as they eat
away the fleshy part of the leaf their retreat is easily detected.
The hiding-place, or dining-room, of a full-grown caterpillar is
shown on the plate; change to the chrysalis is often effected in
a somewhat similar structure.

The chrysalis is grey, ochreous-grey, or greenish ; shaded
or striped with brownish. The raised points are burnished, and
according to the way light falls on them appear golden or
silvery. This metallic effect is also seen on other parts of the
chrysalis, but chiefly on the back.

This butterfly is a notorious migrant. Its proper home is
probably in Northern Africa, and there it, at times, becomes so
exceedingly numerous that emigration is possibly a necessity
in the interests of future generations of the species. Whatever
the cause of their leaving may be, there is no doubt about the
fact that the butterflies do quit the land of their birth in great
swarms. Almost any part of the world may become the

8o

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

dumping-ground of this surplus stock. Our own islands are
frequently favoured in this way, and it is most likely that if
this were not so, this pretty butterfly would not be so common
throughout Great Britain as it is in some years. The natural
habit of the species is to go on reproducing its kind throughout
the year, and those individuals that arrive here most certainly
endeavour to do this in their new home. Unfortunately our
climate is not, as a rule, a suitable one for those caterpillars
which hatch from the egg late in the season, and although
some may complete their growth, and even attain the perfect
state, the butterfly, so far as is known, does not hibernate as
do the Tortoiseshells and the Peacock. It may therefore be
assumed that the specimens seen in May or June of any year
are not native born, but early immigrants, and that it is from
such aliens that the caterpillars and butterflies observed later
in the year are descended.

A curious habit of the Painted Lady, and also of the Red
Admiral, is that of continuing on the wing long after other
kmds of butterfly have retired to their resting-places for the
night. Both have been seen flying about at dusk, and have
been recorded as attracted by light on more than one occasion.

It has been noted that these butterflies, in early summer,
usually occur singly, and seem to become attached to some
short stretch of ground, over which they career to and fro with
almost mechanical regularity. They may be struck at with the
net again and again, but do not desert their beat. Even if
caught and released again they appear to be undismayed, and
resume their interrupted patrol either at once or very shortly
afterwards. T he later butterflies also are not afraid of the net,
and will repeatedly return to some favourite perch after being
struck at and missed.

Although the butterfly has been observed, sometimes in
abundance, in every part of the British Islands, even to the
Shetlands, its occurrence in any given locality is always

PL 4 6.

G So.

Red Admiral.

Eggs enlarged ; young and adult caterpillars ; chrysalis.

PI. 47.

Red Admiral.

i , 2 male ; 3, 4 female.

C Si.

THE RED ADMIRAL.

Si

uncertain. In some years it may be fairly common in the early
part of the year and very scarce later on.

A North American species, Pyrameis virginiensis (hunter a),
has been once or twice, since 1828, reported as captured in
England, but its occurrence in this country can only be
regarded as accidental.

The Red Admiral ( Pyrameis citalantd).

The vivid contrast of black and scarlet in this butterfly
will certainly arrest the attention of even the least observant.
But Nature, ever excellent in her colour schemes, has toned
down the glare of the scarlet bands by the addition of some
splashes and dots of white above them on the fore wings, and
some dots of black on those of the hind wings. Then, by way
of a finish, there is a delicate tracing of blue along the outer
margin of the fore wings, and a touch of the same colour at
the angle of the hind wings, the scalloped margins of all the
wings being white relieved by black points. On the under
side the combination of colour on the fore wings is much the
same as above, but there is also some blue tracing on the
central area, and the tips harmonize with the hind wings, which
are mottled with various shades of brown, traversed by wavy
black lines, and have a more or less square pale spot on their
front edges.

The ordinary variation in this butterfly consists of slight
differences in the tone of the red markings, which ranges from
the normal scarlet in one direction to almost crimson, and in
the other to orange-yellow. The bands on the fore wings may
be broken up into two, Or sometimes three, distinct parts ; ancl
a specimen with the bands of hind wings marked with yellow
has been noted. There is often a white dot in the bands of the
fore wings, and this occurs in both sexes.

82

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

A somewhat rare variety is represented on Plate 49. It
was reared from one of three caterpillars casually picked up at
Erith, and is now in Mr. Sabine’s collection. Somewhat similar
specimens have been figured elsewhere. One of these was bred
from a caterpillar found at Ashton in 1867, and another was
captured in Jersey in 1893. All these varieties seem to be
modifications of the form named klemensiewiczi by Schille, and
which was figured by Esper as a variety of atalanta in 1777.
This form has also resulted from temperature experiments on
the chrysalis, of the kind previously adverted to.

The egg when first laid is green in colour, but as the cater-
pillar matures within the colour changes to greenish-black, with
the ten ribs showing up more or less transparent. The egg is
laid in an upright position on nettle leaves and young shoots,
but not in batches like those of the Tortoiseshell, etc.

The caterpillar varies in colour. Some are blackish freckled
with white, with two yellow stripes, sometimes broken up, on the
sides ; and the rows of branched spines yellow, except those
nearest the head, which are black or tipped with black. Others
are greyish, or grey marked with yellowish-green. Others,
again, are dark brownish, with the spines on the back pale,
and those on the sides black ; or all the spines may be shining
black (Hellins).

The chrysalis is greyish, prettily ornamented with gold along
the centre of the back and on the thorax and head. The pro-
jections are also tinged with metallic gloss. It is generally
suspended under a canopy of nettle leaves.

The caterpillars do not live in companies like those of the
Peacock and Tortoiseshells, but each individual constructs for
itself a kind of tent (see Plate 48) by spinning together the
leaves of its food-plant, the common stinging-nettle. Although
the caterpillar is well concealed in such hiding-places when
newly made, it “gives itself away” when it has partly consumed
its home. It has been found on pellitory ( Parietaria officinalis ),-

PI. 48.

Red Admiral.

Caterpillar s shelter-tent , and chrysalis.

G 82.

PL

49-

G S3

1, 2 Red Admiral var.

3, 4 Painted Lady var.

THE RED ADMIRAL.

S3

and also on hop ( Humulus ) ; but I have found that caterpillars
fed on hop alone always produce small butterflies.

The caterpillars, which in a state of Nature are often badly
“ ichneumoned,” have been noted in England as early as the end
of June and as late as October. In the South of Europe they
have been seen in February.

The butterflies seen in spring and early summer, up to, say,
the beginning of July, are supposed to have wintered in this
country, but there is no positive evidence, that I can find, that
the butterfly does hibernate here. It is, however, most probable
that they are arrivals from abroad. The species is found
throughout Europe and North Africa, Northern Asia, and North
America, and it may be suspected of migration, although there
is, perhaps, not such conclusive evidence on this point as in the
case of its cousin, the Painted Lady.

Anyway, unless we admit immigration, it seems difficult to
understand why this butterfly should suddenly become common
in some British localities from which it has been almost or quite
absent for several years. Again, we rarely hear of butterflies
moving about at night, but the Red Admiral, as well as the
Painted Lady, are known to do this. If it does hibernate in
this country it is very late in taking up winter quarters, as it
is seen on the wing at the end of October, and sometimes even
in November ; it has also been known to emerge from the
chrysalis in the latter month. It does not appear in the spring
with other hibernating species, and is rarely seen before the
end of May, but June seems to be about the normal time.

In the autumn it is fond of making excursions into the flower
garden and the orchard, where it takes toll from flower and fruit,
an over-ripe pear or plum being its special weakness. The
blossoms of ivy, hop, thistle, teazle, etc., are attractive, but a
tree-stem that has been bored by the caterpillar of the goat
moth will be visited by nearly every Red Admiral in the district.
One observer mentions that he once saw quite thirty of these

84 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES. -

butterflies gathered around one wounded birch tree on
Wimbledon Common. There was not room for all to imbibe
at the same time, but those unable to satisfy their desire at the
moment were content to sit around and await a favourable
opportunity of joining in the feast. The seductive fluid obtained
from such trees is evidently more potent than the nectar from
flowers, as under its influence the insect is so listless that it may
be taken up between the finger and thumb.

Its range extends throughout the British Islands, and seems
to be very similar to that of the Painted Lady.

The Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis pap hid).

The wings of this fine butterfly are fulvous, with the veins
and spots black ; the spots on the hind wings are band-like,
and the central spots on the fore wings are sometimes con-
nected. The female is paler than the male, and is without
the heavy black scales ( androconia ) on veins I, 2, and 3 ; the
basal third of the fore wing, and a larger area of the hind wing,
tinged with greenish. The form of the female with all the
wings greenish is the var. valesina (Plate 52), and between
this and the type there are various intergrades, one of which
is shown on the plate. Specimens with white spots on the
fore wings, and chiefly in the males, are sometimes not un-
common in the New forest, as, for instance, in the year 1893
when quite a large number were secured. Very much more
rarely white spots occur on all the wings (Plate 57, Fig. 1). In
a very remarkable male specimen, taken in the New Forest in
1881, the central area of all four wings is black, and the veins
beyond are broadly edged with the same colour. A curious
female aberration has the central black spots much reduced or
absent, whilst those on the outer margin are united, and form
elongate blotches between the veins, the upper one being wedge-
shaped. Aberrations of the valesina form, similar to that figured

THE SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY.

85

on Plate 57, Fig. 2, and Fig. 25 on next page, are not often
met with ; the ground colour is greenish, but much suffused
and clouded with black. Now and then gynandrous specimens
are obtained, the one side normal male and the other side typical
female, or var. valesina.

The egg when newly laid, in July, is whitish tinged with
green, ribbed, and cross-furrowed, the alternate ribs not
extending to the top. As the caterpillar matures, the egg-
shell appears blackish and the ribs hoary.

The caterpillar when full grown is velvety black with two
bright yellow lines along the back ; the spines are of a
reddish-ochreous colour with the extreme tips and branches
black. There are only two on the first ring, and these are
inclined forward over the head. The chrysalis is of a pale
ochreous colour, streaked and mottled with brownish ; the
hollow part of the back has a brilliant golden sheen, and the
points on the rest of the body are gold tipped. Suspended by
the anal hooks to a silken pad spun on a twig, rock, or other
object in the vicinity of its feeding-place, it is capable of much
activity in the way of wriggling when touched, and displays the
beauty of its metallic adornment to the greatest advantage when
so engaged.

The caterpillar hatches in August, and after eating its egg-
shell and nibbling a leaf or two of dog-violet ( Viola canina ),
goes into winter quarters whilst in its second skin, and con-
sequently very small ; the spines, which are such an imposing
feature of the adult caterpillar, have not yet appeared. In April,
after feeding again, it moults the second time, and the spines
are then disclosed.

Sometimes caterpillars continue to feed in the autumn
instead of hibernating. This, at least, has happened to Mr.
h rohawk on two occasions, notably in 1893, when he had
several individuals of a brood, from eggs laid by a female of
the valesma form, that departed from the usual custom of their

86

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

kind by feeding and growing until they eventually passed
through all the stages and emerged perfect butterflies in Sep-
tember and October of that year. Something similar occurred
in a brood that he was rearing in the autumn of 1895, but on
this occasion only one caterpillar continued to feed beyond the
normal time.

The English name by which we now know this, the largest
of the six British Argynnids, seems to have been given to it by
Moses Harris in 1778. Sixty years or so before that date it

Fig. 25.

Aberration of var. valesina.

was called the ‘'Greater Silver-streaked Fritillary.” Fortu-
nately, in this case, as in others where the vulgar tongue is
entomologically concerned, the law of priority does not apply,
so that the name Silver-washed, which so well expresses the
under-side ornamentation, may be retained.

The butterfly is probably to be found in most of the Southern
English and Welsh counties, especially where there are ex-
tensive woods. In North Devon, however, it occurs in places
where there is not much in the way of woodland. It is abundant

7>

~S|

PI. 51. G S7.

Silver-washed Fritillary.

Egg, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis.

THE HIGH BROWN FRITILLARY.

8 7

in the New Foiest, and also in some pai'ts of Ii'eland. Although
it has been observed as far north as the Clyde, it is scarce in
North England and Scotland. The valesina form is to be
seen, in July and August, in the New Forest evei'y year, and
sometimes in numbers. This variety has been reported from
Kent, Sussex, Devon, and Dorset ; also from “near Reading”
and “the border of Hertfordshire.”

Abroad, the typical form is distributed through Europe and
Asia to China, Coi'ea, and Japan. The valesina variety is un-
common in Northern Europe, but in some parts of China it
seems to be the dominant form.

The High Brown Fritillary ( Argynnis adippe).

Bright fulvous with black spots and veins. The female is not
so bright in tint as the male, and is without the thick patch of
scales on veins 2 and 3. The series of black spots parallel
with the outer margin of the fore wing are normally six in
number, but the third is usually small and sometimes absent,
whilst the fourth and fifth are often much larger than others of
the series. In the corresponding row on the hind wing the
first and third spots are sometimes wanting. On the under side
the silvery spots are generally as seen in Plate 54, but they
are subject to modification, and not infrequently are absent
from the tips of the fore wings, and sometimes from the outer
margin of the hind wings also. A very rare aberration has the
central area of the fore wings black on the upper and under
sides ; the hind wings are black above with fulvous lunules on the
outer margin, and the silvery spots on the under side are reduced
to five, and these ai'e confined to the basal area. In another
remarkable form the hind wings above are similar to the last-
mentioned variety, but on the under side the silvery spots on the
basal half are united and form a large patch, which is divided
by the nervures, and there are no silvery spots on the outer

88

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

margin. The variety shown on Plate 57 has the under side
of the hind wings buff in colour, the markings on the outer
margin are reddish-brown with a few silvery scales towards the
anal angle, and the basal silvery spots are confluent, agreeing
in the latter character with the preceding variety, and also with
var. charlotta of the next species. In var. cleodoxa the spots
on the under side are yellowish instead of silvery, but the red
spots on the outer area are sometimes silver centred ; this
form is only rarely found in Britain. Possibly some of the
reputed British examples of A . niobe may have been referable
to cleodoxa , but what appears to be more certain is that the
actual occurrence of niobe in England is exceedingly doubtful.

The egg when newly laid is yellowish-green ; it afterwards
turns pink, and then rosy red ; during the winter it changes
to greyish- or bluish -green. As a rule, the eggs are laid
at the end of July, and the caterpillars do not hatch until
the following March or early in April. In 1893, however,
Mr. Frohawk had a few caterpillars hatch out between the
middle of August and September 20, from a number of eggs
laid at the end of June. One of these, fed up, pupated on
October 13, and the butterfly emerged on November 21. The
majority of the eggs remained over to the following spring.
According to an observation made by Mr. W. H. B. Fletcher,
the caterpillar is fully formed soon after the egg is laid, but
remains within the shell all the winter.

1 he caterpillar, which feeds upon dog-violet, and also the
sweet violet, is figured on Plate 53. The head is pinkish-
brown, covered with short greyish bristles. Body black, in-
crusted with ochreous grey on the sides, and on the back marked
with ochreous grey on the hinder half of each ring ; dorsal line
white. The branched spines are pinkish-brown.

1 he chrysalis is deep brown, freckled with paler ; points
along the back of the body brilliant greenish-golden, as also
are the four points on the thorax. The wing-cases are rather

n. 52.

G SS.

Greenish Silver-washed Fritillary.

Var. valesina, female.

G S9.

Pi- 53-

High Brown Fritillary.

enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis.

THE DARK GREEN FRITILLARY. 89

paler. The foregoing brief description was taken on July 10,
and the butterfly emerged five days afterwards.

Barrett says, “ Apparently found in most of the larger woods
of the southern counties, from Kent, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk
on the east, to Devonshire, Glamorganshire, and Merionethshire
on the west ; also in similar situations through the north-
western counties and the more sheltered woods of the Midlands
to Herefordshire, Shropshire, Derbyshire, and Lincolnshire.
Found in several localities in Yorkshire, in the favoured Grange
and Silverdale districts of Lancashire, and near Lake Winder-
mere in Westmoreland, its extreme northern boundary being
reached in Cumberland.”

It is widely distributed over Europe, and its range extends
into Asia Minor and Amurland. In China and Japan it is
represented by various forms, the commonest of which is var.
locuples.

The Dark Green Fritillary {Argynnis aglet ia).

This butterfly is bright fulvous ih the male, paler in the
female ; the latter sex is blackish towards the base, and has
paler spots on the outer margin. The black marking is
pretty much as in the previous species, but the male has the
black scales ( androconia ) on veins 1 and 2, and these are less
conspicuous. The basal two-thirds of the hind wings is
greenish on the under side. The silvery spots are arranged in
fairly regular series, and there are no silvery centred red spots
between the two outer series. The blackish crescents on the
outer margin of the fore wings are edged with silver, but this
is chiefly towards the tips of the wings.

There is some variation in the tone of the ground colour,
lighter or darker than normal in both sexes ; the female seems
to be the most variable in this respect, and sometimes, especially
in the north, examples of this sex are much suffused with

90 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

blackish or greenish-black. Occasionally the colour is quite
pale, as shown in the middle figure on Plate 61, and some-
times it is clouded with greyish. The black spots are apt to
run together, and so form bands and blotches. An example of
this kind of aberration is shown on the plate.

Var. charlotta differs very little from the type on the upper
side, but on the under side of the hind wings the basal silvery
spots are united, as shown in the upper reverse side figure on the
plate. This variety was known to the entomologist of Haworth’s
time as the “ Queen of England Fritillary,” and there is a figure
of it in Sowerby’s “ British Miscellany,” which was published in
1806.

The egg is yellowish when first laid, and a day or two after-
wards violet-brown rings appear above the base and the apical
half. It is ribbed and finely cross-ribbed, 'and some of the ribs
are continued to the truncate and slightly depressed top.

When full grown the caterpillar is shining purplish-grey,
thickly mixed with velvety black ; the grey is most in evidence
between the rings and along the lower part of the sides. There
is a yellow stripe along the middle of the back, and this has a
central black line of irregular width ; along the lower part of
the sides there is a row of reddish spots, and these are con-
nected by a fine yellowish line. The black spines are branched,
and, except on the first three rings, which have only two rows,
arranged in three- rows on each side of the yellow stripe. The
head is glossy black, and, like the body, hairy. ( Adapted from
Buckler .)

It feeds in May and June on dog-violet, and has been reared
on garden pansy. The chrysalis has the head, thorax, and
wing-cases black, very glossy, and marked with pale brownish ;
the body is pale brownish, and the points black. Suspended in
a tent-like arrangement of leaves.

Moorlands, downs, sea-cliffs, and flowery slopes are the kind
of situations most to the fancy of this agile butterfly. It is on

High Brown Fritillary.

PI. 55.

Dark Green Fritillary.

]-g£si natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

G 91.

THE QUEEN OF SPAIN FRITILLARY. 91

the wing in July and August, and is much more easily seen
than caught. However, it is rather fond of perching on the
taller kinds of thistles, and is then not difficult to capture, if
quietly approached. It is common locally in most of the
English and Welsh counties. In Ireland it seems to be chiefly
attached to the coast, and is plentiful in some of its localities.
In Scotland it occurs in many suitable districts, but Skye is the
only one of the isles from which it has been reported. Its dis-
tribution extends through Europe and Asia to Amurland, China,
and Japan.

The Queen of Spain Fritillary (Argynnis lathonia).

In shape and in general appearance this butterfly is not
unlike a small example of the Silver-washed Fritillary ; the
large silvery, or sometimes pearly, blotches on the under side of
the hind wings at once reveal its higher British rank. When
flying it has a curious resemblance to the Wall, and sometimes
it has been taken when the captor supposed that he was netting
a specimen of that plebeian butterfly. The black markings on
the upper side vary somewhat in size, and occasionally those on
the front area, or those on the inner area of the fore wings, are
more or less confluent ; very rarely the wings are suffused with
a steely-blue or bronze colour. The specimens occurring in
this country do not, however, exhibit so much variation as has
been observed in this butterfly abroad.

I have not seen any of the early stages. The figures of the
caterpillar and the chrysalis (Plate 58) are after Hiibner,
and the following descriptions of the egg and other stages are
adapted from the detailed life-history of the species by Mr.
Frohawk, published in the Entomologist for 1903 : —

“The egg is one-fortieth of an inch high, of a rather straight-
sided conical form, widest at the base, where it is smooth and
rounded off at the edge. There are about forty longitudinal

92

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

keels, irregularly formed and of different lengths, some not
reaching halfway up the side, and others running the entire
length from base to crown, where they terminate abruptly, and
form a series of triangular peaks round the summit surrounding
the granulated micropyle ; the spaces between the keels are
finely ribbed transversely. When first laid it is of a very pale
lemon-yellow colour, inclining to ochreous, appearing almost
white in certain lights ; the colour gradually deepens, becoming
yellower with a greenish tinge. On the fifth day the crown of
the egg assumes a dull grey, finally changing to a lilac-grey.”

The female butterfly, when placed in the sunshine, laid about
a hundred eggs during the day — August 7. These were mostly
placed singly qn the leaves or other parts of a plant of hearts-
ease ( Viola tricolor ), but some were laid on the gauze cover of
the cage. All the caterpillars hatched out on August 14.

The caterpillar when full grown is velvety black, densely
sprinkled with tiny white dots, each bearing a black bristle ;
there are six rows of spines, which are of various shades of
brown with yellowish bases and shining black bristles ; along
the back there are two white streaks on the fore part of each
ring, and white warts emitting black bristles on the hind part.
The head is amber-coloured above, but black below, and is
covered with bristles like the body.

The chrysalis has the head, thorax, and wing-cases shining
olive-brown ; the body chequered and speckled with olive-
brown, ochreous, black, and white. The spiracles are black and
conspicuous, and the points on the body are amber-coloured.
The thorax and first two body rings have brilliant burnished
silver-gilt ornamentation.

The butterflies commenced to emerge on September 25,
and between that date and the 28th ten came out. Although
he succeeded in rearing almost all the caterpillars to the
chrysalis, no less than eighty died in this stage, and he states
that“ there is no doubt that the late autumn English climate is

Pi. 56.

1, 2, 3 Pearl-bordered Fritillary vars.

4, 5 Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary vars.
6, 7 Heath Fritillary vars.

G 92.

PL 57.

H 93-

i, 2 Silver-washed Fritillary vars.
3 High Brown Fritillary var.

THE QUEEN OF SPAIN FRITILLARY.

93

quite unsuited for the existence of this species,” as well as for
others that come to us from abroad.

Moses Harris, in 1775, gave this butterfly the name “Oueen of
Spain it had been known to English entomologists from 1710
until then as the “Lesser Silver-spotted Fritillary.” Gamlingay
in Cambridgeshire seems to have been the only British locality
in which it had been observed until 1795, when Lewin mentions
a specimen taken in a Borough (London) garden in August. All
the Cambridge specimens had been captured in the month of
May. Stephens, writing in 1828 (“ 111. Brit. Ent. Haust.,” i. 37),
says —

“Previously to the year 1818, few cabinets possessed even a
single specimen ; and from the very few known instances of its
capture (six only, according to Mr. Haworth), there is reason to
believe that some of the specimens at that time [1803] placed
in collections were foreign ; but in the above remarkable year
for the appearance of certain papilionaceous insects, this species
occurred simultaneously in several, and very distant, parts,
having been taken in August by Mr. Haworth at Halvergate,
in Norfolk ; by Mr. Vigors in Battersea-fields ; by myself
at Dover, and, during that and the following month, near
Colchester ; Birchwood, Kent ; and Hertford in plenty by
others. At the latter place I saw several specimens, but was
not fortunate enough to secure any.”

The butterfly has been taken, chiefly odd specimens, in many
of the eastern and southern counties, from Norfolk to Dover,
and almost always in the autumn. It has also occurred at
Scarborough (1868), and at least once in Ireland (1864).

I he neighbourhood of Dover seems to have always been the
most favoured locality, and no less than twenty-five specimens
were captured there in 1882. Several examples were also
obtained at Dover in 1883, and a single specimen in other parts
of Kent in 1884 and 1885. The most recent records are—
Brighton, one example in 1892 ; Clifton, one in July, 1898 ;

H

94

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

Christchurch, one in August, 1899 ; Poole, one in 1901. There
does not seem to be any authentic record of the caterpillar
having been observed in Kent or any other British locality in
which the butterfly has been noted. This may possibly be due
to its love of concealment.

There are two flights of the butterfly in the year, one in the
spring and the other in the autumn.

Females from the Continent may arrive on our east or south
coasts in May, and deposit eggs from which the autumn butter-
flies are developed. Some of these might wander farther inland,
but eggs would almost certainly be laid on the spot. The fate
of the caterpillars from autumnal eggs would depend on the
winter ; if mild they, or at least some of them, might manage to
get through and attain the butterfly state about May, but
their doing so is rather doubtful.

The species is widely distributed and often common on the
Continent, and its range extends to Persia, Northern Asia, and
North Africa. In Eastern Asia it is represented by var. isoea.

The Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Argynnis euphrosyne).

Some authors consider the smaller Fritillaries to be generically
separable from the larger kinds, and place this and the next
species in the genus Brenthis, whilst the Queen of Spain is
referred to the genus Issoria , Hiibner. Here, however, they are
retained in Argynnis.

In colour and in the marking of the upper side the Pearl-
bordered is very like the High Brown, but, as will be seen
from the figures, it is much smaller in size, and the ornamenta-
tion on the under side is different. There is one silvery spot
at the base of the hind wings, a larger one about the middle
of the wings, and a row of spots on the outer margin. The
female is rather larger than the male, and darker at the bases of
the wings,

«/Y. 58.

Queen of Spain Fritillary.

Caterpillar and chrysalis.

II 94-

Dark Green Fritillary.

THE PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.

95

Variation on the upper side consists of more or less black
suffusion on the basal or general area of the wings, and an in-
crease in the size of the black spots, resulting in the formation of
bands or patches ; or the black spots may be much reduced in
size, and some of them entirely absent. Some of the more
striking kinds of aberration, both above and below, are repre-
sented on Plate 56, Figs. 1-3, and Plate 65, Figs. 1-4. The usual
colour is sometimes replaced by buff, and this may be yellowish
or whitish in tint ; occasionally white spots appear on the
wings. The life-history of this butterfly is depicted on Plate 60.

The egg, which is laid in May or June, is whitish-green at
first, and afterwards turns brownish. It is distinctly ribbed,
and the top is somewhat rounded and hollowed in the centre.

The full-grown caterpillar is black, and the numerous minute
hairs with which it is clothed give it a velvety appearance.
There is a greyish-edged black line down the middle of the
back, and the spines on each side of this are whitish or yellowish,
with the tips and the branches black ; all the other spines are
black. A greyish stripe runs along the lower part of the sides,
and this is traversed from the fourth to the last ring by a
blackish line. Head black, shining, downy, and slightly notched
on the crown. The natural food-plant is dog-violet ( Viola
canina ), but the caterpillar will also eat garden pansy, and has
been known to nibble a leaf of primrose. It retires for hiberna-
tion when quite small, and recommences to feed in March.

The chrysalis is brownish, with the raised parts of the thorax
and head greyish ; the body is paler brown, and the points
thereon are blackish.

This butterfly seems to be fairly common in woods through-
out England and Wales, and it is often abundant in some of the
moie extensive woodlands, especially in the southern counties.
It used to be plentiful in Northumberland and Durham, but has
become scarcer in those counties, and in some others in the
north of England. It occurs in Scotland, and is not uncommon

96

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

in Sutherlandshire, but Kane does not include it in his Irish
catalogue.

Clearings in woods are generally the best places in which to
find this pretty little Fritillary ; but it also seems to have a fond-
ness for the margins of brooks and rills, where these run through
or by the sides of woods. Usually it is on the wing in May or
June, but sometimes, in early seasons, it puts in an appearance at
the end of April. To entomologists of a bygone age it was known
as the “ April Fritillary,” but this name would hardly be a suit-
able one for it in the present day. Very rarely a few specimens
have been taken in August ; and there is at least one record of
caterpillars that had ceased feeding in July, in the usual way, and
were apparently settled down for hibernation, suddenly arousing
from their slumbers, and completing their growth in August.

Abroad, the species is distributed throughout Europe, except
the extreme south, and extends into Armenia, Northern Asia
Minor, the Altai, and Amurland. It is stated to be double-
brooded on the Continent.

The Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (A rgynnis selcnc ) .

This butterfly differs from the last one referred to in
having a rather deeper colour on the upper side, and heavier
black markings on the outer margin of the hind wings.
The female is slightly more orange in tint, and has a series of
pale spots on the outer margin of each wing. On the under side
the red markings are browner in tint, and there are more silvery
spots on the hind wings. Variation in colour and marking is
similar to that mentioned under the Pearl-bordered. On
Plate 66 a white spotted female and a specimen with the
hind wings clouded with black are represented. These are
rather uncommon aberrations. The life-history of this species
is figured on Plate 62.

I he egg is at first greenish, then yellowish, and afterwards

PI. 60.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

F-gg, natural size and enlarged ; partly grown caterpillar ; chrysalis.

H96.

PI. 61. H 97.

Dark Green Fritillary vars.

1. 2, 4, 5 wale; 3 female.

THE SMALL PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.

97

greyish, and then becoming blackish towards the hollowed top.
The ribs seem to be eighteen or twenty in number ; laid in
June or July on plants of dog-violet. On emerging from the
egg the young caterpillar devours most of the shell. It is
then of a pale olive colour with brownish warts, from each of
which there is a pale and rather long jointed bristle ; the head
is black. The full-grown caterpillar is smoky pink and velvety-
looking. There is a brownish line along the middle of the
back. The spines are “ ochreous in colour, tinged with pink,
and beset with fine pointed black bristles.” The upper ones
are rather stouter than the others, and the pair on the first
ring, the only spines on this ring, are rather more than twice
the length of the others, and are directed forward over the
head, thus giving the appearance of a pair of horns ; the second
and third rings have each four spines, which are rather finer
than those on the rest of the body, which are arranged in six
rows. A pale pinkish stripe runs along the lower part of the
body ; just above the feet. Head black and notched on the
crown (Buckler). The chrysalis is brown on the thorax and
the body ; the wing-cases are more ochreous and marked with
black near the edge. There is a black V-mark on the thorax,
with a silvery spot on each side, one silvery spot on each side
of the head, and other metallic spots on the body near the
thorax (Buckler).

On the Continent there are two broods of the butterfly, and
specimens are occasionally seen in August in this country ; one
of these late examples, taken by Mr. Barker in 1 88 1 , is shown
on the plate (Fig. 6). Sometimes one or two caterpillars of
a brood in confinement will feed up and attain the perfect state
in August instead of settling down with their companions for
hibernation.

The butterfly in June and July frequents similar places to
those favoured by the Pearl-bordered, and its distribution in
Britain is somewhat similar, although it is a more local species.

98

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

It seems, however, to be commoner in Scotland than the Pearl-
bordered, and has been recorded at least once from Ireland.
Its range abroad extends farther east, as it is found in Corea.

The Heath Fritillary (Melitcea athalia).

The ground colour of this butterfly, sometimes called the
“Pearl-bordered Likeness” or “May Fritillary,” is brownish-
orange, and the markings are black or blackish ; the bases of
the wings are clouded with blackish, and the fringes are white
checkered with black.

The ground colour varies in tint, and may be pale tawny or
deep reddish. The black markings are subject to modification
in two directions ; in one leading up to almost complete dis-
appearance from the central area, and in the other they are
much intensified and greatly obscure the ground colour. Some-
times the whole of the wings, with the exception of a series of
orange spots on the outer area, are blackish. This form is known
as var. navarina. The left-hand figure at the bottom of
Plate 68 shows an aberration approaching this form, whilst the
right-hand figure comes close to var. corythalia. Specimens
with all the wings thinly marked with black, as in the fore wing
of the variety last referred to, would be referable to var. obsolcta.

According to Barrett, specimens from Essex have the ground
colour on the under side of the hind wing much yellower than
are the same parts in specimens from Sussex. I have not
noticed this, but some Essex examples that I have seen were
much darker and more heavily marked with black on the upper
side, and especially on the hind wings, than any that I have
seen from other parts of England, except, perhaps, a few indi-
viduals from North Devonshire. These Essex specimens
reminded me very much of M. dictynna , a Continental species,
with which, it appears, the Heath Fritillary was confounded by
some of the old authors.

Pl. 62.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar ( after Buckler), and chrysalis.

H 98.

PI. 63.

Queen of Spain Fritillary,

1, 2 male ; 3, 4 /cm, tic.

H 99.

THE HEATH FRITILLARY.

99

There is a good deal of variation on the under side, but chiefly
of a minor character, and most often unconnected with variation
on the upper side. The following are more important varieties.

Var. tessellata , the Straw May Fritillary of Petiver, and figured
by him in 1717 and by Stephens in 1827, has the under side of
the hind wings entirely straw-coloured with black veins. There
are three large squarish yellow spots on the basal area, outlined
in black ; a yellow central band, margined and traversed by
black lines. On the outer margin there is a series of yellow
crescents, outlined in black.

Var. eos of Haworth (the Dark Under-wing Fritillary) is the
pyronia of Hiibner and Stephens, and a modification of var.
corythalia , Hiibn. On the under side the fore wings are fulvous,
and have two black spots in the discal cell, and a black band,
intersected by the veins, on the central area. On the hind wings
the basal third is fulvous with eight black spots ; the central area
is whitish intersected by the black veins. On the yellow-tinged
whitish outer area there is a series of black-margined orange
crescents ; a row of black lunules precedes a thin black line on
the outer margin.

The egg is upright, ribbed, and pale whitish-green in colour.
As the caterpillar matures the shell becomes greyish. The eggs
were laid in a cluster on a leaf of cow-wheat ( Mclampyrum
pratense) as shown in the figure, but failed to hatch.

The full-grown caterpillar is black on the back, becoming
olive tinged on the sides and olive-brown underneath ; the
divisions between the rings are olive. The whole of the upper
surface, except a line along the middle of the back, is dotted
with white, and there are eleven white-tipped orange or
yellowish spines on each ring, except the last two and the
three nearest the head ; the first and the last each have four
spines, the third has eight, and the second and the eleventh
have each ten spines. The head is black marked with white,
and is clothed with short, stiff, black hair or bristles (Buckler).

IOO

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The chrysalis is pale whitish-ochreous, the markings on the
wing-cases are black, and those on the other parts are orange
and black.

Cow-wheat appears to be the chief food of the caterpillar, but
it will also eat, and has been found on, foxglove (. Digitalis
purpurea) and woodsage ( Teucrium scorodonia). Plantain is
also said to be a food-plant, but Buckler says that his cater-
pillars would not eat this. The caterpillars are rather shy in
their habits, and, except when the sun is shining brightly,
require to be carefully looked for among their food-plant and
the dead leaves, etc., around. They hatch from the egg in July,
feed for a few weeks, and then hibernate in companies under a
web. In April and May they become active again, feed up
quickly, and appear as butterflies in June and early July.

The species is, unfortunately, becoming scarcer in England
than it used to be. It seems quite to have disappeared from
some of the districts in which it was formerly common. No
doubt in one or two of its old and well-known localities the
butterflies, and perhaps the caterpillars also, have been too
freely taken, and its natural enemies have probably completed
the business. Clearings in woods or heathy borders of woods
are the kind of places this species appear to prefer. Its head-
quarters in any given locality seems to be changed from time to
time, so that the exact spot where it will occur next year cannot
be predicted from this years observations.

I he butterfly seems to be unknown in Scotland, and has only
been recorded from Killarney in Ireland. In England it is
to be found in the counties of Essex, Kent, Surrey, and
Devonshire.

Its geographical distribution extends through Europe into
Asia Minor, East Siberia, and Northern Amurland. In Corea
and Japan it is represented by a larger form known as var.
niphona. .

THE GLANVILLE FRITILLARY.

IOI

The GlanYille Fritillary ( Mclitcea cinxici).

This butterfly is bright brownish-orange with black markings,
as shown on Plate J i. The under side of the hind wings and
the tips of the fore wings are very pale yellowish ; the former
with two black-margined brownish-orange bands, and lines of
black dots ; the tip of the fore wing is also dotted and marked
with black. The female is slightly paler, and the markings are
often blurred.

There is variation in the black markings on the upper side.
Sometimes these are enlarged, but more often they are much
reduced, and the central one may be completely absent from all
the wings. Connected with the suppression of the middle
black line above there is usually aberration on the under side of
the hind wings also, where the central area is clear of black
dots, and the basal area is fulvous, edged and marked with
black. Two very remarkable aberrations are represented on
Plate 65, Figs. 7, 8.

The eggs, which are yellowish-white, and sometimes tinged
with green, are laid in a cluster on the under side of the tip of a
leaf of the narrow-leafed plantain ( Plantago lanceolata). I he
caterpillars hatch in July and August, and hibernate in com-
panies under a web. The mature caterpillar is black with white
dots, and black bristles arising from greenish warts. The red
head, which is notched on the crown, and the red fore legs dis-
tinguish this at once from the caterpillars of the Heath, or the
Marsh Fritillary. It feeds in early spring on plantain, but
seems to prefer Plantago maritima to P. lanceolata when both
are present.

The chrysalis is brownish in colour, and is ornamented with
orange on the thorax, and with orange points and black marks
on the body. It may be found in April and early May sus-
pended from the lower parts of the stems of the plantain or

102

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

other plants around. Newman states that he found “dozens of
the chrysalids in company,” but I have only occasionally met
with them, and always singly.

Quite early in the eighteenth century this butterfly had only
been observed in England in Lincolnshire, where, according to
Ray, it was common, and in a wood at Dulwich. Petiver, who
mentioned the last-named locality, calls it the “ Dullidge Fritil-
lary.” Wilkes in 1773 wrote of it as the “ Plantain Fritillary,”
although he gives clover and grass, as well as plantain, as the
food of the caterpillar. Moses Harris in the Aurelian (1779)
calls the butterfly the “ Glanville Fritillary,” and states that it
was named after Lady Glanville, who was interested in butter-
flies, and whose will was disputed on that ground. This fact
will serve to show that entomology as a pursuit was not much
in vogue at that time, and that those who collected butterflies,
etc., were apt to be regarded by their friends as being — well,
just a “ wee bit daft.”

Both Wilkes and Harris, it may be remarked, seem to have
been acquainted with the caterpillar of this species as well as
with that of the Marsh Fritillary, and there seems little reason,
therefore, to suspect that they confused the two species. The
localities given by the earlier authors appear, however, to
suggest that the butterfly they wrote about may have been the
Marsh Fritillary ; but there is no direct evidence of this.

Stephens in 1827 (“Illustrations of British Entomology,”
Haustellata, vol. i. p. 34) wrote —

“ This is a very local species, and is found in meadows by the
sides of woods ; in Wilkes’ time it was not uncommon in
Tottenham wood ; recently the places where it has been chiefly
observed have been near Ryde and the Sandrock Hotel, Isle
of Wight ; in the latter place in plenty : also at Birchwood, and
near Dartford and Dover, and in a wood near Bedford. I
believe that it has been found in Yorkshire.”

'1 here is no doubt that between 1858 and 1863 the butterfly

PI. 64. II 102.

Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

1, 2, 3 male ; 4, 5, 6 female.

• # ,

T> 2> 3> 4 Pearl-bordered Fritillary vars.
5, 6 Marsh Fritillary vars.

7, 8 Glanville Fritillary vars.

THE MARSH FRITILLARY.

I03

was more or less common on parts of the Kentish coast between
Folkestone and Sandgate, but it seems to be equally certain
that the species has long been absent from that part of England
as well as from other localities that have been mentioned, except
the Isle of Wight, where it is still to be found. It flies in May
and June, and seems to have a preference for the rougher parts
of the undercliff ; but I have seen butterflies and caterpillars too
on the higher slopes of St. Boniface. Whenever the caterpillars
are met with, it will be well to remember that only the full-
grown ones should be taken, as the smaller ones do not thrive
very well in confinement. A little self-denial in this matter will
bring its own reward in the shape of fine specimens for the
cabinet, and the pleasant reflection that the useless sacrifice of
a number of caterpillars has been avoided.

The butterfly is widely spread and generally common on the
Continent, and in the Channel Islands it is plentiful in Alderney
and Guernsey. Its range extends into Asia Minor, Central
Asia, and Siberia.

The Marsh Fritillary ( Melitcea aurinia).

This species, of which several forms are represented on
Plate 73, is subject to considerable variation in depth of
colour, and also in size and intensity of the markings, in all
localities. The varieties here referred to are more or less
characteristic of the countries in which they occur. To mention
all the forms, or even those to which varietal names have been
given, would occupy more space than is available for the
purpose.

Reddish-orange or bright tawny, veins black, breaking up the
yellow or yellowish transverse bands ; there are three or four
transverse black lines, the first and second, counting from the
base of the wing, not always distinct ; basal area more or

104 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

less suffused with black. On the under side the fore wings are
fulvous, with faint traces of the upper-side markings ; the hind
wings are rather redder, especially on the outer half, and have
yellowish markings, comprising some spots towards the base
of the wings, a band beyond the middle, a series of black
centred spots, and crescents on the outer margin. The above
applies more particularly to the form of the butterfly occurring
in England and Wales.

The Irish form known as prcEclara has the transverse band
straw-coloured, the red colour is more vivid, and the black
veins and cross-lines heavier ; the area nearest the base of the
wings is often blacker.

In a form occurring in Scotland, and known as var. scotica ,
the black is still more intense, and the straw-coloured markings
are dull in colour.

The egg is pale brownish and very glossy. It appears smooth
towards the rounded base, but is ribbed from just before the
middle to the top. The eggs are laid in batches on leaves of
scabious, chiefly the Devil’s bit ( Scabiosa succisd).

The full-grown caterpillar is black, with a number of tiny
whitish dots, each bearing a short black hair ; short black spines
are arranged in nine rows from ring four, the first ring is only
hairy, the second and third have each two spines. The head
is black, with a groove down the front and short hairs on the
sides. The true legs are black, and the false legs and the
under parts of the body are dull rust-coloured. The caterpillars
hatch from the egg in June or July, and towards the end of
August they construct silken webs, in which they establish
themselves tor hibernation. Early in March they recommence
feeding, and under the influence of much sunshine feed up
quickly. Besides wild scabious, they will eat honeysuckle and
the garden kinds of Scabiosa. The chrysalis is pale buff, with
orange points on the body ; the wing-cases are marked with
black and orange. The chrysalids are suspended from a silken

PI. 66.

Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.

i, 3, 4 mode; C do. ( second brood); 7 do. vnr.; 2, 5 /. male.

Pl. 67.

H 105.

Heath Fritillary.

natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar ( after Buckler ), and ehrvsalis.

THE MARSH FRITILLARY. I05

%

web, which is attached to a leaf or drawn-together leaves. The
early stages are figured on Plate 70.

Kane ( Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Ireland), referring to
this species, remarks : “ This butterfly has been known to
increase so prodigiously that whole fields and roads became
blackened by the moving myriads of larvae. An instance of
this was observed by the Rev. S. L. Brakey, near Ennis, Co.
Clare, where he drove out to see a reported ‘ shower of worms,’
and found as above described, the larvae being so multitudinous
in some fields that the black layer of insects seemed to roll in
corrugations as the migrating hosts swarmed over each other
in search of food. The imagines that resulted from the starved
survivors were extremely small and faded in colour.”

These caterpillars are destroyed in great numbers by
Hymenopterous parasites, chiefly Apantcles , and it is almost
certain that a large percentage of those collected will prove to
have been stung.

The butterfly is on the wing in May and June, and seems to
affect damp meadows, marshy ground on the sides of hills, and
such kind of places. It does not necessarily occur wherever
its food-plant is abundant, but scabious is always found to be
present in the haunts of the butterfly ; so if we know that the
insect occurs in a particular district we should probably get a
clue to its exact whereabouts by noting the likely places in that
district where the food-plant flourishes.

Although it has seemingly disappeared from various English
localities where it was formerly common, the butterfly may be
found in many parts of the British Islands, but it is local and
does not occur northwards much beyond the Caledonian Canal.

Abroad it spreads over Europe to Northern Africa, and its
range extends eastward through Asia to Amurland and Corea.

The fine butterfly next in order is regarded as a member of
the Danaina; by most authors. Although its generic position

io6

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

seems to be established, its proper place in the classification of
butterflies is still unfixed ; and even the question of its trivial or
specific name is not finally settled. According to Kirby, this
butterfly is Anosia menippe , Hiibner, and not the true Papilio
plexippus of Linnaeus, nor the P. archippus of Cramer.
American authors, however, consider it to be the Linnean
plexippus , and give menippe Hb. as a synonym. The species
is here retained in Danainae, but Holland places it in Euploeinae
and Skinner in the Family Lymnadidae.

The Milkweed Butterfly (Anosia plexippus).

The butterfly figured on Plate 120 is brownish-orange, with
black veins and margins on all the wings. White spots are
arranged in double rows on the black outer margin of each
wing, and there are seven other rather larger white spots on the
black apical patch of the fore wings. The male has a patch of
black scales, covering the scent pouch, close to vein 2 on the
hind wings.

The egg is long, oval in shape, with over twenty low upright
ridges and many cross-lines ; is of a pale green colour ; and is
laid singly on the food-plant of the caterpillar (various kinds of
milkweed, especially the commonest kind, Asclepias cornuti ),
and usually upon the under surface of the upturned apical leaves
near the middle. The egg state lasts only about four days
(Scudder). The caterpillar has the head smooth and rounded,
yellow, conspicuously banded with black. Body cylindrical,
tapering a little in front, naked, but with two pairs of long and
very slender black thread-like filaments, one pair, the longer, on
the second thoracic, the other on the eighth abdominal segment.
The body is white, with numerous slender black and yellow, and
especially black, transverse stripes, repeated with considerable
regularity on each of the segments, so that there are nowhere
any broad patches of colour (Scudder).

PI. 68.

Heath Fritillary.

i, =, 3 male ; 4, 5, 6 fc»tale.

H 106.

PL 69.

Glanville Fritillary.

Eggs> natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

II 107.

THE MILKWEED BUTTERFLY.

107

The chrysalis is stout and not elongated, largest in the middle
of the abdomen ; where it is transversely ridged ; elsewhere it is
smooth and rounded, with no striking prominences, but with little
conical projections at most of the elevated points, like those
which half encircle the body at the abdominal ridge, all of a
golden colour except the latter, which are situated in a tri-
coloured band, black in front, nacreous in the middle, and gilt
behind (Scudder).

According to Dr. Holland, “ the butterfly is considered to be
polygoneutic, that is to say, many broods are produced annually ;
and it is believed by writers, that with the advent of cold
weather these butterflies migrate to the South [in America],
the chrysalids and caterpillars which may be undeveloped at
the time of the frosts are destroyed, and that when these
insects reappear, as they do every summer in North America,
they represent a wave of immigration coming northward from
the warmer regions of the Gulf States. It is not believed that
any of them hibernate in any stage of their existence. This
insect sometimes appears in great swarms on the eastern and
southern coasts of New Jersey in late autumn. The swarms
pressing southward are arrested by the ocean.” Within quite
recent years it seems to have effected a settlement in Australia,
“and has thence spread northward and westward, until in its
migrations it has reached Java and Sumatra, and long ago
took possession of the Philippines. Moving eastward on the
lines of travel, it has established a more or less precarious foot-
hold for itself in Southern England. ... It is well established
at the Cape Verde Islands, and in a short time we may expect
to hear of it as having taken possession of the continent of
Africa, in which the family of plants upon which the caterpillars
feed is well represented.”

So far as is shown by the published records, the actual
number of specimens of the Milkweed, or, as it is sometimes
called, Monarch butterfly, seen or caught in England between

io8

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

1876, in which year it was first observed in this country, and
the present time, does not much exceed thirty, and about one-
third of these were obtained in September, 1885. In 1876
single specimens were captured at Neath, S. Wales ; Hayward’s
Heath and Keymer, Sussex; and Poole, Dorset. In 1896
single specimens were reported as seen at Lymington, Hants,
in May ; Newlands Corner, Surrey, in July ; and the Lizard,
Cornwall, in September. The years in which the butterfly
has been noticed in Britain are 1876, 1881, 1884, 1885, 1886,
1887, 1890, and 1896. It was first observed on the Continent
in 1877, when, according to Barrett, a specimen was taken in
La Vendee, France. In 1886, when half a dozen were recorded
from England, single specimens were obtained in Guernsey, and
at Oporto and Gibraltar. “ More recently,” Barrett states,
“ Mr. H. W. Vivian found it, I believe not uncommonly, in the
Canaries, and very kindly brought me a specimen.”

There seems to be no question that the species is migratory
in its habits, but exactly how it reaches this country is not
definitely known. Neither is it known whether the species,
having arrived, is able to reproduce its kind here. From the
fact of its recurrence in England for four years in succession,
the possibility of its breeding in this country might be assumed.
One objection to any such inference, however, is that it is a
many-brooded species, but, with the exception of two records in
1896, all British specimens were captured or seen in August,
September, or October, and none seem to have been observed
in the earlier months of those years in which the autumnal
butterflies were obtained.

I he Milkweeds (. Asclcpias ) are not indigenous plants, but, as
pointed out by the late Mr. J. Jenner Weir, A.fturpurcscens and
A. tuber osa are hardy in this country. He endeavoured to
ascertain whether these plants, or either of them, were grown in
any of the gardens in the Cornish locality where four fresh
specimens were captured in September, 1885. I do not find

7o.

H 10S.

Marsh Fritillary.

I'-ggSi natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar (after Buckler) and chrysalis.

PL 71.

Glanville Fritillary.

1, 2, 4 male; 3, 5, 6, 7 fan ale.

I 109.

THE MARBLED WHITE.

109

that the desired information was furnished. Recently I have
ascertained that A. cornuti , which grows to a height of four
feet, is used as a border plant in some parts of England. It is
commonly known as Swallow-wort, and is esteemed for its
fragrant pale purple flowers.

We now come to the Satyrinse, which, as regards the number
of species belonging to it, is a very large sub-family. In Great
Britain, however, there are but eleven species, and although
some of these are rather local, none are really scarce, and most
are common.

/ ,

The Marbled White ( Mela?iargia galatea).

Older English names for the butterfly figured on Plate 7 5
are “Our Half-mourner” (Petiver, 1717), “The Marmoris ”
(Wilkes), and “ The Marmoress” (Harris). The ground colour
is white or creamy white, and the markings are black. On the
under side the markings are similar in design to those on the
upper side, but much fainter : the eye spots, which are not
always in evidence above, are well defined below, and especially
so on the hind wings. The female is generally whiter and
larger than the male, and has the basal half of the costa, or
front margin of the fore wing ochreous brown, and the markings
on the under side of the hind wings are tinged with the same
colour.

Variation consists chiefly of increase or decrease in the size
of the black markings. At least one specimen is known in
which all the wings are uniform smoky black. This is in the
collection of Mr. A. B. Farn, and was captured near Rochester,
Kent, in 1871. Between this extreme and specimens with the
black markings of typical proportions there are various modifi-
cations ; but striking aberrations are rare in this country. Some-
times there is entire or partial absence of black pigment. A

1

I IO

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

remarkable example of this kind of aberration, taken on the
cliffs between Dover and Walmer some years ago, is described
as of a clear milky- white colour, and has not, either on the upper
or under side of the wings, the smallest speck of black. The
ground colour is sometimes decidedly yellow, and very occa-
sionally brownish.

The life-history of this butterfly is figured on Plate 74.

The egg is whitish, opaque, with a dark speck on the apex ; base
flattened and slightly hollowed ; finely reticulated, but without
distinct striations or anything resembling ribs. The eggs are
laid in July, and are not attached to anything.

The caterpillar when full grown, is whity-brown in colour
with brownish lines. The head is brown, tinged with pink, and
the tail-like points on the last ring are pink. The head, as
well as the body, is clothed with short hair.

The chrysalis is also whity-brown with a pinkish tinge,
browner speckling on the wing cases, and the body is marked
down the back with yellow.

Hellins says, “ It hibernates when very small, becomes full
fed in June, and changes to a pupa without suspending itself
in any way, or making a cocoon ; I think it would hide itself,
as my examples did ; I found they had got among the thick
moss with which I had furnished the bottom of their cage, and
apparently made little hollows for themselves by turning round.’’

Cock’s-foot grass (Dactylis glomcratii) and cat’s-tail grass
(P hleum pratcnse ) are given as food-plants, but the cater-
pillars in confinement seem to eat any kind of grass that is
supplied.

The butterfly is found in most of the Midland counties and
in nearly all of the Southern ones, but is especially common
on the chalk downs of the South-west. It does not occur in
Ireland or Scotland, and seems to be absent from the Northern
counties of England except Yorkshire. In the last-named
county it was supposed to be extinct, but during the past ten

ml. 72.

Milkweed Butterfly.

h'gg, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis (a/ter Smith).

7 HO.

Marsh FritllJary.

i > 3, S, 0, io mo/e; a, <t. ('>, > i female.

t> 2> 4i 6> "> 9 English ; 8 Welsh ; 3, 5, 10, 11 Irish.

THE SMALL MOUNTAIN RINGLET.

1 1 1

years it has been observed at Sled mere, and near Scarborough
and Helmsley. It is also reported to be not uncommon in three
localities not far from York.

The butterflies usually affect broken ground, rough fields,
grassy slopes near woods, or even sunny banks on the edges
of cornfields. Occasionally an odd specimen or two may be
met with here and there, but as a rule they seem to keep pretty
much together, so that when one comes upon a colony of these
butterflies, the selection of a series on the spot is quite an easy
matter, and can be effected without destroying a single specimen
over and above the required number.

Abroad, this species is abundant in Central and Southern
Europe, and its range extends to Northern Asia Minor and
Armenia.

The Small Mountain Ringlet ( Ercbia epiphron).

The typical form of this butterfly, epiphron , Knock, has the
tawny bands unbroken on the fore wings, and almost so on the
hind wings ; the black dots on the hind wings of the female are
often pupilled with white, and more rarely this is so in the
male also. It has been stated that specimens occur in Perth-
shire which exhibit these characters. All the British examples
of the Small Mountain Ringlet that I have seen are referable
to the form known as cassiope, Fab. (Plate 77). The tawny,
or orange, bands are rarely so entire on the fore wings as in
epiphron , and are generally rather narrower ; and that on the
hind wing is broken up into three or four rings. The black
dots are usually smaller and without white pupils. The female
is somewhat larger and the bands or rings paler.

Variation in the. markings is extensive. The bands on the
foie wings become less and less complete, until they are reduced
to a series of mere rings around the black dots. The black dots
deciease in size and in number until they, together with the

112

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

tawny marking, entirely disappear, and a plain blackish-brown
insect only remains. This extreme form has been named
obsoleta, Tutt. The earliest rings to vanish seem to be the
third on the fore wings and the first on the hind wings. Similar
modifications occur on the under side also, but there may be
aberration on the upper side of a specimen, and not, or at least
not in the same way, on the under side.

The egg, when first laid, is yellow, changing afterwards to
fawn colour with darker markings, especially towards the top.
It is laid in July on blades of grass. The larva hatches in
about sixteen days.

The young caterpillar, before hibernation in October, is
greenish, with darker green and yellow lines. Head brownish.
Feeds in July and after hibernation on various grasses, among
which Poa annua , Fcstuca ovina , A ira prcecox, and A. ccespitosa
have been specified as eaten by caterpillars in confinement. A
distinct preference, however, has been shown for mat. grass
(Nardus stricta ), and it has been suggested that this may be
the natural food. The full-grown caterpillar appears to be
undescribed.

The chrysalis is described by Buckler as being “ little more
than three-eighths of an inch in length, rather thick in propor-
tion, being less dumpy in form than hyper an thus , but more so
than blandina. The colour of the back of the thorax and wing
cases is a light green, rather glaucous ; the abdomen a pale drab
or dirty whitish ; a dark brown dorsal streak is conspicuous on
the thorax, and there is the faintest possible indication of its
being continued as a stripe along the abdomen. The eye-,
trunk-, antenna-, and leg-cases are margined with dark brown,
and the wing nervures are indicated by the same colours.”

As is indicated by its English name, this interesting little
butterfly only frequents high ground, and is rarely found below
about 1500 feet. All its English localities are in the lake
district of Cumberland and Westmoreland. It seems to like

PI- 74-

Marbled White.

Eggs enlarged , caterpillar and chrysalis.

/ 1 12.

THE SCOTCH ARGUS.

1 13

boggy ground, and in such places on Gable Hill, Red Skrees, and
at Langdale Pikes, among others, it is not uncommon. Previous
to 1809 the species was unknown to occur in Britain, but in
June of that year specimens were captured by Mr. T. Stothard
on the mountains at Ambleside. Haworth, in 1812, referred to
these specimens as from Scotland, but the butterfly was not
taken in that country until 1844, when it was discovered by
Mr. R. Weaver in Perthshire. It is now known to occur,
sometimes in abundance, on Ben Nevis and other adjacent
hills, also in suitable spots and the proper elevation around
Lochs Rannoch and Vennachar, as well as in the Tay district
and Argyleshire.

In Ireland it was taken by Mr. E. Birchall, in June, 1854, in
a grassy hollow about halfway up the Westport side of Croagh
Patrick. About five years ago Mr. W. F. de Vismes Kane
met with the butterfly on Ncphin, Mayo, and he mentioned a
specimen believed to have been taken on the hilly slopes on the
eastern shores of Lake Gill, Sligo.

Abroad the species is found in mountainous parts of South
Germany, Switzerland, France, North and Central Italy.
The typical form, epiphron , is more especially obtained in
the Hartz and Alsatian Mountains, Silesia, Hungary, and
Bulgaria.

The Scotch Argus (Erebia ccthiops = blandina).

The butterfly figured on Plate 77 is deep velvety brown,
appearing almost black in very fresh male specimens. There
is a broad fulvous band on the outer area, but not reaching
either the costa or the inner margin ; it is contracted about the
middle, the upper part encloses two white pupilled black spots,
and the lower part has one such spot. The hind wings have a
narrow fulvous band, usually enclosing three white pupilled
black spots. The under side is more distinctly brown and not

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

1 14

velvety, band of fore wings similar to above ; the hind wings
have a greyish band beyond the middle, with three small white
pupilled black spots on its outer edge ; the basal area is often
greyish also. The female is generally less dark and velvety,
the bands are rather wider, more orange in colour, and the
white pupils of the spots are more conspicuous ; on the under
side the alternate dark and pale bands are more striking, and
sometimes the grey colour is replaced by ochreous, which seems
to constitute the aberration named ochracea , Tutt. The spots
on the fore wings, upper side, are often increased to four by
the addition of a small one between those previously mentioned.
More rarely there is an extra spot above the upper pair, and
still less frequently, and in the female sex, an additional pair
is found below the usual lower spot, thus making six in all.
On the other hand, the only spots in evidence may be the
pair in the upper part of the band. The spots on the hind
wings range in number from two to five, but occasionally all
are absent. The fulvous bands on the fore wings may be
reduced to rings around the upper and lower spots respectively,
and altogether wanting on the hind wings. Such an aberra-
tion would be referable to obsolcta , Tutt, which is considered
to be very rare. There are many other modifications, but these
mentioned will serve to show the variable character of this local
butterfly.

The egg is ochreous white, or bone colour, finely freckled with
pale brown or pinkish-brown ; it has a number of ribs, and is
also reticulated.

I he caterpillar in its last skin is pale drab, the warts pale
whitish-brown, emitting short tapering bristles ; dorsal stripe
blackish-brown, enclosed by two paler drab lines ; subdorsal
stripe paler drab, becoming narrow towards the anal point,
edged above with a greenish-brown thread, and below with
blackish or brownish dashes, that almost form a continuous
line ; below this come two thin pale lines, above the lower of

Small Mountain Ringlet.

Egg, natural size and enlarged; young caterpillar.

PL 76.

Scotch Argus.

Eggs , natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

/ 1 14.

PL 77.

Small Mountain Ringlet.

1, 4 male; 3 female ( hngush ) ; 2, r, f<t 7 male (Scotch ).

Scotch Argus.

o, 11 male (Scotch) ; o d •. < English i; 10. ir female ( Sent 1)

THE SCOTCH ARGUS.

115

which are the circular black spiracles ; the under parts and the
legs are of a somewhat warmer tint of the ground colour of the
back. It changed on June 22nd to a pupa, unattached, but
placed in an upright position amongst the grass near the
ground.

The chrysalis has the body ochreous, with a darker stripe
down the back, and other lines ; the eye covers are black, and
the thorax, antennae cases, and wing covers are dingy, dark
purplish-brown.

The above descriptions of caterpillar and chrysalis are
adapted from Buckler, whose figures of these stages are also
reproduced on the plate.

Air a prcecox , A. ccespitosa , and Poa are the grasses that
seem to be the food of the caterpillar.

Mr. Haggart, of Galashiels, who had exceptional oppor-
tunities for observing the habits of this butterfly in its natural
home, gives a most interesting account of it in the Ento-
mologist for November, 1895. He writes —

“ The haunt of this species is, almost without exception, the
margin of a plantation or wood where the different species of
Poa grow abundantly, and always situated in such a position as
to receive the first rays of the rising sun. This last-mentioned
fact is so plainly evident, that the least observant cannot fail to
notice it. The insect is truly sun loving, and no collector need
go in search of it with any thought of success if the day be dull.

“ It is most interesting to observe the extreme sensibility of
the insect to shine and shade. A very good day to illustrate
this is one when heavy clouds at intervals obscure the sun ; the
moment it disappears so also does the butterfly, and no sooner
does it shine forth again than, as if by magic, scores of the insect
are on the wing.

“ The under side of the insect bears a marked resemblance to
that of a dead leaf, and I have often watched the males being
deceived by withered leaves lying among the moss. They

1/6 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

would flutter down quite close to the leaf, immediately rise with
a disappointed air and fly a little further, only to be deceived
again and again.

“ The ova are deposited amongst the Poa grass, and hatch in
September. Towards the end of October the larvae go down
and hibernate throughout the winter and spring, coming up to
feed again in May ; they are generally full-fed about the end of
June ; and the insect appears in July or August. The larvae are
nocturnal feeders, coming up to feed on the grass just about
dusk. The method of procuring the larvae is by no means
enviable, even- to the most ardent entomologist, as in the
uncertain light it necessitates crawling on one’s hands and
knees amongst the grass, and there is always the risk of
grasping those little brown slugs in mistake, which resemble
the larva; very much in shape and colour. No artificial light
can be used, as the larvae immediately drop down amongst the
grass if this is done. The only alternative, therefore, is to use
one’s eyes to the best advantage until the darkness makes that
impossible.

“ I hey are not difficult to rear in confinement if the larvae are
kept properly supplied with food.”

This butterfly, which as a British species was discovered in
the Isle of Arran in 1804, only occurs in the north of England
and in Scotland. Its localities in the latter country are Glen
Tilt and other valleys in the Perthshire highlands, Strathglass
in Inverness, Altyre woods at Forres ; Selkirk, Roxburgh, and
various parts of Argyleshire ; around the Lowther Hills, Dum-
frieshire ; also in Arran and the Isle of Skye. In most of the
places it is plentiful. In England it occurs in the counties of
Durham, Westmoreland, Cumberland, Lancashire, and York-
shire. It is common in Castle Eden Dene, Durham ; at
Grassington, in Yorkshire ; at Witherslack and Arnside, in
W estmoreland ; and at Grange and Silverdale, in Lancashire.

Abroad, it is distributed through Central and Southern

THE GRAYLING.

1 17

Europe, and its range extends into Northern Asia Minor,
Kurdistan, and Armenia ; the Altai and South Siberia.

It may be noted here that E. ligea was supposed to have
been taken in Arran at the same time as E . blandina , that is
in 1804. If this were so, it would seem that the captor must
have exterminated the species, for, although the island has often
been closely explored, no one has been able to detect the
“Arran Brown” again.

The Grayling (Satyrus scmcle).

On the upper side, this butterfly (Plate 78) is brown, more
or less suffused with black, and this is especially noticeable on
the outer area of the wings in the male, where it obscures
the ochreous or rust- coloured bands, which in the female
are almost free from the suffusion. The fore wings have two
black spots, the upper one generally, and the lower often,
pupilled with white. On the hind wings the bands are clear
of blackish suffusion to a greater or lesser extent, and there is
one black spot towards the anal angle which may be pupilled
with white. Apart from its larger size and brighter bands, the
female may be distinguished from the male by the absence of
the blackish brand on the disc of the fore wings. On the under 1
side, the fore wings are ochreous, tinged with orange on the
basal half or two-thirds ; hind wings are greyish, with darker
markings, and an irregular white or whitish band beyond the
middle.

Variation is largely confined to the under side of the hind
wings, and these wings, as well as the costal edge and the tips
of the fore wings, are coloured and marked, in various localities
that the butterfly affects, so that the insects may be protected
from their enemies when resting.

On the upper side of the fore wings an additional spot is

1 1 8

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

sometimes present below one or other of the usual ones. The
bands of the wings are pale ochreous in some examples, and
rust-coloured in others ; but it is not unusual for a specimen with
ochreous bands on the fore wings to have rust-coloured bands
on the hind wings, or ochreous bands with rust-coloured patches
on the outer portion ; these patches are most frequently tri-
angular in shape, and placed between the veins. Gynandrous
specimens also occur, but very rarely.

The egg is of a dull creamy tint, ribbed, and with a slight
depression on the top. The eggs were laid early in August, on
blades and stems of a kind of grass ; also on the leno covering,
and the sides of the glass jar in which the female butterfly was
enclosed.

The caterpillar when full grown “ is drab, delicately mottled,
with longitudinal stripes broadest along the middle segments,
viz. a dorsal stripe of olive-brown, very dark at the beginning
of each segment, with a thin edging of brownish-white. Along
the subdorsal region are three stripes, of which the first is
composed of a double narrow line of yellowish-brown, the
second wider of the mottled ground colour, edged with paler
above and with white below ; the third of similar width is of a
dark grey-brown, edged above with black. The spiracular stripe
is broader and of nearly equal width, pale ochreous-brown,
edged with brownish-white both above and below ; the spiracles
are black. The head is brown, and the principal stripes of
the body are delicately marked with darker brown ” (Buckler).

The chrysalis is described as “ obtuse, rounded, tumid, and
smooth, the abdominal rings scarcely visible, and wholly of a
deep red mahogany colour.” It was “in a hollow space a
quarter of an inch below the surface, the particles of sand and
earth very slightly cohering together, and close to the roots
of the grass, yet free from them.” The figures of caterpillar
and chrysalis are drawn from those in Buckler’s “ Larvie of
British Butterflies.”

Grayling- Butterfly.

PI. 79.

Grayling Butterfly.

Egg enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis (loth after Buckler).

/ I 19.

THE GRAYLING.

1 19

The caterpillars hatch in August, hibernate when quite small,
and feed up in the spring and early summer. They live
upon grasses, such as Triticum repens , Air a caespitosa , and A.
prcecox.

I he butterfly delights in sitting rather than flying about cliffs
and sand-hills, heaths and downs, stony hill-sides, dry fields, and
even open woodlands. It is fond of sunning itself on rocks,
and by some of the old Aurelians it was called the “ Rock
Underwing,'5 no doubt in reference to the pattern and colour of
the underside. It was also known as the “Tunbridge Gray-
ling ” some two hundred years ago, when it was said to be
“ very rare about London.” It has long since been ascertained
to occur in almost every county in England and Wales, as far
north as Sutherlandshire in Scotland, and is widely distributed
in Ireland.

On the chalk downs and cliffs the butterfly has the under
side of its hind wings so admirably agreeing in colour and
marking with the soil, etc., that although one may watch it
settle a few yards ahead, it is not to be seen when one reaches
the spot. Whilst we are intent on the search the insect starts
up, flies a short distance, and there repeats the disappearing
butterfly trick. The same remarks apply to those Graylings
that affect peaty or sandy heaths, etc. When the butterfly
alights on the ground — and it rarely gets on the wing unless
disturbed — it immediately closes its wings, and then allows them
to 1 fall more or less on one side, so that the whole of one hind
wing is presented to view. It is said to have a fancy for the
resinous sap that oozes from pine trees, and has also been
observed to visit the trunks that have been “sugared.”

Abroad, it is found commonly throughout the temperate parts
of Europe, North Africa, and Northern and Western Asia.

120

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The Speckled Wood (Pararge egeria).

Quite early in the eighteenth century Petiver met with the
butterfly shown on Plate 80 at Enfield, so he figured it as the
“ Enfield Eye ” in that curious old book entitled “ Papiliorium
Britannias leones.” Later on, Wilkes named the butterfly the
“ Wood Argus,” thus indicating its favourite haunts, as well as
a prominent character in its ornamentation. Harris changed
the name to the “ Speckled Wood Butterfly,” which seems even
more suitable.

The general colour is blackish -brown, and the spots are
yellowish. The fore wings have one white-pupilled black eye
spot towards their tips, and the hind wings have three such
eye spots on the outer area. The male has a long oblique patch
of blackish scales on the middle of the fore wings, which is,
perhaps, more easily detected if the insect is held up to the
light. The female is usually slightly larger than the male, the
wings rather rounder, and the yellowish spots, are, as a rule,
distinctly larger. The typical or southern form of this butterfly
has the spots of a tawny colour, but it does not occur in Britain.
Our form, in all its modifications, belongs to egerides , Staudinger.
Occasionally, in the south of England, specimens are found in
which the spots are tinged with fulvous ; others have almost
white spots. The spots are sometimes much reduced in size in
the male, or greatly enlarged in the female.

The egg is pale greenish, finely reticulated ; as the caterpillar
matures within, the shell becomes less glossy than at first, and
the upper part is blackish.

d he caterpillar has a green head, which is larger than the
first ring of the body (ist thoracic), covered with short fine
whitish hairs, with which are mixed a few dark hairs. The
body is rather brighter green, with darker lines, edged with
yellowish, along the back and sides ; the skin is transversely

PL 80. / j 20.

Speckled Wood.

Spring Brood : i, 2 male; 3, 5 female. Summer brood: 4, 6 male ; 7 female.

Speckled Wood.

!SS"i natural size ana enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

1 I 2 I

THE SPECKLED WOOD.

1 2 1

wrinkled, the rings being subdivided, and the whole of the
body is clothed with fine whitish hair and a few dark hairs
arising from warts ; the anal points are whitish and also hairy.
It feeds on various grasses, among which are Triticum repens
and Dactylis glomerata.

The chrysalis is pale green, tinged with yellowish or whitish ;
the edges of the wing covers are brown, and there are whitish
dots on the body. According to Hellins the colour varies,
and green chrysalids may be covered all over with very fine
smoky freckles. Barrett states that they are occasionally
brownish with darker brown lines. Suspended by the
cremaster from a silken pad.

From eggs laid in early May butterflies were reared at the
end of June ; and from eggs laid at the end of June butterflies
resulted during middle August. Early July eggs produced
perfect insects in early September, and from caterpillars fed
up in October butterflies were obtained in November. These
observations were not all made in the same year.

Barrett writes, “ In the south of Surrey in 1862, the first emer-
gence took place in April in abundance, these specimens became
worn and disappeared, and a second emergence took place at
the end of May, a third at the end of July, and a fourth in Sep-
tember ; the next year the first emergence was in the third week
in March, and again four broods were observed, but this is not
the case every year, three emergences being probably the rule.”

Mr. Joy has recorded that of caterpillars, resulting from a
pairing induced in captivity, in August, eighty per cent,
hibernated as pupae, twenty per cent, as half-fed caterpillars.
Butterflies from the winter pupae emerged in May, but the
caterpillars that had gone through the winter in that state did not
produce butterflies until June. Possibly something of this sort
occurs in the open, and we may suppose that the early and late
spring butterflies are not separate broods, but early and late
emergences of one brood. Butterflies seen on the wing in

122

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

November may be a few individuals that, owing to favourable
weather, have emerged from chrysalids which under ordinary
conditions would have remained as such during the winter.

Shady lanes, rides in woods, as well as the borders of the
same, are its favourite haunts. It is not a sun-loving butterfly,
but is generally found to frequent places where the sun’s rays
are more or less intercepted by a leafy screen. It seems to be
more abundant in wet seasons than in dry ones. It is generally
distributed throughout England and Wales, but more plentiful
in southern and western counties than in the eastern and
northern. In Ireland, Kane says, it is “ everywhere abundant
and double brooded.” It is local in Scotland, and rare north
of the Caledonian Canal.

Abroad our form of the butterfly egerides is found commonly in
Central and Northern Europe, except in the extreme north, and
in Northern Asia Minor and Armenia. The typical form, egcria
proper, occurs in South-Western Europe, North Africa, and
Syria.

The Wall Butterfly ( Parargc megcera).

The butterfly now under consideration is figured on Plate 82.
It is bright fulvous in colour, with blackish-brown veins,
margins, and transverse lines. There is one white pupilled
black spot on the fore wings, and four of such spots on the outer
area of the hind wings ; the fourth, which is generally blind, is
placed at the end of the series near the anal angle. The male
has a very conspicuous sexual brand on the central area. The
under side of the fore wings is paler than above, but the mark-
ings are similar, except that the brand is absent and the margins
are greyer ; the hind wings on the under side are greyish marked
with brown and traversed by dark lines ; there is a row of six
eyed spots on the outer area ; that nearest the anal angle is
double. The female has more ample wings, and as the brand

PI. 82.

Wall Butterfly.

1, 2, 5 male ; 3, 4, 6 female.

I 122.

ro

Wall Butterfly.

l'ggsi natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

1 123.

THE WALL BUTTERFLY. 1 23

is absent on the fore wings in this sex, the central black trans-
verse lines are more distinct.

Variation is chiefly in the size of the eyed spots ; sometimes
the apical one of the fore wings has a smaller one attached to its
lower margin, or in the interspace {i.e. between the veins) above
it or below it ; or both extra spots, which are usually without
white pupils, may be present. Very rarely the apical spot may

Fig. 26.

The Wall Butterfly just emerged from the Chrysalis, and
with wing-s distended.

be almost absent on one fore wing, but well defined on the other.
The central transverse lines on the fore wings of the female are
sometimes broad, and very occasionally the space between the
lines is blackish ; blackish-banded male specimens are also

124

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

found in some localities, such as the slopes of Dartmoor, Devon,
as mentioned by Barrett.

The ground colour varies in tint, darker or lighter than
normal, but specimens of a bright golden yellow-brown, straw
colour, or whitish are known to occur, although such extreme
aberrations are exceptional.

The egg is pale green when first laid, and in shape it is almost
spherical, but rather higher than broad ; it is finely ribbed and
reticulated, but unless examined through a lens it appears to be
quite smooth.

The caterpillar when full grown is whitish-green, dotted with
white. From the larger of these dots on the back arise greyish
bristles ; the three lines on the back (dorsal and sub-dorsal)
are whitish, edged with dark green ; the line on the sides
(spiracular) is white, fringed with greyish hairs ; anal points
green, hairy, extreme tips white. Head larger than the first
ring (ist thoracic segment), green dotted with white and hairy,
jaws marked with brownish. It feeds on grasses.

The chrysalis is green, with yellow-tinted white markings on
the edge of the wing covers and ridges ; the spots on the body
are yellowish, or sometimes white. Occasionally the chrysalids
are blackish, with white or yellow points on the body.

There are certainly two broods of this butterfly in the season,
and in favourable years there may be three broods. In an
ordinary way the first flight is in May and June, and the second
flight in July and August. The caterpillars feed on Poa annua,
Dactylis glomerata, etc. Those hatched in autumn hibernate
more or less completely, and become full grown in early or late
spring according to the season. Sometimes, however, they
seem to feed during the winter, and assume the chrysalis in
March. Probably it is from such precocious caterpillars that
the butterflies sometimes seen in April result.

The Speckled Wood, it was noted, prefers shady places ; the
present butterfly is more partial to sunshine and plenty of it.

PL 84.

Meadow Brown.

2> 3> 4 male ; 5, 6, 7 female.

Oi

Meadow Brown,

Eggs, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillars and chrysalis.

K I 2

THE MEADOW BROWN.

125

As its English name suggests, it is fond of basking on walls,
but it does this also on dry hedge banks, sides of gravel pits,
tree-trunks — in fact, wherever it can enjoy the full sunshine. It
is not at all shy, and will be pretty sure to introduce itself to
the notice of the collector as soon as he enters its domain.
Although it now seems to be absent from certain districts in
which it was once abundant, it may still be regarded as a
generally common species in England and Wales, and even
plentiful, in some years, in the southern, eastern, and western
counties ; it appears to be more local in North England. In
Scotland it seems fairly distributed, and not scarce in the
south ; its range extends to Aberdeenshire. Kane states that
it is everywhere abundant throughout Ireland. Abroad it is
common throughout Europe, except the extreme north, and
extends into North Africa, Asia Minor, and Armenia.

The Meadow Brown ( Epinephele ianira ).

The female is the jurtina of Linnaeus, and as he described
this sex before the male, under the impression that they were
distinct species, the law of priority, we are told, must be
observed and the earlier name be adopted.

This fuscous-brown butterfly of the meadows is marked,
especially in the female, with dull orange. The male, of*which
sex three specimens are shown (Plate 84, Figs. 1-3), has a
broad black sexual brand on the central area of the fore wings,
and a white pupilled black spot towards the tips of the wings ;
this spot is usually encircled with orange, and there is often
more or less of this orange colour below it (Fig. 2 typical). The
under side of the fore wings is orange with the costa narrowly,
and the outer margin broadly, greyish-brown to match with the
colour of the under side of the hind wings. The female is with-
out the black brand, and is more ornamented with orange, which
generally forms a broad patch on the outer area of the fore

K

126

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

wings (Fig. 6), but it is sometimes continued inwards, so that
almost the whole of the discal area — that is, nearly all but the
margins, appears to be orange (Fig. 7) ; the hind wings have
an indistinct paler band on the outer area, and this is sometimes
suffused or clouded with orange. On the under side the pale
band is more defined (Fig. 5). The apical spot of fore wings is
sometimes double, and a tendency to this variation is shown
in Fig. 6, but in the complete form there are two white dots
(bi-pupillated). At the other extreme, and generally in the male,
the apical spot is entirely absent (var. anommata ), or is greatly
reduced in size, and is without the white pupil. Spots on the
under side are as often absent as present. They may be from
one to five in number, and either simply black dots or ringed
with orange, as in Fig. 4. Occasionally the orange on the
upper side of the female gives place to a pale straw or even
whitish colour ; and on the under side to whitish-grey.

Not infrequently a greater or lesser area of the wings is
“bleached,” and this seems to be due to absence of pigment
in the scales on such parts. This bleaching may affect the
whole or a portion of one wing only, or it may take the form
of symmetrical blotches on each wing. All such abnormal
specimens of this, and of other species similarly affected, are
certainly of value to those who are interested in teratology, but
they seem to be out of place in a collection of butterflies where
the aim should be to show the true variation of species rather
than “ freaks,” which are the result of accident or disease.

1 he egg, laid on a blade of grass as shown (Plate 85), is
upright and ribbed ; the top is flattened, with an impressed
ring thereon. Colour, whitish-green inclining to brownish-
yellow as it matures, and marked with purplish-brown.

I he caterpillar is bright green, clothed with short whitish
hairs ; there is a darker line down the back, and a diffused
white stripe on each side above the reddish spiracles ; the anal
points are white. Head rather darker green, hairy.

PI. 86.

Gatekeeper.

Eggs , natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis.

I 126.

PL 87.

Gatekeeper.

i; 2, 6, 7 male; 3, 4, 5 female.

THE GATEKEEPER.

127

The chrysalis is pale green, marked with brownish on the
wing-covers, the thorax is spotted with blackish, and the points
on the body are brownish. Suspended, and with the old skin
attached, as shown in the figure.

From its wide distribution and general abundance, this may
be said to be our commonest butterfly. It appears to be always
on the wing, in dull weather as well as in sunshine, and, except
for a short interval in early August, it is to be seen in hayfields,
open places in woods, on grassy slopes, or borders of highways
and byways from June to September.

Although quite fresh specimens are fuscous-brown, the
butterfly, after a short time on the wing, loses the dusky tinge
and becomes brown. It is, therefore, always desirable to rear
specimens for the cabinet from caterpillars. These feed on
grasses of various kinds in May, are easily managed, and may
be found in most hay meadows at night, when, of course, a
lantern will be needed to throw a light on the business of
collecting them.

The not infrequent occurrence of fresh specimens in the
autumn is strong presumptive evidence of at least an occasional
second brood. Perhaps, as has been suggested by Mr. R.
Adkin, “a late emergence of Epinepliele ianira is the rule
rather than the exception,” especially in the warmer parts of
the country.

The butterfly is found throughout England and Wales, Ireland,
and Scotland, including Isles of Lewis and Orkney. Abroad it
occurs in all parts of Europe except the most northern, Asia
Minor, Armenia, North Africa, and the Canary Isles.

The Gatekeeper ( Epinephele tithonus ).

Other English names in use at the present time for this
butterfly (Plate 87) are “ Small Meadow Brown,” “ Hedge

128

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

Brown,” and “ Large Heath,” but the latter is more often applied
to another species which will be referred to later. Petiver
called it the “ Hedge Eye.”

The general colour is brownish-orange, and the margins are
fuscous-brown ; there is a black spot towards the tips of the
fore wings, and this, as a rule, encloses two white dots ; one or
both of these dots sometimes absent in the male. The male
differs from the female in its rather smaller size, and in having
a fuscous band on the central area ; the latter is broadest
towards the inner margin, and in this part are some patches of
blackish androconial scales or plumules ; at the upper end of
the band there is sometimes a fuscous cloud. Occasionally, one
or more small black spots, some with white pupils, are present
below the apical one. Four such spots are rare, but specimens
with one or with two are not uncommon. There is usually a
white-pupilled black spot towards the anal angle of the hind
wing, but I have several males and females that are without this
spot. Sometimes there are as many as four spots on the hind
wings, but this is perhaps exceptional (Plate 113, Fig. 5). On
the under side of the hind wings there are often two white dots,
sometimes ringed with black, towards the costa, and two or
three other similar dots towards the anal angle ; but the
number of dots may be reduced to two, one of which is near the
costa, or be increased to six. Colour changes, similar to those
in the last species, occur, and the orange colour, in both sexes,
may be replaced by yellow (var. mincki , Seebold), or by white
(var. albida, Russell, Plate 119, Figs. 6, 7). Such aberrations
are very local and rare ; a few have been obtained on chalk hills
in South Hampshire.

In an extraordinary aberration, taken in Sussex in 1897, the
whole of the dark brown colour of margins and band is
replaced by pale pinkisli-ochreous, but the normal brownish
orange remains. Other somewhat similar specimens have been
recorded.

THE GATEKEEPER.

129

The egg (Plate 86) is pale yellowish when first laid, becoming
lighter and irregularly blotched with reddish-brown, the upper
blotches forming a sort of band round the egg ; as the cater-
pillar matures the shell assumes a darker tinge, inclining to
slaty, and the markings are less distinct.

The caterpillar, when full grown, is pale ochreous, clothed
with short pale hair, and freckled with brownish ; the line down
the back is darker, one on each side is paler, and that above the
feet is yellowish. The head is rather darker than the body,
marked with brownish, and bristly.

According to Hellins, the newly hatched caterpillar is whitish-
grey, with rusty yellow lines on the back. In October, after the
first moult, it becomes green with a brownish head. In April
the body is greenish-grey, and the head pale greenish-brown.
At the end of April it moults for the last time, and is then pale
ochreous generally, but some caterpillars are darker than this,
and some paler with a greenish-grey tinge.

The chrysalis is whitish-ochreous, with dark brown streaks on
the wing-covers and some brownish spots and clouds on the
back and sides. Suspended from stem or blade of grass ; the
old skin remains attached.

The caterpillars feed at night on grasses, such as Poa annua,
Tnticum repens , and Dactylis glomerata, from September to
June. 1 he butterfly is on the wing in July and August.
Although these butterflies may be seen, sometimes in consider-
able numbers, where the rides are grassy, in woods, they are
perhaps more attached to hedgerows. Bramble flowers are
their special attraction, but they are not indifferent to the
blossoms of the wood sage ( Teucrium scorodonia ) or of
marjoram ( Origanum vulgare).

I ietty generally distributed throughout England, it is often
exceedingly plentiful in the south and also in South Wales. In
Scotland the butterfly seems to be common in Kircudbright-
shiie, but not common in other southern counties up to Argyle

130

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

and Fife. Kane says that in Ireland it is almost confined to the
southern counties.

Abroad it is found throughout Europe, except the North-
East, and its range extends into Northern Asia Minor.

The Ringlet ( Aphantopus hyperanthus).

The sombre-looking butterfly, of which several figures will be
found on Plate 89, has been known by its present English
name since 1778, the year in which Moses Harris published
“ The Aurelian.” The Latin specific name was written hyper-
antus by Linnaeus, but Esper corrected this to hyperanthus. It
has, however, been supposed that Linnaeus really intended to
have written hyperanthes (a son of Darius), and this form of the
name has been used, but EspePs emendation is here adopted.

All the wings are sooty-brown, the male when quite fresh
appearing almost black, and the sexual brand is then difficult
to see ; there are one or more black spots with pale rings, and
sometimes white pupils, on the fore wings, but these are always

more prominent in the
female than in the male ;
in the latter sex they may
be entirely absent. On
the under side there are
generally two, sometimes
three, ocellated spots on
the fore wings, and there
are five such spots on
the hind wings, the two
nearest the costa being
double, and not very in-
frequently there is a smaller spot near or attached to the lower
edge of the double one. In the matter of size of the spots on
the under side there is a wide range of variation, and at one

Fig. 27.

Var. lanceolata.

PL 88.

Ringlet.

Egg, natural size and enlarged caterpillar and chrysalids.

A' 130.

PI. 89.

Ringlet.

>, =, 3, 7 male; 4, 5, * female ; 6 var. ctrca, male.

OO

THE RINGLET.

131

end of this is var. lanceolata , Shipp, and at the other var.
obsoleta, Tutt, in which not a trace of any of the spots remains.
Specimens with a varying number of white dots, with or without
yellow rings, are usually referred to var. arete, but Fig. 6 on
the Plate represents a modification of this variety, known as
cceca.

Occasionally, on the under side, there are transverse lines on
the outer half of all the wings, and the space between these
lines is suffused with whitish. The specimen showing these lines
faintly (Fig. 3 on the Plate) is from North Cumberland.

The early stages are figured on Plate 88.

The egg is yellowish- white at first, but soon turns to a pale
brown. As will be seen on comparing the enlarged figure of
this egg with those of the two previous species, it is quite
different in shape, and is pitted rather than ribbed. The eggs
are not attached to anything, but are allowed to fall down
among the roots of the grass over which they are deposited.

The caterpillar is described by Newman as pale wainscot
brown in colour, with a darker line down the back, and the
head has three broad, slightly darker but faint, stripes on each
cheek. According to others it is ochreous or brownish-grey,
with a dark brown line on the back, a pale one with darker
edge on the sides, and a whitish stripe above the feet.

The chrysalis is ochreous-brown sprinkled with reddish-
brown, and marked with brown on the wing-covers. It lies low
down among the tufts of grass. The figures of caterpillar and
chrysalis are from Buckler’s “ Larvte of British Butterflies.”

The caterpillars feed upon various grasses, including Poa
annua and Dactylis glomerata , growing about damp places in
woodland districts. They emerge from the egg in August, feed
leisurely until October, when they appear to hibernate. In
March they resume feeding, but do not attain full growth until
June. The butterflies are on the wing in July and August, and
frequent lanes and the outskirts of woods. They usually fly

132

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

along the shady side, but they are not averse to the nectar of
the bramble blossom, and I have seen them taking a sip here
and there although they were fully exposed to sunshine all the
time.

Wherever there are " suitable haunts the butterfly may be
found throughout the greater part of England and Wales. It
seems, however, to have disappeared from some districts in
Lancashire and Yorkshire where it was formerly common. It
is fairly plentiful in most of the southern counties of Scotland,
and its range extends north to Aberdeen. In Ireland it is
abundant in the south and the west, and seems to occur in
most suitable places ; also common in certain localities in
Donegal and Antrim. Abroad it is distributed through Europe
and Northern Asia eastward to Japan.

The Large Heath ( Ccenonympha typhon).

The butterfly now to be considered is a most variable one, both
as regards colour and marking. Several of the varieties have
been named, and in the time of Haworth down to Stephens,
and even much later, at least three of these were regarded as
distinct species. In the present day, however, it is generally
accepted that all the varieties are forms of one species, although
two local races are recognized.

The typical form is typhon , Rottemburg, and polydama (The
Marsh Ringlet) of Haworth (Plate 90, Figs. 1, 2, 5, 7-1 1). The
colour ranges from darkish-brown to a pale tawny ; there is an
ochreous ringed black spot towards the tips of the fore wings,
sometimes another similar spot above the inner angle, and
occasionally when both spots are present there is an ochreous
spot between them ; the hind wings have from one to three of
these spots, but a larger number than three is exceptional.
The under side of the fore wings is either bright or dull fulvous,
and the spots are pretty much as above, but with white pupils,

THE LARGE HEATH.

133

and there is a whitish band before them ; the under side of the
hind wings is olive brown on the basal two-thirds, covered with
pale hair, and the outer third is brownish merging into greyish
on the outer margin ; an irregular white or whitish band limits
the two areas ; there are six ochreous ringed black spots, with
white pupils, but they are always rather small in size. The
female is much paler than the male.

This is the usual form in Northumberland, Cumberland,
Yorkshire, and Ireland ; it also occurs in Lancashire, West-
moreland, and the South of Scotland.

Var. philoxenus, Esper. This is davus (Small Ringlet),
Haworth, and rothliebii , Newman (Plate 90, Figs. 3, 4, 6).

On the upper side the colour is dark brown in the male and
rather paler in the female ; the spots are very distinct, ringed
with fulvous ; those on the hind wings are generally three in
number, and often five or six ; on the under side, the bands
are whiter, and often broader, and the spots are very black,
large, and conspicuous.

This form is found on some of the mosses in Lancashire and
Westmoreland, in Delamere Forest, Cheshire, and in North
Shropshire ; but the most characteristic examples of the form
are chiefly obtained in the first-named county, from which it
was first made known, in 1795, as the “Manchester Argus,”
or “ Manchester Ringlet.”

Var. scotica, Staudinger ( laidion , Staud., but not of Bork-
hausen), 1 1. 90, figs. 1, 2, 4, 5 $, 35, is the typhon of Haworth,
us stated by Newman ; the latter author, however, figures it
as davus , Fabricius, which is doubtful.

The ground colour is pale tawny, sometimes suffused with
brownish, greyish on the margin, and broadly so on the outer
area of the hind wings ; the spots are often absent, and when
piesent aie laiely very distinct. The female is much paler than
the male. 1 he under side of the hind wings is somewhat similar
to that of the typical form, but sometimes the whole area is a

134

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

uniform greyish ; the spots are only rarely at all distinct, and
then only one, or perhaps two, on a wing, and not infrequently
they are entirely absent. This form occurs in Scotland,
especially in Aberdeenshire and Sutherlandshire, also in the
Isle of Arran, in the Orkney and Shetland Isles, and in the
Outer Hebrides. Kane states that he has met with single
specimens at “ Killarney, Westmeath, Galway, and Sligo.”

In some localities, such as Carlisle, Rotherham, and others
in Yorkshire, forms intermediate between the type and var.
philo xenus are found ; modifications of the type form in the
direction of var. scotica occur in Cumberland, Northumberland,
and Co. Leitrim, in Ireland ; and forms approaching the type
more nearly than var. scotica are met with in the Glasgow
district, and at Pitcaple in Aberdeenshire.

The egg is very pale greenish-yellow at first, but the green
fades, brownish blotches appear, and some dark markings
appear around the upper part a short while before the cater-
pillar hatches out. It is finely scored almost from the base to
the top, which is depressed, and has a raised boss in the centre,
as in the egg of the Small Heath.

From some eggs sent to me in July, caterpillars hatched in
August. They fed on ordinary meadow grass, and in September
were figured, when they were about half an inch in length.
Head shallowly notched in front, green, roughened with whitish
dots, eyes and jaws brownish. Body green, roughened with
white dots, with darker line down the back, and paler, almost
white lines along the sides, anal projections reddish (these were
greenish when younger).

The figure of the full-grown caterpillar is after Buckler, who
describes it as “of a bright green, with dark bluish-green dorsal
line, edged with pale lemon-yellow, the sub-dorsal and spiracular
lines are of the same pale yellow, but the sub-dorsal is edged
above with dark bluish-green, and between these two lines is
an interrupted streak of a darker colour, posteriorly with a slight

-

PL 91.

Large Heath.

Eggs, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillars and chrysalis.

K 135

THE LARGE HEATH. 135

tinge of reddish or pink, and the caudal fork is tipped with
pink.”

The chrysalis is bright green, with brown streaks on the
edges and centre of the wing-covers, and at the tip of the tail,
turning dark brown just before the butterfly emerges. (Figure
and description after Buckler.)

The eggs are laid in July on blades of grass, and the cater-
pillars hatch out in that month and August. The food of the
caterpillars is said to be the beaked-rush ( Rhynchospora alba) ;
those that I had from Witherslack eggs fed well upon ordinary
grass until October, but they died during the winter. After
hibernation they recommence feeding, and are full grown in
May and June, when they pupate, and the butterflies appear at
the end of June and in July.

Barrett, writing of the butterfly in all its forms, says, “ Its
most southern known locality in England is Chartley Park,
Derbyshire, and it is common in all ‘mosses’ of Lancashire
and Cheshire — all moors about Grange, and in Chat Moss,
Risley Moss, Rixton Moss, Simondswood, Lindon Moss, and
Carrington Moss, as well as at Delamere Forest. In Yorkshire
abundant in Thorne Waste, not scarce in Wensleydale, and
found on Cottingham Moor, Hatfield Moors, and elsewhere.
Northward it is found in all suitable mosses and moors in
Durham, Westmoreland, and Cumberland, but seems to have
been exterminated in Northumberland.”

In Scotland it appears to be pretty generally distributed, and
occurs up to an elevation of some 2000 feet. Kane states that
in Ireland it is widely spread throughout, on the bogs and
mountains. It is stated to have occurred in North Wales a
long time ago, but there are no recent records from that
country. Abroad it is found in Central and Northern Europe,
extending to Lapland, and through Northern Asia to Amurland.
In North America it is represented by two forms, which are not
quite like any of those occurring elsewhere.

136

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The Small Heath ( Comonympha pamphilus).

To the ancient fathers the male of the butterfly on Plate 92
was known as the “ Selvedged Heath Eye,” and the female was
called the “ Golden Heath Eye.” Harris figured it as “ The
Small Heath,” or “ Gatekeeper ; ” the latter name being now
associated with another species, it may be allowed to drop out
in the present connection.

The wings are pale tawny, with a brownish or greyish-brown
border, of variable width, on all the wings, and stronger in the
male than the female ; there is a black spot towards the tip of
the fore wing. The under side resembles that of the last species
in some degree, but the eyed spots of the hind wings are not
always prominent, often only white dots, and may be absent
altogether (Fig. 9).

Variation in this species is extensive, but not striking. The
tint of the ground colour may be reddish or yellowish ; occa-
sionally brownish or greyish-brown specimens of the male
occur, and more rarely purplish-brown examples of the same
sex have been found. Females, in all cases paler, and generally
larger than the male, are sometimes whitish-ochreous in colour,
and, very rarely, yellowish-white. The brown border is also
a variable character, and may be very dark and broad (var.
lyllus ), or reduced to linear proportions. The apical spot on
the fore wings may be of fair size and very black, very pale and
indistinct (Figs. 8, 12), or entirely absent ; it does not seem to
be pupilled with white (as it is on the under side), but sometimes
there is a pale speck in the centre. On the under side of the
hind wings there is variation in the width of the central whitish
band-like patch, in some specimens with unusually dark ground
colour this patch is very broad ; in other examples, of normal
coloration, the band is complete, and extends to the inner
margin. The white dots that normally do duty as ocelli are

THE SMALL HEATH.

137

not infrequently set in reddish-brown spots, and then become
rather more noticable (Fig. 14). This form is var. ocellata,
Tutt.

The egg is green at first, afterwards becoming whitish or
bone-colour ; later on a brownish irregular ring appears a
little above the middle, and there are various brownish freckles.
It is finely ribbed, and the top is depressed, forming a hollow
with a central boss. Laid in a cluster of four on a blade of
grass, but this may have been accidental. Others were de-
posited singly on muslin and on fine grass, all in mid-June.
The caterpillar is of a clear green colour, “ with darker green
dorsal stripe, and a spiracular stripe not so dark ; the anal
points pink” (Hellins).

The chrysalis is of “a delicate pale rather yellowish-green,
with a faintly darker green dorsal stripe, the edge of the pro-
jecting wing-covers on each side whitish, outlined with a streak
of reddish-brown ; the abdomen freckled very delicately with
paler green ; the tip of the anal point, with a short streak
of brownish-red on each side ; the wing-cases faintly marked
with darker green nervures ” (Buckler).

The figures of caterpillar and chrysalis on Plate 93 are from
Buckler’s “ Larvae of British Butterflies.”

Some caterpillars, from eggs laid in May or June, become full-
grown in four or five weeks, and appear as butterflies in August,
but others do not complete their growth until the following
spring. Just exactly what happens in the case of eggs from
autumn females does not seem to be very definitely ascertained.
It has, however, been stated that caterpillars hatching from
eggs laid in August, attain the size of the slow-growing con-
tingent from May eggs, and then hibernate. Probably, there-
fore, it is these that produce the July butterflies, and if so, the
succession of emergencies may be something in this way :
May and June butterflies from May and June eggs (twelve
months’ cycle), July butterflies from August eggs (eleven months

133

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

cycle), August and September butterflies (partial second brood)
from May and June eggs (four months’ cycle).

This interesting little butterfly is to be seen almost every-
where, but it is perhaps most frequently to be found in grassy
places in lanes, on heaths and downs, railway banks, in rough
meadows, etc. It occurs on mountains even up to an elevation
of 2000 feet. When flying in company with the blues and
coppers, all frolicking together over some patch of long grass,
the colour combination has an exceedingly pleasing effect.
They rest by day, and sleep at night on grass or rushes.

A common species throughout England and Wales, Ireland
and Scotland, as far north as Nairn, also in the Outer Hebrides.
Abroad its distribution extends over Europe to South-West
Siberia, Central and North-East Asia, Asia Minor, and North
Africa.

We now arrive at the Hairstreaks, Coppers, and Blues.
These belong to the Lycnenidm, a very large family of butterflies
which is represented in all parts of the globe. There are
eighteen species in Britain, but at least one of these is extinct
and another is supposed to be so ; two are very rare, and the
chances of meeting with either are probably about equal.

The Brown Hairstreak (Zephyrus betuhc ).

The butterfly is represented on Plate 94, Figs. 1-3. The male
is blackish-brown with a faint greyish tinge, and there is a
conspicuous black bar at the end of the discal cell of the fore
wing, followed by a pale cloud ; there are two orange marks at
the anal angle of the hind wings. The female is blackish-brown,
and has the black bar at end of the cell, and an orange band
beyond ; there are usually three orange marks on the hind
wings at the anal angle, but sometimes there are only two.
The under side of the male is ochreous, but that of the female
is more orange ; the fore wings have the black bar edged on

/V r\">

n. 93. k 139

Small Heath.

Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis.

THE BROWN HAIRSTREAK.

139

each side with white, and there is a white-edged, brownish
triangular streak beyond, the outer margin is tinged with
reddish ; on the hind wings there are two white irregular lines
and the space between them is brownish, the outer margin is
reddish, becoming broadly so towards the anal angle, where
there is a black spot. Variation is not of a very striking
character. The shade following the black bar at end of the
discal cell on the fore wings in the male is sometimes yellowish
tinged, not infrequently fairly large, and with two smaller spots
below it. More rarely all three spots are distinctly ochreous-
yellow (var. spinoscE , Gerhard). A similar aberration, but with
the marks white instead of yellow, has been named pallida ,
Tutt. The orange band in the female varies in width and in
length ; occasionally it extends well below vein 2, and into the
discal cell within the black bar. I have one specimen in which
the band is broken up into three parts, and the upper one of
these is but little wider than the same spot in var. spinosa , the
other two being almost exactly of the same size as in that
variety.

The life-history is figured on Plate 95 — the lower set of
figures.

The egg is described by Newman “as a depressed sphere
and white,” and he states, “it is attached to the twigs of black-
thorn ( Prunus spinosa ) in the autumn, often as late as the
end of September or beginning of October ; it is not hatched
until the spring.”

The caterpillar is bright pale green, and the lines on the back
and sides are yellowish, as also are the oblique streaks on the
sides and the border of the ridge above the feet. There are
some bristles, along the ridge on the back and also on that
above the feet. It feeds on blackthorn in May and June, and
will eat the foliage of almost any kind of plum. I have reared
fine specimens from caterpillars which fed on greengage.

The chrysalis is pale reddish-brown with a dark line down

140 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

the middle of the back and some pale oblique streaks on each
side ; the wing-cases are freckled with darker brown. Barrett,
quoting Fenn, says, “ Suspended by the tail and a silken girth
to the stem of the food-plant close to the ground.” Those that
I have seen pupated on or under leaves, and so far as I could
observe without any girth, and certainly not suspended.

Nearly two hundred years ago the male of this butterfly was
known as the Brown Hairstreak, whilst the female was called
the Golden Hairstreak. The caterpillar seems to have been
observed in quite early times. It has always been a local
species, and although it appears to frequent hedgerows occasion-
ally, its haunts generally are open grounds in the neighbourhood
of woods, where blackthorn or sloe is plentiful. August and
September are the months for the butterfly, but it does not
seem to be very often observed on the wing, even in places
where the caterpillars are known to occur. When seen it is
generally high up on, or around, some oak tree. Occasionally,
however, it visits the bramble blossoms, and at such times
becomes a fairly easy prey. The caterpillar is obtained by
beating sloe bushes.

Barrett, who seems to have worked out its distribution in
England and Wales pretty 'closely, remarks, “ In the eastern
counties it has been taken occasionally in Norfolk and Suffolk,
more frequently in Essex, where, in Epping Forest, it has been
fairly common ; also in Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and
Northamptonshire, in some plenty. In very few localities in
Kent, .Sussex, Hants, and Dorset ; rarely in Gloucestershire,
and possibly Somerset ; but found in many Devonshire
localities, especially in the sheltered valleys around the Dart-
moor range, and in the charmingly wooded districts about
Axminster and Sidmouth ; becoming common towards Dart-
mouth. It has also been found commonly near Marlborough,
Wilts, and plentifully in some parts of North Wales ; apparently
rare in South Wales, but certainly existing in some parts of the

Pl. 94. K 140.

Brown Hairstreak. 1, male; 2, 3 female.

White-letter Hairstreak. 4, 6 male; 5, 7 female .

White-letter Hairstreak. Isgg enlarged cato pillar ana chrysalis.

PI- 95-

Brown Hairstreak

Egg enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

L 141.

THE PURPLE HAIRSTREAK.

141

wooded districts skirting Milford Haven. Also recorded from
Worcestershire, and Cannock Chase in Staffordshire ; and
northward in the favoured districts of Grange and Silverdale in
North Lancashire, and Witherslack in Westmoreland.” As
Surrey is not quoted in the foregoing, it may be mentioned as
one of the counties in which the species is found. In Ireland
Kane says that it is “ abundant in certain localities in Munster ;
and in Co. Galway at Glaring Bridge, and Oranmore ; Cork ;
Killoghrum Wood, Enniscorthy ; Blarney, Killarney.”

It is distributed throughout Central and Northern Europe,
except the Polar region, and its range extends through Northern
Asia to Amurland, Ussuri, and China.

The Purple Hairstreak ( Zephyrus quercus).

The butterfly (figured on Plate 96) has the sexes differently
ornamented, as in the last species. The male is strongly tinged
with purplish-blue, the veins are blackish ; the outer margin of
the fore wings are narrowly, and the costa and outer margin of
the hind wings are broadly, bordered with black. The female
is purplish-black, with two patches of bluish-purple in the discal
cell and space below ; often there is a smaller patch of the same
colour between them, the whole forming a large blotch
interrupted by the blackish veins. Under side greyish with
blackish shaded white lines ; two or three blackish clouds on
the outer margin of fore wings above the inner angle ; these are
sometimes edged with orange ; a black spot on anal angle of
the hind wings, with an orange one above it, and a black-
centred orange spot between veins 2 and 3.

Variation in this species is exceptional. An aberration known
as bella, Gerhard, has a yellowish mark at end of the cell on
the upper side of the fore wings, and at least one such variety
has been taken in England. Sometimes the blotch on the
female is rather blue than purple ; a male specimen with blue
streaks on the costa of the fore wings has been recorded, and

1.

142 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

Barrett mentions a gynandrous specimen in which the right side
was that of the male.

The egg is pale brown tinged with pink, and over this is a
whitish network. The caterpillar is reddish-brown and downy;
a black line along the back has a whitish edge, and there are
whitish oblique stripes, with blackish edge, on each side of the
central line ; the segmental divisions are well marked, and the
spiracles are blackish with pale rings. The head, which, when
the caterpillar is resting, is hidden within the first body ring, is
brownish and glossy, and there is a greyish shield-like mark on
the second ring. The chrysalis is red-brown, with darker
freckles ; the body is downy, and there are traces of oblique
marks thereon. It does not appear to be fastened by the tail,
but the cast larval skin remains attached ; there are a few
strands of silk around and about the chrysalis, but these are
very flimsy, although they hold it in position on the ground or
under a leaf.

The eggs are laid in July or August on twigs of oak, but
the caterpillars, it is said, do not hatch out until the following
spring. In May and early June the caterpillars are full grown,
and may be obtained by beating or jarring the branches of oak
trees in places where tho butterfly is known to occur. They
have also been found on sallow.

This species frequents oak woods, or the borders thereof, in
July and August, and is often more easy to see than to capture,
as it has a tantalizing trick of flying around the upper branches
of the trees. Occasionally it resorts to lower growing aspens,
probably to feast on the honey dew, the secretions of Aphides,
with which the leaves are often covered in hot summers. It
seems to be pretty generally distributed in all parts of England
and Wales, and in Scotland as far north as Ross. In Ireland it
appears to be more local, and has only been recorded from the
east and south.

It is found in all parts of Europe, except the northern.

Purple Hairstreak. i male; ?, 3 female.
Black Hairstreak. 4. b male : ^ jema.lt.
Green Hairstreak. 7 male; 8. o /emalc.

L 1 4 2.

Purple Hairstreak. Egg enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis.

PI. 97.

Green Hairstreak.

Eggs, natural size and enlarged ;

1. I43.

caterpillar and chrysalis.

THE BLACK HAIRSTREAK.

143

The Black Hairstreak ( Thecla pruni).

This butterfly is figured on Plate 96. In colour it is dark
brown or, when quite fresh, brownish-black ; there are some
orange marks on the outer margin of the hind wings, and these
are most distinct in the female, in which sex there are orange
spots on the fore wings also. The male has a pale sexual mark
at the end of the cell of the fore wings, but this is less distinct
than in the following species. The under side is brown, with a
bluish-white interrupted transverse line on each wing, that on
the hind wings angled before reaching the inner margin. All
the wings have an orange band on the outer margin, but on the
fore wings of the male this is often indistinct ; there are some
white-edged black spots before it, and, on the hind wing's,
beyond it also.

The eggs are laid in July on the twigs of blackthorn, but the
caterpillars do not hatch until the following spring. The egg
figured on Plate 97 was reddish-brown and appeared rather
shiny. 1 he caterpillar is described as yellowish-green, with a
darker green furrow and purplish ridges along the back ; the
latter are edged with whitish and the divisions between the
rings are yellowish. The head is pale brown. The chrysalis,
wmch is attached by the tail and has a silken thread around it,
is black, maiked on the head and body with yellowish-white.

The catei pillars feed on blackthorn ( Primus spinosa ) in a
state of nature, but will eat the leaves of damson in confinement.
They may be obtained in May, in their particular haunts, by
beating sloe bushes with a beating tray, or an inverted open
umbrella, held under to intercept the evicted caterpillars, etc.

This butterfly was not known as British until 1828, when
a number of specimens were captured at Monkswood in
Huntingdonshire. These were sold by the captor as T.
w- album, which was then called the Black Hairstreak. As
soon as the mistake was detected, it was given out that the

H4

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

specimens had been taken in Yorkshire, but this was only a
ruse, as T. pruni has never occurred in that county. It is
confined, so far as Britain is concerned, to three or four of the
midland counties. “ Mr. Herbert Goss, who has found it at
Barnwell Wold, and in other wooded districts of Northampton-
shire, at intervals, for more than twenty years past, says that it
is fond of sitting on the flowers of privet ( Ligustrum\ and of
Viburnum lantana , in the woods, and sometimes is to be
found in numbers. Its time of emergence is very variable,
apparently regulated by the lateness of the spring — from
June 17th to the first week in July. Reared specimens made
their appearance from June 13th to 27th. He writes, 1 It was
the greatest possible pleasure to see them walking about the
table while I was at breakfast.3 In 1858 it was found commonly
at Kettering, and in 1859 at Oundle, and has been recorded at
Warboys Wood, Cambridgeshire, and in Buckinghamshire.
One specimen was taken at Brandeston, Suffolk, by the Rev.
Joseph Green ; and Mr. Allis found it commonly in the Overton
Woods and about St. Ives. There is also a record in Mon-
mouthshire, which may require confirmation. This butterfly
does not appear to be losing ground in this country, its fondness
for trees and lofty bushes rendering it difficult to capture33
(Barrett).

A writer in the Entomologist for 1874 mentions Linford
Woods, in Bucks, as a locality where he had observed several
specimens, mostly females, on flowers of privet.

It is found throughout the greater part of Europe and also in
Amurland and Corea.

The White Letter Hairstreak (Thecla w-album).

1 he male of this butterfly (Plate 94) is blackish, with a small
whitish sex mark at end of the discal cell of the fore wing ; there
is a small orange spot at the anal angle of the hind wings. The

THE WHITE LETTER HAIRSTREAK.

H 5

female agrees in colour with the male, but the tails are longer,
and there is no sex mark on the fore wings. The under side is
brownish, with a white line on each wing, that on the hind
wings forming a W before the inner margin ; the hind wings
have a black-edged orange band on the outer margin which is
finely tapered towards the costa. Captured specimens are
usually browner than those that are reared from caterpillars.

The species does not exhibit much tendency to variation.
The white lines on the under side may be rather broad or very
narrow, and that on the hind wings is sometimes so broken up
towards the inner margin that the W character disappears ;
when absence of the anal orange spots on the upper side is
associated with the broken line, the form is known as butler owi.

I have several males without the W, and some of these have
the orange spot above, whilst others are without it. Barrett
refers to a specimen in which there is “on the under side
an extension of white colour from the white line towards the
margin, in the fore wings forming a broad wedge-shaped band,
but in the hind wings occupying the whole space from the white
line to the orange band.”

The egg has been described as whitish in colour, and in
shape something like an orange with a depression on the top.
The eggs are laid on twigs of elm in July, and, according to
some writers, remain thereon throughout the winter. The
caterpillar when full grown is yellowish-green and covered with
short hairs ; the ridges on the back are yellowish, and there are
oblique whitish streaks on each side of the darker dorsal line.
I he head is black. When about ready to assume the chrysalis
state, the whole body becomes purplish-brown. The chrysalis
is brownish, sometimes tinged with purple ; covered with tiny
bristles except on the blackish wing cases, and there are two
purplish lines on the back. It is attached by the tail, and has
a strand or two of silk around it, generally on the under side of
a leaf.

146

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

In a state of nature the caterpillar feeds on wych-elm (Ulmus
Montana), but it will eat the leaves of the common elm (U linns
campestris). It is to be obtained in May and June by beating
wych-elms in localities where the butterfly is known to
occur.

The butterfly is on the wing in July, and usually disports
itself around the elm trees, but it is fond of bramble blossoms,
and may often be netted when feasting on those flowers. It is
a local species, but, as a rule, plentiful enough in its localities.
It is rare in Hampshire and Dorsetshire, scarce in Sussex, and
not found in many parts of Kent. Ripley, in Surrey, was a
well-known locality for it in the early part of the last century,
and the caterpillars were found there commonly quite recently.
In Essex it is generally common near Maldon. And, according
to Barrett, it is “plentiful in various parts of Suffolk; very
scarce in Norfolk ; found more or less plentifully in Herts,
Hants., Cambs., and Northamptonshire ; very rare in Notting-
hamshire ; but again to be found in North Lincolnshire ; and
common in several localities near Doncaster, Barnsley, and
elsewhere in Yorkshire. This appears to be its northern
limit, and in this respect it contrasts curiously with Thccla
bctulcc [The Brown Hairstreak], since it extends farther north
in the east than that species ; yet in the west is recorded no
farther than Cheshire and Shropshire, where I found it thirty-
five years ago upon Benthall Edge. In Herefordshire it is
recorded but rarely ; more commonly in Worcestershire ; also
in Derbyshire and Needwood Forest, Staffordshire ; common
around Burton-on-Trent and elsewhere in Leicestershire; and
in Oxfordshire, Bucks, and Berks. But its metropolis seems to
be Wiltshire, where Mr. Perkins has found it around Marl-
borough and Savernake in thousands, as well as in Gloucester-
shire.” It has also been obtained in Monmouthshire, but its
extreme western limit seems to be Weston-super-Mare, Somer-
setshire. Abroad it is widely distributed in Europe, except the

PI. 98.

Large Copper.

x, 4, male; 2, 3, 5 female.

L 146.

Caterpillar and chrysalis.

THE GREEN HAIRSTREAK.

147

extreme north and south-west ; its range extends into Asia
Minor, and to Amurland and Japan.

Thecla spini and T. ilicis , two species of Hairstreak butter-
flies belonging to Central and Southern Europe, have been
mentioned as occurring in Britain by some of the earlier
authors. There is not, however, the slightest reason to suppose
that either of them ever occurred naturally in this country.

The Green Hairstreak ( Callophrys rubi).

Both sexes of this butterfly (Plate 96) are brown with a faint
golden tinge above, and green on the under side. The male
has a dark, or, when the plumules are dislodged, pale sexual
mark, which is oval in shape, and placed at the upper corner of
the discal cell in the fore wings. Occasionally there are some
orange scales at the anal angle of the hind wings, and more
rarely, and in the female, at the extremities of veins two and
three also. On the under side of some specimens, chiefly from
Northern localities, there is a transverse series of white dots
across all the wings ; more often these are confined to the hind
wings, and sometimes they are almost or quite absent from all
the wings. Now and then the under side of the hind wings is
found to be brown in colour, and this change in colour has been
ascribed to the action of moisture. The life-history is figured
on Plate 97.

The egg is greenish, reticulated with paler or. with whitish-
green ; the reticulation is somewhat rough on the side, but
becomes finer towards and on the top, which has the centre
hollowed. Laid on the petals of the common furze ( Ulex euro-
pccus), and on leaves of rock-rose ( Helianthemum chamcecistus).

The caterpillar feeds in June and July. It is pale green, with
a darker line along the back, and yellow oblique stripes on the
sides. Among the plants that it has been found upon, or is
known to eat, are dyer’s greenweed ( Genista tinctoria ), needle

148 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

furze (G. anglica ), broom (Cytisus scoparius ), dwarf furze ( Ulex
nanus ), whortleberry ( V actinium myrtillus) ; also the berries
of buckthorn ( Rhamnus ), making holes through which the
contents of the berry is extracted ; buds of bramble ( Rubus ),
and of dogwood ( Cornus sanguine a ), are also attacked in a
similar way.

The chrysalis is clothed with tiny hairs, and when freshly
formed is green in colour, but becomes purplish-brown after
a time. It appears to be unattached to anything. I think,
however, that there are generally a few strands of silk around
or about it, but these are so easily broken when the chrysalids
are removed that they escape observation. May and June are
the months for the butterfly, which occurs in various kinds of
situations, such as the outskirts of woods, high hedgerows, hill
slopes, and boggy heaths. I once saw it in abundance about
the entrance from Lynton to the Valley of Rocks. Its resem-
blance on the under side to the leaves on which it perches is
as baffling to the collector as is the resting habit of the Gray-
ling butterfly previously referred to. It seems to be pretty
generally distributed throughout the kingdom, but is rather
more local in Ireland than elsewhere, and it has not yet been
recorded from the Orkney or Shetland Isles. Its range extends
throughout the Palmarctic Region.

The Large Copper ( Ciirysophanus dispar).

The brilliant butterfly, figured on Plate 99, is of a coppery
orange colour. In the male the fore wings have two black dots
in the discal cell, the outer one linear, and the outer margin is
narrowly blackish ; the hind wings have a linear black mark in
the cell, and the outer margin is narrowly edged with blackish
and dotted with black. The female is more conspicuously
marked with black ; there are two, sometimes three, spots in
the cell of the fore wings, and a transverse series of seven

THE LARGE COPPER.

149

or eight beyond ; the outer margin is broadly bordered with
black, and there are generally two spots above the inner angle ;
the hind wings have a black spot in the cell, and a series of
black spots beyond, but the whole basal three-fourths of these
wings is often deeply suffused with blackish ; the outer margin
is bordered and spotted with black. The sexes are much alike
on the under side, and have reddish-orange fore wings with
bluish grey outer margins, and black spots as on the upper
side of the female ; the hind wings are bluish-grey, powdered
with bluish towards the base, and with whitish ringed black
spots ; five of these spots are before the linear discal mark, and
a series of nine or ten beyond ; an orange band on the outer
margin has black dots on each edge.

Except as regards the size and the shape of the spots,
especially in the female, there appears to have been but little
variation noted in this species in England.

The two fine female specimens figured on the plate have a
more or less distinct wedge-shaped black spot in the basal end
of the discal cell of the fore wings. Dale mentions that he has
an “ almost entirely black ” example of the female in his
collection.

The var. rutilus, which is the continental form of our butter-
fly, is smaller in size, as a rule, the spots are not so large, and
the orange band is always narrower on the under side of the
hind wings. It has been averred that some of the British
specimens are referable to this form.

Newman, writing about 1870, gave the following life-history
details : — “ The egg is laid on the leaves of the great water-
dock ( Rumex hydrolapathum ) during the month of August, and
the young caterpillars (never, to the best of my belief, observed)
probably emerge during the following month, and hibernate
very early at the base of the petioles.

“ The caterpillar is full fed in June, and then lies flat on the
dock-leaf, rarely moving from place to place, and, when it does

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

150

so, gliding with a slug-like motion, the legs and claspers being
entirely concealed. The head is extremely small, and can be
completely withdrawn into the second segment : the body has
the dorsal surface convex, the ventral surface flat ; the divisions
of the segments are distinctly marked, the posterior margin of
each slightly overlapping the anterior margin of the next, and
the entire caterpillar having very much the appearance of a
Chiton ; the sides are slightly dilated, the legs and claspers are
seated in closely approximate pairs, nearly on a medio-ventral
line. The colour is green, scarcely distinguishable from that
of the dock-leaf ; there is an obscure medio-dorsal stripe,
slightly darker than the disk, and in all probability due to the
presence of food in the alimentary canal. The chrysalis is
obese, blunt at both extremities, attached by minute hooks at
the caudal extremities, and also by a belt round the waist.”
Newman adds, “My acquaintance with the caterpillar and
chrysalis was made very many years ago in Mr. Doubleday's
garden at Epping, where the very plant of Rumex hydrolapa-
thum , on which the caterpillars fed, is still in existence.”

The caterpillar was described by Stephens, in 1828, as some-
what hairy, bright green, with innumerable white dots. The
same author states that the chrysalis was “first green, then pale
ash-coloured, with a dark dorsal line and two abbreviated
white ones on each side, and, lastly, sometimes deep brown.”

The figure of the caterpillar on Plate 98 is after Westwood,
and that of the chrysalis after Newman (“ Grammar of Ento-
mology ”).

Although he refers to it as “ hippothoc” the Large Copper
seems to have been known to Lewin (1795), as be states that
specimens had been taken in Huntingdonshire. Haworth
(1803) mentions its occurrence in the fens of Cambridgeshire,
and Stephens, twenty-five years later, wrote: — “This splendid
insect appears to be confined to the fenny counties of Cambridge
and Huntingdon, with the neighbouring ones of Suffolk and

cx

PI. IOO.

Small Copper.

Egg , natural size and enlarged; caterpillars and chrysalids.

L 15c.

PL ioi. L 1 5 1 .

Small Copper.

i, 2 I'ypical male ; 3 typical female ; 4, 5, 6, S, g, 10, 11, 12 varieties ; 7 7vi>\ schmia’tii.

THE LARGE COPPER.

I5I

Norfolk, unless the account of its capture in Wales by Hudson
be admitted ; but this may probably be the following species
\hippothoe\ which may, moreover, eventually prove synonymous
with Ly. dispar. In the first two localities it appears to occur
in great profusion, as several hundred specimens have been
captured within these last ten years by the London collectors,
who have visited Whittlesea and Yaxley Meres, during the
month of July, for the sole purpose of obtaining specimens of
this insect.”

Dale states that “ the latest capture, consisting of five speci-
mens, appears to have been made in Holme Fen, by Mr.
Stretton either in 1847 or 1848.”

There is evidence that floods, which were not uncommon
in the home of the Large Copper, were not really injurious
to the butterfly, and therefore the occasional submergence of
its feeding grounds can hardly have been the cause of its
almost sudden destruction. It seems more probable that its
disappearance was due to the draining of the fens, and at least
it is significant that the two events were almost coincident.

There are records of the butterfly having been taken in
various odd localities since it was last seen in fenland, but the
latest of those dates back to the year 1865. There seems to be
no question that the butterfly is now extinct in England, and,
lamentable to relate, the chief locality where we can hope to
secure a specimen or two for our collection is in the neighbour-
hood of Covent Garden, where the only requirement for the
capture will be a well-lined purse.

The continental form rutilus is found in Germany, France,
Northern Italy, South-Eastern Europe (except Greece),
Northern Asia Minor, Armenia, and the Altai. The Asian
form auratus occurs in South-Eastern Siberia, Amurland,
Corea, Northern China, and Aindo.

Four other kinds of “Coppers” have been reported as

152 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

occurring in England : these are Chrysophanus hippothoc
and C. virgaurece , both of which have even had English
names bestowed upon them, to wit, the Purple-edged Copper
and the Scarce Copper ; C. gordius , and C. circe (dor ill's).
These are only mentioned to afford an opportunity for saying
that there does not appear to be the least reason for con-
sidering either of them to be a British butterfly. Kirby,
Barrett, and others, however, think it possible that the first
two may have inhabited England in ancient times.

The Small Copper ( Chrysophanus phlccas).

This little butterfly is very smart, in activity as well as
appearance. In colour it is very similar to the last species,
but both sexes are spotted with black on the fore wings, the
outer series of six spots forming a very irregular row ; the hind
wings are black, with a wavy orange-red band on the outer
margin.

There is considerable variation, and it is, therefore, deemed
advisable to give a number of figures representing some of the
more striking aberrations. The three figures at the top of
Plate 101 depict the normal male and female ; the latter sex is
Fig. 3. For the loan of the other specimens (Figs. 4-12) my
thanks are due to Mr. E. Sabine, who has a very fine and
extensive series of varieties of this butterfly. Other examples of
aberration on the under side are shown on Plate 119. Blue
spots are sometimes found on the hind wings ; these are placed
near the orange-red band, and occasionally they attain a good
size. Specimens much suffused with blackish sometimes occur ;
these are referable to var. elcus , which is the usual summer
form in some of the warmer countries abroad. A very rare
form is that known as schmidtii (Fig. 7), in which the ground
colour of the fore wings and the band on the hind wings are
silvery white instead of orange or coppery-red. A modification

THE SMALL COPPER.

153

of this form which is hardly less rare has a creamy tint. Straw-
coloured or pale golden specimens are rather more frequently
met with. The colour of the hind wings in fresh specimens is
sometimes steely-grey, but blackish is the more usual hue ; the
band on the outer area, which as a rule agrees in colour with
the fore wings, varies in width a good deal, and occasionally is
more or less obscured by the blackish ground colour. The
arrangement, size, and shape of the black spots, both above
and below, are subject to much vagary, sometimes of a very
striking kind, as, for example, when the spots of the outer series
on the fore wings are united with the discal'pair and form a large
irregular blotch. A remarkable specimen taken some years
ago in the Isle of Wight had a small patch of copper with a
black spot in it on the under side. This gave one the idea of a
clumsy attempt at patching, but as I happened to take that
particular specimen, I know that it had not been tampered with.
Gynandrous specimens of this butterfly sometimes occur, but
these are very rare.

The egg is of a yellowish-white colour at first, and afterwards
becomes greyish ; the pattern on the shell, which resembles
network, is always whiter.

The caterpillar is green and similar in tint to the leaf of
dock or sorrel upon which it feeds. It is clothed with short
greyish hair which arises from white dots ; the dorsal line is
brownish-olive, and the ring divisions, especially along the back,
are well defined. Head very small, pale brownish, marked
with blackish, drawn into the first ring of the body when
resting. The legs and prolegs are tinged with pink, and some-
times the body is marked with pink.

The chrysalis is pale brown, sometimes tinged with greenish,
and freckled with darker brown ; there is a dark line along the
middle of the thorax and body, the wing cases are streaked with
blackish, and the body is dotted with black. Attached by the
tail and loose silken threads around the body to a leaf or stem.

154

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

There seem to be three broods of this species in most years :
the first is on the wing in May, sometimes in April ; the second
in July or early August ; and the third in early October. It is
not a difficult species to rear from the egg, and as varieties
appear to be most frequent in the third brood, the eggs should
be obtained from females of the second brood. Dock and sorrel
( Rumex ) are the food-plants of the caterpillar, and these are
most useful in a growing condition.

The butterfly frequents all kinds of open situations, and is
fond of basking upon flowers, more particularly those of the
Composite, from which vantage ground it dashes with great
alertness at any other small butterfly that may happen to fly
that way. Whether these seeming attacks are really due to
pugnacity, as has been stated by some writers, or are merely of
a sportive character, is not altogether clear. As, however, the
meeting of the two butterflies usually results, when both are
Small Coppers, in a series of aerial evolutions by the pair, it
would seem that there is a good deal of playfulness in the
business. After the gambol is over, one butterfly may dart off
with the other in hot pursuit, and then both move so rapidly
that their course is difficult to follow. If the butterfly inter-
cepted happens to be a Blue or a Small Heath, the Copper
returns to the flower from which it started, and prepares for
another raid when the opportunity offers. It occurs throughout
the United Kingdom, but in Scotland it does not extend north-
wards beyond the Caledonian Canal.

Abroad it is found throughout the Paloearctic Region, and
is represented in North America by the form hypoplilcras.

The Long-tailed Blue ( Lampides bceticus).

The male is purplish-blue suffused with fuscous, especially on
all margins except the inner one ; there are two velvety black
spots encircled with pale blue at the anal angle of the hind

Short-tailed Blue. Eggs enlarged.

Pl. 102.

Long -tailed Blue. Caterpillar and chrysalis (after M illiere).

L 154

Long-tailed Blue. Short-tailed Blue.

i nin.c ; j, j female. 4, 6 male', 5, 7 female.

THE LONG-TAILED BLUE.

155

wings, and a slender black tail, tipped with white, appeals to be
a continuation of vein 2. The under side is grey-brown, with
numerous white wavy lines and broader stieaks ; theie is a
whitish band on each wing before the outer margin, and black
spots as above, but these are ringed with metallic blue.

I have not seen any of the early stages of this butterfly. The
caterpillar, which feeds upon the green seeds in pods of the
Leguminosae, including the garden pea and the lupine, is
figured on Plate 102. It is described as being green or
reddish-brown in colour, with a dark stripe on the back, double
oblique lines on the sides, and a white line below the yellow
spiracles ; head black. The chrysalis is of a red or yellowish
colour, and dotted with brown. It has a silken girdle and is
said to be attached to a stem, as shown in the figure, but pro-
bably it is more often fixed up among the withered leaves of the
food-plant. Two of the earliest known British specimens of
this butterfly were taken by the late Mr. Neil McArthur on
August 4th and 5th, 1859, on the Downs at Brighton ; the third
example was captured by Captain de Latour at Christchuich,
where it was flying about a plant of the everlasting pea in his
garden on August 4th of the same year. Newman has noted
that in that particular year the butterfly was very abundant in
the Channel Islands and on the coast of France. No other
specimen seems to have been observed in England until 1879,
which year one was taken at Freshwater in the Isle of Wight
on August 23rd. In 1880 a specimen was captured in a garden
near Bognor, Sussex, on September 12th. On October 2nd,
1882, one was obtained at West Bournemouth, three were
netted in 1893, one of these in late August, and one in the third
week of September, both in Sussex ; the third was taken in
Kent (inland) in September. In 1899 a specimen was found at
Winchester on September 1st, and one at Deal on the 1 6th
of the same month ; each of these, curiously, was sitting on a
window. On August 2nd, 1904, one example was taken in a

156

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

garden near Truro, Cornwall. In addition to the above, single
specimens have been reported as taken at Brighton, July, 1890,
and at Heswell, Cheshire, in 1886 or 1887.

It will thus be seen that the occurrence of this butterfly in
England is exceedingly infrequent. The species is common in
Africa and in Southern Europe ; thence it extends eastward
through Asia to China and Japan, and southwards to Australia.
It is also found in the Sandwich Islands. It is believed to be
migratory in its habits, and it is supposed that the occasional
specimens that arrive in this country come to us via the west
coast of Europe.

In its proper home there is a succession of broods of the
butterfly, and if by chance a few females were to visit this
country in the early summer, they most probably would lay
eggs, and the caterpillars resulting from these would almost
certainly be able to feed up and attain the perfect state here.
So far there is no reason to suppose that the caterpillar has ever
occurred in England.

The Short-tailed or Bloxworth Blue ( Cupido argiades).

The interesting little butterfly represented on Plate 103 was
not known to occur in Britain until 1885, when the Rev. O.
Pickard Cambridge made the startling announcement that his
sons had captured two specimens, a female on August 1 8th,
and a male on August 20th of that year, the scene of capture
being Bloxworth Heath, Dorset. Shortly after this fact was
made public the Rev. J. S. St. John added a record of two
males that he had discovered in a small collection of Lepidoptera
made by Dr. Marsh, who stated that he had taken the specimens
of C. argiades in 1874, close to a small quarry near Frome.
In addition to these a specimen, also recorded by Mr. Cam-
bridge, was taken at Bournemouth in August, 1885 ; one is
reported to have been captured at Blackpool, about i860; and

Brown Argus.

Egg,nat in al size and enlarged l caterpillar and chrysalis',

( ci) Egg of1 'Scotch A rgns" enlarged.

PL >°4- Z 156.

Silver-studded Blue.

Eggs, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalids.

PI. 105.

Silver-studded Blue. 1, 2, 3 male ; 4, 5,
Brown Argus. 10, 12 male; 7, 8, 9 Jemale ; 11, 13,
1 5 male , 1 6, 1 7 female ( Scotland).

M 157.

6 female.

1 4 male ( Durham i ;

THE SHORT-TAILED BLUE. I 57

one at Wrington, about twelve miles north of Bristol, in 1895
or 1896.

The following details of the early stages are obtained from
Mr. Frohawk’s life-history of the species published in the
Entomologist for October, 1904. The egg (Plate 102, figured
from a photomicrograph by Mr. Tonge) is of a pale greenish-
blue, but varies both in the extent of the ground colour and in
the structure of the reticulations, which are white, resembling
frosted glass.

The full-grown caterpillar (August 23rd) measures § inch in
length. It is of the usual wood-louse shape, with only a very
shallow furrow on the back, bordered on each side by a fringe
of spinous bristles, which vary in length ; the whole surface is
densely studded with shorter but similarly formed whitish or
brownish bristles. The ground colour is pale green, with a
darker green stripe along the centre of the back, and fainter
green oblique stripes on the sides. The head is black and
shining, and is hidden under the first ring when the caterpillar
is not feeding or moving about.

The caterpillars hatched on July 30th, from eggs that were
laid in the South of France on July 24th, and were reared on
bird’s-foot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatns ), of which they ate the
flowers, seeds, and leaves.

The chrysalis, which is attached to the food-plant by a silk
pad at the tail and a thread round the body, is pale green and
very finely reticulated ; the wing-cases are rather whiter green,
sprinkled with minute black specks, and the veins are white ;
there is a blackish line along the centre of the back, but this
is only well defined on the head and thorax. The whole
surface, except the wings, is sprinkled with slightly curved and
moderately long white hairs.

The butterfly emerges in about ten to fourteen days, according
to temperature.

The male is violet-blue with the veins rather darker ; the

M

158 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

outer margin is narrowly bordered with blackish, and there
are some black dots on the outer margin of the hind wings ;
the fringes are white, and there is a slender tail on the hind wings.
The female is brownish, tinged with violet towards the base ;
the hind wings have black spots on the outer margin, and some
of these are inwardly edged with orange ; the tails are slightly
longer than those of the male.

All the available information concerning the occurrence of
this species in England has already been given. No doubt
the localities from which specimens were recorded have been
closely investigated during the past twenty years, but no further
captures of this butterfly have been recorded. This seems to
indicate that it is not really indigenous, but that its presence
here may possibly have been due to accidental introduction.

The spring form, ftolysperchon, is smaller than the specimens
occurring in the summer, but so far that form has not been
seen in England.

The species is widely distributed over Central and Southern
Europe, and its range extends through Northern Asia to
Amurland, Corea, and Japan. It is also represented in
Northern and Central America by var. comyutas, and has been
recorded from Australia.

The Silver-studded Blue (Lycczna argus = agon).

The male of this butterfly (Plate 105) is purplish-blue with
a black border on the outer margins, and sometime? black
dots on that of the hind wings. The female is sooty-brown,
powdered to a greater or lesser extent with blue scales on the
basal area ; there is generally a series of orange marks forming
a more or less complete band on the outer margin of the
hind wings, and sometimes on the fore wings also. The under
side is bluish-grey in the male, and brownish-grey in the
female ; the black spots are ringed with white, and on the

THE SILVER-STUDDED BLUE.

159

fore wings there is one at the end of the discal cell and a series
of seven beyond ; the hind wings have from three to five spots
before the discal spot, and a curved series of seven beyond ;
there is a black-edged orange band on all the wings, and
beyond this on the hind wings there is a series of metallic blue
centred spots ; hence the English name of the butterfly, given
to it by Moses Harris, which is certainly more suitable than
Petiver’s “ Lead Argus.”

In a general way the male is rather larger than the female,
but this is not invariably the case. The colour of the male
varies in shade, and very occasionally, perhaps, is of a lilac
tint ; the border varies in width, and is sometimes reduced to
a mere line. In the female the orange marks may be of a
brownish or yellowish tint, and now and then there may be a
series of wedge-shaped blue spots above these marks on the hind
wings. On the under side there is a good deal of modification
of the black spots as regards size and shape, and occasionally
there is at least one extra spot on the fore wings placed between
the discal spot and the base of the wing ; white markings some-
times appear on the fore wings between the outer series of
black spots and the orange band, and with this there is
generally a white band in a similar position on the hind wings.
Female specimens with splashes of the male colour on one or
more of the wings have been obtained, and, more rarely,
examples entirely male on one side and female on the other
have been recorded.

Frohawk states that the egg both in colour and texture,
resembles white porcelain ; “all the depths produce a deep
purplish-grey shade. The ova are deposited singly, and adhere
firmly to the receptacle.”

Caterpillars hatched out from eggs, laid the previous summer,
on April 1st to 3rd. They were reared on gorse ( Ulex europccus ),
pupated towards the end of June, and the first butterfly, a
male, appeared on July 10th.

l6o THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The caterpillar figured on Plate 104, when full grown, was
reddish-brown, finely dotted with white, and from each dot a
tiny hair arose ; the stripe on the back and line on the side
were black edged with white, head black and shining.' This
caterpillar was found on the last day of May, crawling on the
ground under heather at Oxshott. It was then about half-
grown, and was reared on heather, pupated in due course, and
produced a female butterfly on July nth.

The chrysalis, of which two figures are given, had a pale
brownish and rather shining head ; the body was brown with
a darker line on the back ; the thorax and wing-cases dull
yellowish-green, the former rather glossy. It was placed in an
angle formed by a side and the floor of the cage, lying quite
flat and secured by silken threads, which, owing to position,
I was unable to examine. Some of the caterpillars that Mr.
Frohawk reared were pale green with a dark purplish stripe on
the back. Another food-plant is bird’s-foot vetch ( Omithoftus
fierpusilhis).

The butterfly is on the wing in July and August, and seems
to be more often found on sandy heaths than elsewhere. It
is especially common, in some years, in the heather-clad
districts of Surrey and Hampshire, as well as other counties in
England. In Norfolk and Suffolk it is said to be common,
but scarce in Gloucestershire and Somersetshire. Its range
extends through the greater part of England and Wales, and
into Scotland as far as Perthshire. Specimens from the north-
west coast of Wales are said to be larger than those from
inland localities.

As regards Ireland, there is only Birchall’s record, “The
Murrough of Wicklow, and near Rostrevor,” in evidence of the
butterfly occurring in that country at all.

Abroad, it appears to range pretty well over the whole of
Europe, and through Asia eastward to Siberia, Corea, and
Japan. •

THE BROWN ARGUS.

161

The Brown Argus (Lyceena astrarche).

Fore wings blackish or sooty-brown with a black discal spot,
and a row of reddish-orange spots on the .outer margin of all
the wings ; the fringes are white, sometimes with blackish
interruptions. The under side is greyish or greyish-brown, and
the black spots are distinctly ringed with white. On the
fore wing there are seven of these spots, one at the end of the
cell, and the others in an irregular series beyond ; the last in
this series is sometimes double, or it may be absent. On the
hind wings the spots comprise a series of four preceding the
white discal mark, and a series of seven beyond ; the second
spot in this series is placed directly under the first, forming a
colon-like mark, and this character will help to distinguish the
Brown Argus from the blackish or brown females of the next
species.

The female has larger orange markings, and the outline of
the fore wings is rather rounder on the outer margin, otherwise
the sexes are very similar.

The orange spots referred to in the male are sometimes
absent towards the tips of the fore wings, and in this respect
lead up to the form known as the Durham Argus (var.
salniacis , Stephens), which is blackish above and ochreous-
brown below ; the black spots on the under side are much
smaller then in typical specimens, and some may be absent
altogether. The male has a black discal spot, and the female
a white one, on the upper side of the fore wings ; the hind wings
have a red or orange band on both surfaces. Sometimes the
male also has a white spot on the fore wings. Specimens with
the orange spots on upper side almost entirely absent are
referable to var. allous.

Artaxerxes is the form occurring in Scotland, and is known
as the “ Scotch White Spot.” Both sexes have a conspicuous

1 62

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES-

white cliscal spot on the fore wings, and the spots on the under
side are white, and rarely centred with black. In var. quadri-
puncta , Tutt, all four wings have a white discal spot above.
Occasionally an odd specimen with white discal spots is found
in the south.

Figures of the butterfly will be found on Plate 105, and of its
life-history on Plate 104; the upper egg is that from a typical
female, and the lower one was laid by a female artaxerxes.

The egg, which is whitish, with a faint greyish tinge, is
laid on the upper side of a young leaf of the rock-rose
£ Helianthemum chamazcistus). The caterpillar has a black
shining head ; the body is green with whitish hairs, a pinkish
line along the back, a whitish one bordered with pinkish along
the sides ; the green colour becomes dingy as the caterpillar
matures. The chrysalis is obscure yellowish-green, the front
of the thorax is edged with pinkish, and there are bands of the
same colour on the back and sides of the body ; the thorax
and the wing-cases are rather glossy. Held in position by a
few silken threads between leaves of the food-plant.

The ordinary form of the butterfly is on the wing in May
and June, and again in August. It is widely distributed
throughout the southern half of England, and also in Wales.

Although chiefly associated with rock-rose, especially in
chalky districts, it occurs too among stork’s-bill ( Erodium
cicutarinm ), upon which plant the caterpillar also feeds, in
sandy places inland as well as on the coast.

Caterpillars from the first flight of butterflies may be found
in July, and those from the second flight hibernate and feed up
in April.

rI he butterfly has a marked liking for roosting on the flower-
stems of long grasses, and quite a number may often be found
resting together towards sundown, or on dull days, in sheltered
hollows. Sometimes several specimens of this species and of
the Common Plue may be found on the same perch. It is

PI. 10G. 1 '/ 162.

Common Blue.

1, 2, 7, 10, 12 male ; 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9. 11, 13 female.

J/ 163.

Pl. 107.

Common Blue.

Eggs, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillars and chrysalids.

THE COMMON BLUE.

163

rather less frequently seen in the Midland counties, but it is
more or less common in some parts of Derbyshire, \01kshi1e,
and Lancashire.

The intermediate form, salmacis and its modifications, is
found in the neighbourhood of Richmond, Yorks, and thence

northward to the Scottish border.

Var. artaxerxes occurs in Scotland from Koxbuigh to
Aberdeenshire on the east, and from Dumfries to the Clyde
on the west. Kane records four specimens from Co. Galway,
and these are all that are known of the species from Ireland.
This form,' together with the var. salmacis , are not found any-
where outside the United Kingdom, and, it may be added,
the latter appears to be getting scarce — at least, in some of its
old haunts in Durham.

The species is distributed throughout the Palaearctic Region,
except the Polar parts.

The Common Blue ( Lycczna Icarus').

The male is blue, with either a tinge of violet or mauve in its
composition. Sometimes, though rarely, it assumes the brightei
shade of the Adonis Blue. All the wings are very nauowly
edged with black on the outer margins ; the veins are generally
pale, shining blue, sometimes becoming blackish towards the
outer margins, and occasionally continued into the fringes, but
not to their tips. The female is most often brown, with some
blue scales on the basal area of all the wings ; there is a black
discal spot on the fore wings, and a series of orange crescents
before a row of black spots on the outer margin ; the hind
wings have an outer marginal row of black spots, edged
outwardly with white and inwardly with orange.

On Plate 106, Fig. 1 represents a typical male, and Fig. 3 a
typical female, whilst the normal under sides of the sexes aie

164

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

shown in Figs. 10 and 1 1. The size of this butterfly ranges from
one inch and a half to three-quarters of an inch. The large
specimens at the bottom of the plate are from Scotland.

Scotch and Irish males often have some black spots on the
outer margin of the hind wings, as in Fig. 2, but this is from
Ventnor in the Isle of Wight. The female is sometimes of a
uniform brown coloration, devoid of blue scales, and, with the
exception of slight traces of orange on the outer margin of the
hind wings, entirely without marking. On the other hand, this
sex is sometimes almost as blue as the male in colour (var.
ccerulea ), but the discal spot, outer marginal borders, and
orange markings are present. Occasionally the orange spots
give place to yellow ones. The discal spot on the fore wings
may be encircled with bluish-white scales, and now and then
this spot on all the wings is surrounded very distinctly with
bluish-white. I have seen the latter form from Durham and
Ireland only, but it probably occurs in other parts of the
kingdom.

Quite a number of gynandrous specimens of this species
have been recorded, some of them being male on the right side
and female on the left, in others the reverse was the case.

On the under side the male is greyish and the female
brownish, consequently the white rings around the black spots
show up more distinctly in the latter sex. A not uncommon
aberration is without spots between the discal spot and the base
of the fore wing ; this is known as icarinus. Another form that
occurs fairly often has the lower basal spot united with the last
spot of the outer series, as in Fig. 9, this is ab. arena , and a
modification, with the junction bar-like instead of arched, has
been named melanotoxa. Very rarely the whole of the under
side, except the outer margins, is free of spots (Plate 119). A
specimen exhibiting aberration in this direction is shown on
Plate 1 18, Fig. 6, whilst Figs. 1 and 3 show modifications of
what is known as the streaked form.

THE COMMON BLUE. 1 65

I am indebted to Mr. E. Sabine, of Erith, for the loan of all
the fine aberrations of the Blues figured on Plate 118.

On Plate 107 will be found figures of the early stages.

The egg, which is usually laid on the upper side of a terminal
leaf of bird’s-foot trefoil (. Lotus corniculatus) or on rest-harrow
(' Ononis spinosa ), is whitish-green in colour, netted with glossy
white.

The caterpillar is green, covered with short brownish hairs,
with which are mixed some longer ones ; it is wrinkled on the
side, ridged on the back, and the line along the middle of the
back is darker. Head black and glossy.

The chrysalis is green, with the head, wing-cases, and some-
times the hinder parts of the body, tinged with buff ; thorax
brighter green, rather shiny ; a darker line down the centre of
the body.

The plants mentioned, and especially rest-harrow, are known
to be the food of the caterpillar, but eggs have also been found,
in Scotland, on red clover, plantain, burnet saxifrage, and
yarrow. The caterpillars are to be found, after hibernation, in
April, and a second brood in June and July. Those feeding on
rest-harrow seem to prefer the blossom.

This caterpillar is stated to form a cocoon, but the only
approach to any such structure made by the seven individuals
I had under observation was in the case of two caterpillars that
pupated among leaves of Lotus , which were drawn together by
the slenderest of threads. Four effected the change at the
bottom of the cage and seemed to be quite free, one had
climbed to the leno top of the cage and there spun a silken
cai’pet under itself, which drew the leno together, and so formed
a shallow cave in which the chrysalis rested. In every case the
cast skin was attached to the tail, and so remained after the
butterflies emerged.

The butterfly is to be found almost everywhere in the country,
and its distribution extends throughout the United Kingdom,

l66 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

except, perhaps, the Shetland Isles. There appears to be only
one flight in the north of Scotland and Ireland, and this occurs
in June and July. In England there are two broods, and in
some years probably three in the southern counties. It maybe
seen on the wing, in greater or lesser numbers, all through the
season from May to September.

Abroad, the range extends over the whole of Europe to
North Africa, and through Western and Northern Asia to
Amurland and China.

The Common Blue, as well as the Chalk Hill and the Adonis
Blues, are to be found, often commonly and sometimes in large
numbers, in their favourite haunts. Each of them is subject to
a considerable range of variation on the under side, and this
seems to be of a similar character in all. Very striking
aberrations are, perhaps, not often obtained, but still many
modifications are to be found, and the possibility of a really
good thing turning up, induces one to give attention to the
business of overhauling these butterflies. A very good method
of conducting this kind of work is to first ascertain the places
where they chiefly congregate, and then to visit there on
dull days or late in the afternoon, when the butterflies are
asleep or, at all events, resting. They can then be easily
examined as they sit on the long grass stems, etc. (Plate 27),
but only the under sides can be viewed in this way. So to
avoid passing over a good upper-side variety, it will be needful
to take each specimen between the finger and thumb of the
right hand, seizing the closed wings gently, but firmly, near
their base, and then quickly secure the thorax from underneath
with thumb and index finger of the left hand, when the upper
as well as the under side becomes available for inspection.
There is no reason whatever to damage the insects in any way,
and those that are not required may be set free again none the
worse for their short detention. Work against the wind, and to
avoid a second interview, turn rejected specimens to the rear.

PI. 10S.

Chalkhill Blue.

Egg enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

Mi 66.

PI. 109.

Chalkhill Blue.

M 167.

THE CHALK HILL BLUE.

167

The Chalk Hill Blue (. Lyccena corydon).

Although this butterfly (Plate 109) is, in England, fairly
constant in the matter of colour, and, as regards the male
especially, differences in tint are noticeable when series from
various localities are ranged side by side. Silvery-blue
perhaps best expresses the general colour of the male on the
upper surface, sometimes very pale, and sometimes faintly
tinged with greenish. The blackish border on the outer margin
of the fore wings varies in width and in intensity ; often there
are indications of eyed spots on this margin, and occasionally
these spots are quite distinct, although the whitish rings are not
always clearly outlined. The black border on the outer margin
of the hind wings is often narrow and external to a series of
white-edged black spots, but sometimes it is broad and
obscures the spots ; orange markings rarely appear on this
margin, but such aberrations have been taken on the Dorset
coast. The fringes are white chequered with blackish on the
fore wings, but with seeming continuation of the veins through
those of the hind wings. The female is sooty-brown above,
with a black discal spot on the fore wings, and sometimes on
the hind wings also, and these spots may be ringed with blue
or bluish-white ; the outer marginal borders are hardly darker,
and those on the fore wings are limited by a wavy pale line,
which may be faintly or strongly marked with orange, but
orange marking on these wings is rather the exception than
the rule ; on the outer margin of the hind wings there are
some black spots, edged outwardly with white and inwardly with
orange. The fringes are white chequered with brown, and those
of the fore wings are tinged with brown. There are generally
some blue scales at the base of the fore wings and over a larger
portion of the basal area of the hind wings, but occasionally the
whole discal area of the hind wings (Fig. 7, Plate 117), or of all

l68 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

the wings, var. syngrapha (Fig. 8, Plate 117), is of the male
colour. The former is from Eastbourne and the latter from
Wiltshire. They are rather uncommon varieties, but inter-
mediate forms are more often met with in the same localties as
well as in other parts of England where the species occurs.

On the coast of Dorsetshire a very unusual form occurs.
The border of the outer margin is white instead of the usual
black or blackish ; the inner limit of this border is, on the fore
wings, defined by a dusky shade, and the black nervules break
up the border into six spots ; on the hind wings four or five of
the white spots are centred with black dots. The female has a
similar border, but on the hind wings it is inwardly edged with
orange. It has been named var . fowleri, and I have seen one
example of this form without black dots in the marginal white
spots of the hind wings. On the under side variation is on
somewhat similar lines to that adverted to in the last species.
On Plate 109, Fig. 8 represents the typical under side of the
male, and Fig. 7 that of the female. It will be noticed that the
male is greyer than the female. Some of the ordinary aberra-
tions are shown on the same plate, and some rarer ones will
be found on Plate 118, and of these Fig. 12, if without the
basal spot on the fore wings, would represent var. lucretia.

For figures of the early stages see Plate 108 ; that of the
caterpillar is after Buckler. The egg is flat on the top, with a
slightly darker pit in the centre (the micropyle) ; the sides are
rounded, netted, and studded, and the colour whitish-green.
The above short description was taken from one of a few eggs
of this butterfly sent me in August last by Mr. Ovenden, and
the same egg has been figured.

Mr. Frohawk has described the egg more fully in the
Entomologist for 1900. With reference to the egg-laying of
the butterfly he writes : “ On August 13th, 1900, I watched
several females in the act of depositing, on various stems of the
usual stunted herbage to be found growing on chalk downs.

THE CHALK HILL BLUE.

169

They frequently crawled among- the plants for a distance ot
about a couple of feet, occasionally curving the abdomen down-
wards among the small plant-stems and grasses, and here and
there depositing an egg. I therefore dug up portions of the
turf, potted it, and placed a couple of females on each lot ; they
deposited ova on the 14th and 15th, on the stems of various
plants ; a few were laid upon the brown dead trefoil leaves, as
well as on the living leaves ; but the site generally chosen is
the intermingled stems of both plants and grasses. Another
female, placed upon a similar pot of plants, deposited about
fifty ova on September 10th, nearly all being placed upon the
stems, and a few upon the under side of the leaves of rock-rose ;
in all cases the eggs are deposited singly.”

The caterpillars do not hatch out until the following spring.
According to Buckler and Hellins, the only difference between
the caterpillar of this butterfly and that of the next species,
Adonis, is that the latter “has its ground colour deeper green,
with the hairs or bristles black, while Corydon has the ground
colour of a lighter, brighter green (a green with more yellow in
its composition), and the hairs light brown.”

The butterfly is common and often abundant in July and
August, chiefly the latter month, on chalk downs in Oxfordshire,
Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex ; it is
also found in the Newmarket district of Cambridgeshire and on
one chalk hill in Norfolk, according to Barrett, who adds : “ on
the oolite as well as the chalk in Wilts, Dorset, Gloucestershire,
and Somerset ; and on limestone at Grange and Silverdale in
North Lancashire, in Lincolnshire, Westmoreland, and Cumber-
land. It has also been taken in Essex, Hants, Cornwall, and
in one locality in Glamorganshire.

Mr. Sydney Webb has stated that a dwarf form occurs pretty
regularly in a valley about two miles east of Dover, but that it
only appears to be found at odd times in other parts of England.

Abroad, the species is found in Central Europe, also in the
Pyrenees, Aragonia, and the Balkan Peninsula.

170

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The Adonis Blue ( Lyccena bellargus).

The butterfly on Plate no is the Clifden Blue of Moses
Harris (1775), so named because it was said to have been first
observed at Clifden in Bucks. The male is of a beautiful bright
blue colour, but as in the same sex of the previous two species,
it is not quite constant in tint. In some specimens we find a
distinct mauve shade, and in others, but more rarely, the blue
colour is tinged with greenish (Plate 118, Fig. n): the veins
become distinctly black on the outer margins, and appear to run
through the white fringes on all the wings. Often there are
black dots on the outer margin of the hind wings. The female
is dark brown, sometimes slaty-black, with orange spots or
crescents on the outer margins ; these are often only faintly in
evidence on the fore wings, and sometimes this is the case on
the hind wings also ; there is a black discal spot on the fore
wings, and the fringes of all the wings are white chequered with
black. The bases of the wings are powdered with blue, but
this is more noticeable on the hind wings. On the under side
the fore wings of the male are greyish, and the hind wings
greyish-brown ; all the wings of the female are brownish, with
a faint grey tinge in some specimens ; the ornamentation is
very similar to that of the Common Blue. The two figures on
Plate 1 10, showing specimens with the wings closed, represent
typical male and female, and the other figures of under sides on
this plate exhibit minor aberrations from typical lines ; examples
of the more extreme variations will be found on Plate 118,
where also are figured some uncommon aberrations in the colour
of the male on the upper side.

I here is often a tendency in the female to assume the colour
of the male, and this is usually seen on the hind wings, but
occasionally on the fore wings also. In the extreme form of this
phase of variation, var. ceronus , the whole of the upper surface,

THE ADONIS BLUE.

171

with the exception of the orange spotted borders, is almost as
blue as that of the male. This is a parallel aberration to that
of the Chalk Hill Blue known as syngrapha , but it seems to be
somewhat rarer in this country.

Figures of the early stages will be found on Plate 1 1 1.

The egg is greenish-white, becoming rather greener in tint
towards the top, which is depressed ; the netting is whitish and
shining, and somewhat rougher on the sides than towards and
on the top.

Buckler describes the full-grown caterpillar as deep, full
green in. colour, covered with tiny black speckles, bearing little
black bristles, which are longest on the dorsal humps and on the
yellow-edged ridge above the spiracles ; on the top of each of
the eight pairs of dorsal humps is a deep bright yellow longi-
tudinal dash, somewhat wider behind than in front ; these
dashes form in effect two yellow stripes interrupted by the
deeply sunk segmental divisions; the line along the back is.
darker than the ground colour, and the spiracles are black.
The head is dark brown, and there are two yellow dots on the
first ring of the body near the head.

The chrysalis, when first formed, is greenish-brown with the
wing-cases greenish, the whole afterwards becomes ochreous ;
the thorax and wing-cases are rather glossy, and the body is
slightly hairy. Buckler states that some of his caterpillars
buried themselves about half an inch deep in the loose soil, and
formed a weak sort of cocoon ; others, not having been supplied
with soil that could be so easily penetrated, retired under the
stems of their food- plants, and in angles formed by the
branching stems spun a few weak threads to keep themselves
in plac$.

The food-plant is the horseshoe vetch (Hippocrepis comosa).
From eggs laid in August, the caterpillars appear to hatch
towards the end of September, but do not feed up until the
spring. Butterflies from these caterpillars are on the wing

172 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

between the middle of May and the middle of June, thus
occupying about nine months in passing through the various
stages from egg to perfect insect. From eggs laid in May and
June the butterflies appear in August and September. Although
it is found in similar kinds of situations to those affected by the
last species, and sometimes on the same grounds, it is more
local, and almost confined to the counties of Kent, Surrey, and
Sussex. It is, however, rather common at Ventnor and in some
other parts of the Isle of Wight, and is found near Winchester.
Barrett states that it is abundant at Corfe Castle, Dorset, and
gives as localities for the butterfly Wotton-under-Edge, and
near Bristol, near Torquay, Sidmouth, and Seaton. Its range
abroad extends through Central and Southern Europe, to
Armenia, Northern Asia Minor, and Western Kurdistan. It is
also found in North-West Africa, where the males are greenish-
blue with conspicuous black spots on the outer margins of the
hind wings; this is the var. punctifera.

The Holly Blue ( Cyaniris argiolus).

About the beginning of the eighteenth century this butterfly
(Plate 1 13) was known as the “Blue Speckt,” but Harris, in
1775, changed the name to the “Azure Blue.” The male is a
pretty lilac-tinged blue, with a narrow black edging on the outer
margin of the fore wings, often only in evidence towards the
tip, and a narrow black line on the outer margin of the hind
wings. The white fringes of the fore wings are distinctly
marked with black at the ends of the veins. The female is of
the same shade of blue, or sometimes much paler (var. clara ,
Tutt), with a broad blackish border on the outer margin of the
fore wings extending along the front margin to about the
middle ; this border varies in width and seems to be wider in
summer specimens than in those of the earlier flight ; the discal
mark on the fore wings is black, but this is sometimes very

r*

Pl. no.

Isggs, natural size amt enlarged ; caterpillars and chrysalis.

THE HOLLY BLUE. 173

faint ; there is a series of black dots on the outer margin of the
wings.

Although the colour of the upper side is somewhat like that
of the Common Blue, it should not be confused with that
species, as the under side is very different both as regards the
colour, which is bluish-white, and the arrangement of the
black spots. On the outer margins of the wings in some
specimens there are more or less distinct traces of blackish
crescents.

There is no considerable variation in this species, but the
spots on the under side are subject to slight modification in the
matters of size and shape ; the borders also vary in width, and
in the female the blue area is thus sometimes much restricted.
A gynandrous specimen has been recorded, in which the right
side is male.

The egg (Plate 112) is described as whitish or bluish-green
in colour.

The full-grown caterpillar has a blackish head, the body is
bright yellowish-green with paler lines ; eight rings from and
including the second are crested with two ridges of humps,
between which lies the sunk dorsal space ; the whole skin of
the body is velvety, with its surface thickly covered with
yellowish warty granules, each bearing a minute bristly white
hair. Sometimes the humps and the middle of the back are
marked with rose-pink.

The chrysalis is pale brownish-ochreous with a thin blackish-
brown line on the back of the brown freckled thorax ; the
body is marked with rather blotchy arrow-head dashes, and
some larger dark brown blotches ; the wing-cases are pale
greyish freckled and outlined with brown, their surface is
smooth and rather more glistening than the other parts, which
are thickly studded with fine, short, brownish bristles. (Adapted
from Buckler.)

The following is a brief summary of a paper by Mr. R. Adkin

N

174

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

(. Proc . S. Lond. Ent. and Nat. Hist. Soc. for 1896), in which he
gives a most interesting account of the earlier stages of the
second brood of this species.

At the time when the butterflies of the second brood are on
the wing, the flower-buds of the ivy ( Hedera helix ) are still
young, and form compact heads. The butterfly, having selected
one of these heads, settles upon its top, closes her wings over
her back, and bending her abdomen down and round under-
neath the buds, affixes an egg to the under side of one of the
slender single bud-stalks. In about a week the eggs hatch.
The young larva which in colour matches the buds very closely,
rests on the bud-stalk with its anterior segments, which com-
pletely cover its head, pressed closely against the bud, and looks
so exactly like a slight swelling of the upper part of the stalk
as to make detection a matter of great difficulty, even with the
aid of a fairly powerful lens. The larva is very sluggish in its
habits, seldom leaving the head of the buds on which it is
hatched, so long as sufficient food remains for its nourishment,
or occasionally when about to change its skin. It appears to
feed only at night, and its manner of feeding, which is the same
throughout its life, is to eat a round hole through the outer shell
of a bud, and pressing its head forward through it to clear out
the soft inside of the bud. In from four to six weeks it is full-

fed ; it then quits the buds, and attaches itself by slender threads
_ # * #
to a leaf, and in a few days becomes a pupa, in which state it

passes the winter.

Normally the eggs of the spring butterflies are laid on the
under side of the calyces of flower-buds of holly (Ilex). The
caterpillars feed on the flower-buds and also on the young
green berries. They are full grown in about a month, change
to chrysalids, and the butterflies emerge in July and August.
Among other pabula that have been mentioned are the flowers
of dogwood (Cor tins sangninea ), berry-bearing alder (Rhamnus
frangula ), and spindle (. Euonymus curopccus).

PI. 1 1 2.

Holly Blue.

Eggs enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis

JV174.

Holly Blue.

3> 4) 7 female [spring) ; - male

X 1 75-

>' S, 9 /? 'male (sumtitcr).

x , 2, 6 male :

THE HOLLY BLUE.

175

In confinement the caterpillars will eat young leaves of holly
and probably of ivy also, but where flower-buds are available
they prefer them and ignore the tender leaves.

The Rev. Gilbert Raynor, on May 18, 1901, observed a
female deposit an egg on an unopened flower-bud of rhododen-
dron in his garden ; and he also mentions that he beat a number
of the caterpillars of all sizes from holly during the first week
of July in the same year.

Mr. Dennis reported that on October 9, 1902, all stages of
the species were to be found at Earl’s Colne, Essex.

Butterflies of the first flight are usually to be seen in April
and May, and of the second, which is perhaps only partial and
may not be represented at all, in July and August. Specimens
have been observed as early as the last week of March, and,
as adverted to above, as late as October. For a few years in
succession the species may become increasingly numerous, and
then suddenly become quite scarce for a year or two. Most
probably this is the result of favourable or unfavourable weather
conditions.

The taller hollies, where these grow in gardens, open woody
places, on hillsides, or even in hedgerows, are frequented by
these butterflies in the spring ; and the ivy-clad walls, etc., are
their haunts in the summer.

The species is widely distributed, and often common, over
the whole of the south of England and Wales. North of the
Midlands, as well as in Ireland, it is more local, and occurs, I
believe, only in the first brood. Possibly in the South of
Ireland there may be a second brood. Barrett states that there
is no reliable record for Scotland.

Abroad, its range extends throughout Europe and Northern
Asia, except the Polar Regions, to China and Japan. It also
occurs in North Africa.

176

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The Small Blue (Zizera minima).

The butterfly on Plate 1 1 5 is sometimes referred to as the
“Bedford Blue” and also as the “ Little Blue.”

Both sexes are blackish, or sooty-brown ; the male is pow-
dered, more or less, with silvery-blue scales. The under side
is greyish-white with a tinge of blue at the base of each wing,
but chiefly on the hind pair; the spots are black encircled with
white. As will be seen on turning to the plate, there is varia-
tion in size. Fig. 5 represents a giant race occurring in some
localities, and the particular specimen depicted was taken, with
many others, on the coast near Lymington, Hants ; it seems to
be referable to var. alsoides , Gerhard. Variation on the under
side is usually in the direction of complete absence of spots, but
Mr. Joy has recorded a specimen with the spots on the hind
wings extended into streaks of considerable but varying length.

Figures of the early stages will be found on Plate 114.

The egg is pale greenish in colour, netted with whitish ; it is
laid in June on the calyx of a flower-bud, generally low down,
of the kidney-vetch ( Anthyllis vulneraria).

According to Buckler, caterpillars hatched on June 21 from
eggs laid between the 1 6th and 1 8th of that month, and at
once commenced to feed on the flowers of the kidney-vetch,
and made their way to the seed, for which they evinced a
marked preference. When full grown, the caterpillar is
brownish, sometimes tinged with pink. The fine bristles are
dark brown ; there is a darker line along the middle of the
back, and a line of dark marks on each side. The head is
black and shining.

The chrysalis is described by Buckler as “ dirty whitish-grey,
appioaching to drab, palest on the back of the abdomen,
gieyish on the head and thorax, both of which are marked with
a black dorsal stripe, which is a little interrupted ; on either

PL 1 1 4

Small Blue.

Eggs , natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalids.

N 176.

Small Blue. I male; 2, 3 female ; 4, 5, c, 7, S ww/f rvj/s.
Mazarine Blue. 9, n male ; 10, 12 jemale.

THE MAZARINE BLUE.

1 77

side is a subdorsal row of short slanting black dashes. The
pale ground colour is sprinkled with some very minute black
specks. The head, thorax, and abdomen are hairy with
bristly whitish hairs.” Although the caterpillars feed up rather
quickly and are full grown and apparently ready to assume the
chrysalis state, they do not effect the change until the following
May or June.

The butterfly emerges in about three weeks, so it will be
seen that this species continues the caterpillar existence for
something over ten months.

On the Continent there are two broods of the butterfly, and
in England there appears to be a partial second flight in some
years, as, for instance, in 1901, when captures in August were re-
ported from Herts, Kent, Surrey, and Wilts. Its haunts are warm
and sunny grassy hollows and slopes, and it is often common
in such places on the chalk hills in the south, from the end of
May to the end of June. According to Barrett it is scarce in
the Eastern Counties ; widely distributed but local in the Mid-
land and Western Counties, even to Devon, and in Wales,
where chalk or limestone is found ; also in extremely restricted
localities in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, and Durham,
and in various places in Scotland, extending as far north as
Aberdeen. In Ireland it is much more plentiful, especially on
the limestone of the west and on the coast hills near Belfast,
and even frequents the sandhills of the Dublin coast.

It is widely spread over Europe, except the Polar parts, and,
apparently, the south of Portugal and Spain ; its range extends
eastward to Amurland, Mongolia, and China.

The Mazarine Blue ( Nomiades semiargus).

The male is dull purplish-blue, narrowly bordered with black-
ish on the outer margin ; the female is dark brown. On the
underside both sexes are pale greyish-brown, with a bluish

178 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

tinge at the base ; there is a black discal spot and a series of
black spots beyond, all ringed with white.

The egg is described as being white in colour and small, and
round in shape.

The caterpillar is of a dingy yellowish-green, with darker
lines on the back and sides ; there are fine hairs on the body,
and the head and spiracles are dark brown (Riihl).

It feeds in July and August on the flowers and seeds of thrift
{Armenia vulgaris ), kidney-vetch ( Anthyllis vulneraria ), and
melilot ( Melilotus officinalis').

The chrysalis is rather oval in shape, pale olive-green in
colour when first formed, in September, but olive-brown later ;
it is attached by the tail to a stalk of the food-plant and has
a silken girdle (Riihl).

This butterfly (Plate 1 1 5) is the cymon of Lewin, who, writing
in 1795, considered it very rare. In 1828 Stephens refers to it as
scarce and local, “found in chalky districts in Norfolk, Cambridge,
Yorkshire, and Dorsetshire ; also near Brockcnhurst and Ames-
bury, Hants ; and on Windlesham Heath, Surrey, towards the
end of May and of July.” Newman (1871) adds Warwickshire,
Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, Monmouthshire, Glamorgan-
shire, Somersetshire, and Lincolnshire. Curtis gives Leicester-
shire and Worcestershire. It seems to have been fairly common,
and even plentiful in some years around Glanville’s Wotton,
Dorset, but has not been seen in that district since 1841 ; at
Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester, it was not uncommon up to
1858 ; as late as 1864 it occurred at Epworth, North Lincoln-
shire. Probably the latest captures in Britain were the specimens
taken in Glamorganshire in the years 1874-77. Tutt mentions
that the butterfly was taken near Cuxton in Kent, some thirty-
five years ago, but it has not since been seen in that locality.

Occurs in May and June and again in July and August
over the greater part of Europe ; its range extends to Asia
Minor, and eastward to Siberia, Mongolia, and Amurland.

PI. 1 1 6.

Large Blue.

Egg, natural size ami enlarged ; chrysalis.

N 1 78.

I

THE LARGE BLUE.

179

The Large Blue ( Nomiades arion).

The butterfly on Plate 117, Figs. 1-6, is the largest “Blue55
found in this country. All the wings on the upper side are deep
blue, and their outer margins are bordered with blackish ; the
discal spot, and a row of spots beyond, are black ; the hind
wings have a row of black dots on the outer margin, and
sometimes, and especially in the female, there is a series of black
dots just beyond the central area ; the fringes ai*e white. The
under side is greyish tinged with blue towards the base of each
wing, but covering nearly the whole of the basal third of the
hind pair ; the spots are black ringed or edged with white ; on the
fore wings there are two in the discal cell and a row of six
beyond ; on the hind wings there are four or five before the
discal spot, and a series of seven beyond ; all the wings have
a double marginal series, and some black dots at the ends of
the nervules. Sometimes the wings have a purplish tinge, and
this is more usually so in Gloucestershire specimens. The
chief variation is in the number and the size of the spots ; these
are occasionally only faintly in evidence, but more rarely perhaps
those beyond the discal spot on the fore wings are of large size
and bar or wedge-like in shape ; the smaller cell-spot is often
absent. A dwarf form is stated to occur at times in all localities.

The complete life-history of this species has yet to be ascer-
tained ; no one seems to be acquainted with the caterpillar
after hibernation. Pretty much all that is known of the early
stages has been worked out by Mr. Frohawk, who has published
some very interesting accounts of his observations in the
Entomologist for 1899 and I9°3) and from these the following
details have been obtained.

The egg (Plate 116) is bluish-white in colour, and is laid
singly among the buds of wild thyme ( Thymus serpylluni).

Caterpillars hatched on July 10 from eggs received the

i8o

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

previous day ; they were placed upon thyme blossoms and soon
commenced to feed, one being observed to eat its way into the
base of the calyx so that the forepart of the caterpillar was
hidden. In its colouring and downy covering the caterpillar so
closely resembles the flower-buds of the thyme that it is very
difficult to detect. After the third moult (July 26) the colour
is a uniform, dull, ochreous-pink ; there are four rows of long
curved hairs, each row composed of a single hair on each ring
from the fourth to the ninth inclusive ; the first three rings have
each a set of three subdorsal hairs, those on the first ring curving
forwards ; the bases of the hairs resemble glass-like pedestals
with fluted sides. The head is ochreous with dark brown mark-
ings in front. The caterpillar at this stage develops an aversion
to thyme or any other plant offered to it, and seems to be anxious
to hide itself in the ground.

The chrysalis, which is figured on Plate 116 (after Frohawk),
is ochreous when first formed, but becomes darker gradually ;
the wing-cases, however, remain of the original colour, but their
hind margins darken. From a chrysalis found on July 12 the
butterfly emerged on July 16.

There is some evidence in favour of the supposition that
this caterpillar is in some way dependent upon ants for nourish-
ment after the third moult, if not before, but what the exact
requirement may be is not known. Probably the circum-
stances connected with the discovery of the chrysalis in 1905
by Messrs. Frohawk & Ray ward may afford a valuable clue to
the direction in which their future investigation will have to be
conducted. We may hope, therefore, that the mystery that has
so long hung over the last stages of the caterpillar will be solved
before very long.

Lewin ( 1 795) and Donovan (1796) both refer to this as a
rare English butterfly. The former states that it is on the
wing in July, and is found on high chalky lands in different
parts of the kingdom, having been taken on the cliffs in the

THE LARGE BLUE. I Si

neighbourhood of Dover, Marlborough Downs, the hills near
Bath, and near Clifden in Bucks.

Stephens, in 1828, wrote of it as “an insect of great rarity.”
He mentioned the localities given by the older authors, and
added that it had been taken in the Mouse s Pasture, near
Bedford, in rocky situations in North Wales, and had been
plentiful near Winchester.

Newman (1871) wrote, “ Its ‘metropolis,5 if I may borrow an
expression from the revered fathers of British entomology, is in
South Devon ; it has occurred in some abundance in Somerset-
shire, and on the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire ; from
Gloucestershire we ascend to a Midland county, Northampton-
shire, in which county (at Barnwell Wold) a considerable
number have been taken.” One specimen was reported from
Charmouth in Dorsetshire, and the butterfly has also been
recorded from Herefordshire, but these are matters of ancient
history. At the present time the species is only to be found in
limited numbers in the Cotswolds ; it seems to have’ become
much rarer than formerly in its South Devon locality, i.e. Bolt-
head, near Plymouth ; one never hears of it now from Clovelly,
in North Devon, where, according to Dale, it was once reported
to be abundant. In 1891 Messrs. Waterhouse obtained a fine
series of specimens in West Cornwall, and since that time the
district has been annually visited by an increasing number of
entomologists. Judging from the “big bags” that are made
each year it would seem that the butterfly has a very strong
and widely distributed settlement in those parts.

Abroad it is distributed throughout Europe, except the Polar
and the south-western parts, and is also found in Armenia,
Bithynia, and South Siberia.

Our next species belongs to the Nemeobiinse, a sub-family
of Lemoniidas = Erycinidae. Only one member of the family
is known to occur in Europe ; this is Nemeobius lucina.

1 82

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

As the fore legs of the male butterfly are aborted, and are
therefore useless for walking, the species would seem to come
near the Nymphalidas, in which the fore legs of the butterflies,
in both sexes, are reduced. In its early stages, however, the
species seems to be most nearly related to the Lyceenidee.

The Duke of Burgundy Fritillary (Ne me obi us lucina).

This butterfly is figured on Plate 120. The male is black,
with three transverse tawny bands on the fore wings ; these
are crossed by the black veins, and so form series of irregular
spots. Those on the outer margin have black centres ; on the
hind wings there are three or four tawny spots on the disc,
and a series of black centred tawny spots on the outer area.
The female is similar to the male, but the tawny markings are
wider, so that the fore wings appear to be of this colour, with
a black patch at the base, two black irregular lines, and a
series of black spots on the outer margin. On the under side
of the hind wings there are two transverse series of whitish
spots, and a series of black spots on the outer margin. The
wings of this sex are always broader than those of the male,
and the apex of the fore wings is not so distinctly pointed.
Variation is not usually of a very pronounced character, and
in a general way it consists mainly in a greater or lesser amount
of black in the male, and this more particularly on the hind
wings, and an increase in the tawny colour in the female ; in
the latter sex, outer marginal black spots are sometimes absent
from all the wings. Barrett mentions two extreme aberrations.
In one, a female, the usually dark spaces, bands, and veins are
of an exceedingly pale brown, suffused with fulvous, so as to be
comparatively indistinct; another example, a male, has the
basal area of the fore wings pale, and the first transverse dark
band absent.

The eggs of this species are to be found at the end of May

PL 1 1 8.

i, 3 Common Blue vars., male ; 6 do. female.
2. 5, 8. II Adonis Blue vars., male; 4, 7 , do. female.
g 10 Chalkhill Blue va.rs., female ; 12 tie. male.

N 182.

1,2, 3 Small Copper vars. ; 4 Adonis Blue var.
5 Common Blue var. ; 6, 7, 8 Gatekeeper vars.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARY. 1 83

on the under sides of the leaves of the cowslip ( Primula verts),
sometimes as many as ten on one leaf, but as a rule there will
only be one or two on a plant. When laid, the egg is very
glassy in appearance, but it gradually turns to a pinkish-grey ;
and when the caterpillar is formed inside, the shell becomes
transparent, and its occupant can be clearly seen. It eats a
considerable portion of the shell in making its exit therefrom,
and afterwards consumes the remainder of the shell. When in
its last skin the caterpillar is brown, covered with short
whitish hair, among which are some longer dark brown or
blackish hairs ; the lines on the back and sides are blackish,
and there are black dots on the front part of each segment or
ring. Head, honey brown, notched on the crown ; eyes and
jaws, brownish. It feeds from June to August on cowslip, but
will also eat primrose ( Primula vulgaris ), and hides among
dead and withered leaves beneath the food-plant (Plate 121).

The chrysalis is pale whity-brown, hairy above, with black
dots ; head and the upper edge of the wing-cases streaked with
black.

Occasionally a few butterflies emerge in August, but they
usually remain in the chrysalis until May or June.

This is a woodland species, and prefers the sunny but
sheltered nooks and glades, but also resorts to the broader
rides and pathways. Flowers do not seem to have any strong
attraction for it, but it may often be seen sitting on the foliage
of a bush or sapling tree. It appears to be pretty widely dis-
tributed, although to a certain extent local, throughout the
southern half of England, but seems to have almost or quite
disappeared from the counties of Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and
Essex. Dumfries is the only locality in Scotland from which
it has been reported.

Its distribution abroad is limited to Central Europe, Den-
mark, Livonia, Southern Sweden, Central Spain North Italy,
and the Balkans.

1 84 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

Now follow the Skippers (Hesperiidae), of which kind of
butterfly we have eight species in England. Of these the first
two belong to the Hesperiinae and the others to the PamphilinEe.

*

The Grizzled Skipper (. Hesperia malvce).

The wings of the butterfly figured on Plate 122 are blackish,
ornamented with numerous white spots, which are more or less
square in shape, on the fore wings. The fringes are chequered
black and white.

The male differs from the female in having the front edge
of the fore wings folded towards the base, and these wings
have scattered greyish scales on the basal area ; the central
series of spots on the hind wings are also more in evidence,
and not infrequently unite and become band-like. Variation
consists in modification of the markings, chiefly in a tendency
of the spots to run together, culminating in var. tar as , Bergstr.,
in which the white spots of the fore wings are confluent and
form a large blotch. This variety was figured by Petiver in
1717, but was not named by Bergstrasser until 1780. Haworth
described it as lavatercc, and Newman figured it under the same
name.

On a small plant of Alpine strawberry, sent by the Rev.
Gilbert Raynor, were three eggs of this butterfly. These were
pale green in colour, ribbed, and delicately netted with cross-
lines. On June 26, three caterpillars were noticed on the upper
side of the leaves, each on a separate leaf, and under cover of a
few coarse silken threads. They were pale steely-grey, with black
heads, and plates on the first and last segments of the body.

As the supply of strawberry foliage was failing, the cater-
pillars were given bramble on July 21, and the next day
each was found enclosed in a sort of envelope formed of a
bramble leaf. They were then seemingly in their last skin,
whitish-green in colour, and covered with short whitish hair ;

Pl. 121.

Duke of Burgundy Fritillary.

Pig enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis.

X iSv

THE GRIZZLED SKIPPER.

185

a whitish edged dark olive-brown line along the back, and
similar lines on the sides ; between the rings the colour was
pale ochreous. The date of pupation was not noted, but on
September 9, one of the spun-together bramble leaves was
opened, and a chrysalis found within. This was pale brown,
with dark brown or blackish marks along the back and sides ;
the head and back were covered with dense pale reddish-brown
bristles ; the wing, leg, and antennm cases were greenish,
smooth, and shaded with brownish. Between the head and
first ring of the body above there was a deep furrow, with
a black-centred white spot on each side of it (Plate 123).

Besides the plants adverted to above, the caterpillars will
eat raspberry ( Rubus idcrus) and cinquefoil (Potcntilla fra-
gariastrum and P. reptans).

The butterfly is pretty generally distributed in Great Britain,
but does not seem to be common in Ireland, as Kane only men-
tions two examples, from Killarney. It is found in May and June
on chalk downs and other hillsides, especially in the hollows
and sheltered nooks, also in and around woods, and in rough
fields. On dull days and at night it may be found sitting,
with the wings erect over the back, on various seed-heads, etc.

The species is double brooded on the Continent, and occa-
sionally a few butterflies will appear in August, but such
emergences depend on a combination of favourable circum-
stances. In very forward seasons it has been seen on the wing
during the last week in April.

Its range extends over Europe and into Northern Asia.

As Barrett refers to the capture in Norfolk (May or June,
i860) of several specimens of the Central and South European
species, II. alveus , Hub., it may be well to mention it here,
if only for the purpose of quoting his remarks thereon. After
detailing the facts connected with the occurrence, he states,
“It seems undesirable now to introduce the species to a place

1 86 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

in the British list, but rather to record the captures in question
as specimens accidentally introduced with plants, or else the
result of a very exceptional act of migration.”

The Dingy Skipper ( Thanaos tages).

The wings are fuscous, with darker fuscous transverse bands
on the middle third of the fore wings ; the space between these
is sometimes, and in both sexes, whitish ; there are some
whitish spots on the outer band, usually towards the costa, but
occasionally on the middle also, and a series of white points on
the outer margin of all the wings. The hind wings have a
whitish discal dot and a band beyond the middle, which is
almost parallel with the outer margin. The male has a well-
marked fold on the costa (Plate 122).

The egg is whitish-green when freshly laid ; it afterwards
changes in colour to orange. The caterpillar is yellowish-
green with a darker line along the back and a paler line on
each side ; the spiracles are red and edged with whitish. The
head is pale brown, striped and marked with purplish-black.
The body, together with the head, is covered with a short
whitish pile. It feeds on bird’s-foot trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus)
from June until August, when it hibernates. I have not seen
the chrysalis, but it has been described as dark green with the
body tinged with rosy red.

The butterfly is on the wing in May and June ; in some
seasons it has been seen as early as the end of April. Very
occasionally, perhaps, there is a partial second flight in August.
It has been reported as plentiful at Lyme Regis in August.

I took one or two specimens about the middle of August,
1903, in the New Forest district, and in the same month of 1905
one of two caterpillars sent to me by Dr. Chapman pupated in
August, and the butterfly emerged some time in the autumn,
as I found it dead in the box early in October. Both the

3 ^ l*

PI. 122.

Grizzled Skipper.

1 ) 2> 7 male; 4, 5, 8 female ; 3 var. male ; 6 do. female

X 1 uU.

Dingy Skipper. 9, 10, 12 male; 11, 13, 14 female.

Dingy Skipper.

Egg*> natural size and enlarged l caterpillar anil its shelter.

PL 123.

Grizzled Skipper.

Eggs' naiural size and enlarged ; caterpillar and shelter; chrysalis

: v 18

in cocoon.

THE SMALL SKIPPER.

I87

caterpillars had spun together sprays of the food-plant as shown
in the figure, Plate 123. One was removed for its portrait to be
taken, and it was supposed that the other bundle contained a
caterpillar also, and was not examined.

The butterfly affects open places in, or the edges of, woods in
chalky districts, also the slopes of chalk downs and other hillsides,
as well as railway banks and even rough fields. It evidently
delights in sunshine, and may often be seen basking on a stone
or the bare earth. When at rest at night or on dull days it sits
on a dead seed-head or grass glume, with the wings closed
down over its back like a noctuid moth, and is then difficult to
detect until the eye becomes accustomed to its appearance. It is
widely distributed in Great Britain, but it is more at home on
chalk and limestone than elsewhere. In such localities as the
fens of Norfolk and Cambridge it is scarce, and seems to
have a rather limited distribution in Ireland, in which country
Galway is its headquarters, according to Kane.

Abroad, it is found throughout Europe, and its range extends
to Western Asia.

The Small Skipper ( Adopaa thaumas).

All the wings are brownish-orange, with the veins darker and
becoming black towards the outer margins, especially on the
fore wings. The male has a black sexual mark (Plate 125).

Except that the colour varies in the direction of a pale golden
tint there is little in the way of aberration in this butterfly. At
least one gynandrous specimen has been recorded.

The following descriptions of the early stages (Plate 124),
as well as the figures of the caterpillar and the chrysalis, are
from Buckler’s “ Larva? of British Butterflies” : —

The egg “ is of a long oval figure, half as long again as wide,
the shell glistening, devoid of ribs or reticulation ; at first white,
then turning dull yellowish, and at last paler again, with the

1 88 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

dark head of the caterpillar showing through. The young
caterpillar eats part of the empty egg-shell.”

The full-grown caterpillar is of a delicate light green, the
stripe along the back is rather bluish-green, with paler green
central and side lines ; the spiracles are flesh-coloured, and
below these there is a somewhat creamy-white stripe. The
head is deeper green than the body, and roughened with
minute points. It feeds in June on Holcus lanatus , Brachy-
ftodium sylvaticum , and probably other kinds of soft grasses,
and its assimilation, both in colour and texture, with the blades
of grass is remarkable. Before changing to the chrysalis it
encloses itself within two or sometimes three leaves of the grass,
joined together longitudinally by lacing or spinning with white
silk, the edges more or less close to each other, and becomes
completely hidden.

The chrysalis is secured in the silken chamber, head upward,
by an oblique cincture behind the thorax, and the anal tip
fastened by a fan-like spread of fine hooks at the extremity
fixed in the silk. The colour is similar to that of the caterpillar,
and the lines arc fairly in evidence. Caterpillars that spun up
on June 18 to 23 produced butterflies on July 15 and 16.

Hcllins states that eggs were laid in a row in a folded blade
of grass about July 29, and that the caterpillars hatched out
on August t 2.

According to Hawes, the caterpillar of this species does not
hatch from the egg until the following spring.

Although it does not seem to be very plentiful in fenlands,
this butterfly certainly has a partiality for damp places, whether
in the rides, or on the sides of woods, on hill slopes, or waste
ground. Wherever there is a fairly large growth of the taller
soft grasses that the caterpillars feed upon, there the butterfly
may be found in July and August throughout the greater part
of England and Wales. Reported from the Edinburgh district
in Scotland ; [and in Ireland from Powerscourt and near Cork.

Essex Skipper.

■Eggs> natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar.

PL 124.

Lulworth Skipper.

I'-K~SS enlarged ; caterpillar and chrysalis.

N 1 88.

2

Small Skipper. T)
Essex Skipper.
Lulworth Skipper.

O l Ny.

w ale ; ?, 4 female.

7 >na ,'c ; 6. s female.

9< 1 1 male; ip, 12 female.

THE ESSEX SKIPPER.

189

The Essex Skipper ( Adopaa lineola).

This butterfly is very like the Small Skipper, but may be
separated from it, in both sexes, by the black under sides of the
knobs of the antennas. The black sexual mark in the male is
finer, shorter, and much less oblique (Plate 125).

The egg (Plate 124) is pale greenish-yellow, oval in shape,
flattened above and below ; the top is slightly depressed. The
eggs are deposited in July or August, in dried grass seed-heads
and inside the sheath of a leaf, and the caterpillars, according to
Hawes, do not hatch until April.

The caterpillar is green, with the incisions between the rings
yellowish ; there is a darker green stripe on the back, and the
lines on the sides are yellow. The head is pale brown and
striped with darker brown. It feeds from April to June on
coarse grasses, such as Tnticum repens. When full grown “ it
spins together the stems of the grass low down, with a network
of white silk for pupation ” (Hawes). The chrysalis is described
as being long, yellowish-green in colour, and retaining the dark
dorsal stripe seen in the caterpillar.

No doubt this butterfly has been with us all the time, but it
appears to have escaped detection until the year 1888, when
Mr. Hawes, in July of that year, met with it in Essex. He,
however, did not then consider the three specimens that he
had taken with A. thaumas anything more than queer varieties
of that species, and it was not until January, 1890, that the fact
of A. lineola being British was published. Since that time
this Skipper has been found in a great many parts of Essex,
but chiefly along the coast, and in such localities as Ben-
fleet, Canvey, Dovercourt, Shoeburyness, Southend, etc. At
Hadleigh it is often very abundant. Other localities are
Sheerness, Cliffe, and Gravesend, in Kent. It has also been
reported from near Sudbury, and from Harwich, and Chappel

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

190

in Suffolk; from Ashton Wold in Northamptonshire. In 1S98
five specimens, identified by the Rev. Gilbert Raynor, were
taken near Bedford. Barrett, who mentions Wicken Fen and
Burwell among other localities, says that it has a “partiality for
the embankments which protect the cultivated land from the
inroad of the high tides which flood the salt marshes. Here
it flits about, or sits on the coarse seaside grasses or on
blossoms of thistle, or Lotus corniculatus , indicating rather
sluggish habits, yet flying swiftly when disturbed. Further
inland it seems to frequent chalky hillsides and marshes.” It
is on the wing in July and August.

The species is found in all parts of the Palaearctic Region
except the most northern and the Canary Isles.

The Lulworth Skipper ( Adopaa actaoii).

Compared with the other two species on Plate 125, the
coloration of this butterfly is somewhat dingy ; it is, however,
enlivened, especially in the female, by a short dash and a
curved series of orange spots in the upper half of the fore
wings. The male has. a black sexual mark which is very
similar to that of the Small Skipper. There seems to be very
little to note in variation, except that the orange markings
referred to are subject to modification, and in the male may be
altogether absent. An example taken at Swanage, in 1903, had
the wings on the left side male, and those on the right side
female.

The egg, figured, from a photograph, on Plate 124, is whitish,
faintly tinged with yellowish.

1 he mature caterpillar is pale greyish, or yellowish, green,
with the dorsal vessel darker, and edgred with a slender pale
yellow line on either side, and enclosing a pale longitudinal
line along its middle. A narrow yellowish line runs above on
the side and a broader one below. The two dorsal lines are

THE LULWORTH SKIPPER.

191

prolonged as far as the middle of the head, and run to the
end of the flat anal shield, which is narrowly edged with pale
yellow. The head is greenish with two yellowish lines. The
two snow-white patches on the under side of the ninth and
tenth rings of the body are conspicuous as in lineola, sylvauus,
and comma. This white substance is spread out at the tail end
of the caterpillar of actccon, when it has formed its chrysalis
case (Zeller).

Buckler, referring to four caterpillars found on Br achy podium
sylvaticum, June 11, states that they completed their growth
on a diet of Triticum repcns. They ate out wedge-shaped
portions from the sides of the grass blades, and when they had
finished their repast, they crawled down to the middle of the
blade, and theie spun a coating of white silk from one side to
the other, causing the two edges of the blade to draw together
a little, and then in the silk-lined hollow they rested until
hungei obliged them to ascend the blade again for another
meal. About June 23 they had ceased to feed, and were begin-
ning to fasten themselves within more closely constructed
retreats, formed where two blades of grass obliquely crossed
each other. The colour of the chrysalis is similar to that of
the caterpillar, and the lines are faintly traceable. The butter-
flies appeared July 14 to 18, emerging at night, and ready for
flight in the morning.

This insect received its English name in 1832, when it was
first discovered in this country at Lulworth Cove, in Dorsetshire.
It has since been found to occur at Durdle Cove, and the*
Burning Cliff, Weymouth, and the latter locality appears to be
its most eastern limit. Its range extends westward along the
coast of Dorsetshire and Devonshire to Sidmouth, Seaton and
Torquay ; and there are records of its having been observed
m Cornwall According to Mr. E. R. Bankes, as quoted by
Bairett, this butterfly is not confined to the coast line in Dorset
.but is to be found in two or three spots along the chalk range

192 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

of the Purbeck Hills, at a distance of four or five miles from the
sea. He also states that the species is only single brooded,
that the best time for it is from the beginning of July to the
middle of August, and that the food-plant of the caterpillar is
Brachypodium pinnatum.

The blossoms of rest-harrow ( Ononis arvensis ) are said to
be the particular vanity of the butterfly, and it is seldom found
visiting any other flower. Abroad the species is not especially
attached to the sea-coast, but occurs inland throughout Central
and Southern Europe, its range extending to Asia Minor and
Syria, and also to North-West Africa.

The Large Skipper ( Augiades sylvanus).

The male has the discal area of the fore wings bright fulvous,
and the outer area broadly brown ; the sexual mark is black ;
the hind wings are tinged with fulvous on the disc, and have
brighter fulvous spots. The female is brown with a fulvous
discal wedge on the fore wings, and an angulate series of fulvous
spots beyond ; hind wings as in the male, but spots rather more
defined. In some examples of this sex the spots on the fore
wings are confluent, and the discal area is then fulvous as in
the male (Plate 126).

The egg is whitish or greenish- white, and is laid on a blade
of grass. Hellins states that from eggs laid about July 1 the
caterpillars hatched on July 13 ; they chose cocks-foot grass
(. Dactylis glomeratd) for food, and rested in the middle of a
blade, fastening its edges across with five or six distinct little
ropes of white silk.

I he young caterpillar figured on Plate 127 was on Septem-
ber 1 1 about half an inch in length, and had been removed
from the grass tube, also shown, to be figured ; the head was
then pale brown, bordered and lined with purplish brown ; the
body was darkish green, paler on the last ring, and with darker

THE SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER.

193

lines on the back and sides. After hibernation (the figure of
this stage of the caterpillar is from Buckler), in May, the
caterpillar is about one inch long, pale green in colour ; the
skin is thickly covered with very short dark brown bristles,
“ the head dirty white with a dark brown stripe down the outer
edge of each lobe, the neck whitish-green” (Hellins).

The chrysalis was formed in the grass cocoon shown with it.
The general colour was brown with the wing-cases darker, and
a darker suffusion on the back.

The egg-laying of this butterfly has been observed by Mr.
Ullyett, who states that the female, having selected a suitable
grass-stem, deposits eggs in a line in a sheath formed by the
leaf round the stem. The caterpillars hibernate in tubes of
grass, and feed up in the spring.

This butterfly has been supposed to be double brooded, but
there does not seem to be any direct evidence that this is so.
It is on the wing in grassy places on the slopes of downs and
other hillsides, also in rides, and on the margins of woods,
from early June until well into July, and sometimes even later
in the year. It is found in most of our English counties, and
also in Scotland, south of the Forth. I11 Ireland it is not
uncommon in a meadow in Lord Kenmare’s demesne, Killarney,
and has been recorded from the Morrough of Wicklow.

Abroad its distribution extends through Europe and Northern
Asia to China and Japan, and also to North Africa.

The Silver-spotted Skipper ( Augiades comma).

This butterfly is very similar on the upper side to the Large
Skipper, but the spots, especially those nearest the front edge
of the fore wings, are yellower. On the under side the greenish
tinge of the ground colour, and the silvery spots, make the
identification quite easy. The black sex mark in the male is
very similar to that of the last species (Plate 126).

194

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

The males vary a little in the width of the marginal border,
and in some females there is almost as much fulvous on the
discal area of the wings as in the male ; in the darkest females
the spots always appear paler than in fulvous specimens. On
the under side the ground colour is sometimes olive-brown
rather than green.

The following account of the life-history of this butterfly is
adapted from Mr. Frohawk’s article on the subject published in
the Entomologist for 1901 : —

In August, whilst watching some of the butterflies on the
wing over a patch of chalky ground covered with a short dense
growth of various grasses, etc., he noted a female hovering
close over the plants. Presently it settled on a tuft of hair grass
( Aira cccsftitosa ), and after walking over and among it a little
time, she curved her abdomen down, and deposited a single
egg on one of the fine hair-like blades, or, rather, spines, and
close by, within an inch, another egg was found. Afterwards
some plants of this grass were potted up, and some females
placed on them. These deposited a large number of eggs
upon the grass-stems and blades.

The egg when newly laid is pearl white with the slightest
yellowish-green tinge, which very gradually turns deeper in
colour, assuming a pale straw-yellow on the sixth day, and so
it remains until January, when it becomes paler.

The caterpillar hatches out at the end of March or early in
April. It does not eat the empty egg-shell, but directly after
leaving the egg it starts spinning the fine grass together into
a somewhat dense cluster an inch or two above the ground.
In this compact shelter the larva lives and feeds upon the grass
surrounding it, remaining almost always completely hidden.
Sometimes as many as three or four live together. When full
grown and about one hundred days old, the caterpillar is of a
dull olive-green colour, with a black collar on the first ring, and
the entire surface densely sprinkled with minute shining black

V7. 126. c 194

Large Skipper. 1 , 3 male ; 2, 4 female.

Silver-Spotted Skipper. 5,7 male - 6, 8 Jcmau.

Chequered Skipper. 9, 10 male; n jemaie.

Large Skipper.

Egg, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillars , chrysalis and

cocoon.

Silver-spotted Skipper.

Egg, natural size and enlarged ; caterpillar.

PL 127.

Chequered Skipper.

Pgg enlarged and caterpillar.

O 195.

i95

THE CHEQUERED SKIPPER.

warts, each emitting a tiny amber-colourecl spine with a cleft
knobbed apex. The head is blackish marked with ochieous
lines. It still resides in a tube of grass spun closely together,
and feeds on any other kind of grass that happens to be intei-
woven with the A ira. Just before pupation the cateipillai often
crawls restlessly about, but in some instances it does not leave
its place of feeding, and spins a strong, coarse network cocoon
among the grass close to the ground, weaving the gnawed loose
pieces of grass with the fine stems and blades, and theiein
pupates during the latter part of July.

The chrysalis is secured in the cocoon by hooks- at the tail
and by hooked bristles on the head ; the head and thorax aie
pale olive mottled with blackish ; the body olive, spotted with
dark olive, and inclining to yellow on the ventral surface ;
below each spiracle is a short longitudinal mark ; the spiiacles
are amber-brown.

The butterfly is to be found in August on most of our
chalk hills, but has not been recorded from either Scotland or
Ireland.

It is a very quick flyer and difficult to capture when on the
wing, but it is fond of sitting on low-growing thistles, and is
then sometimes easy to take. Abroad it occurs throughout
Europe and Northern Asia to China and Japan.

The Chequered Skipper ( Carter ocephalus palamon).

The well-defined yellow or orange spots on the blackish-
brown ground colour distinguish this butterfly from all other
British Skippers.

The variation is only of a minor kind, and chiefly in the
direction of an increase or a decrease in the number and the
size of the spots. Occasionally those on the central area of
the fore wings are much enlarged and more or less confluent ;

196 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

and the spots on the outer margin of the hind wings are some-
times very small or entirely absent.

The following particulars of the early stages are abstracted
from Mr. Frohawk’s life-history of the species ( Entoinologist ,
1892) :

Living females received in June were placed on a growing
plant of brome grass ( Bromus asper ), and a few eggs were
deposited, some upon the blades of grass, others upon the
gauze-covered glass jar in which the plant was placed ; they
were laid singly, firmly adhering to whatever laid upon. The
first lot of eggs were deposited on June 14. The egg has a
pearly appearance, being whitish or yellowish-white in colour.
Ten days after the egg is deposited the young caterpillar
emerges by eating away the crown. Soon after hatching out
the young caterpillar makes a little tubular dwelling, drawing
together the edges of the grass-blade by spinning about three
or four stout cords of silk, which quickly contract, causing the
edges to draw together, and sometimes to overlap, forming a
compact short tube ; generally before spinning it nibbles off
the extreme edge of tire blade where the silk is afterwards
attached. It feeds upon the blade both above and below its
abode, devouring so much that frequently only the midrib of
the blade remains, and the tube only just long enough to
conceal it ; it then shifts its quarters, and prepares a new home.

On October 3, when one hundred and one days old, the
caterpillar was pale primrose-yellow, and the stripes of a
slightly darker hue, the white lateral line showing clearly, and
spiracles brownish ; the head pale buff with a faint lilac tinge
with a black patch above the mouth and brownish at the sides.
In the previous stage the caterpillar was whitish-green with a
rather dark green line along the middle of the back, this line
bordered on each side by an almost white, very fine line,
followed by alternate darker and lighter lines, the lightest
being extremely fine ; “ then a subdorsal darker green line,

THE CHEQUERED SKIPPER.

197

bordered laterally by a conspicuous whitish line, which is again
bordered below by a paler and indistinct green line, and a very
faint spiracular whitish stripe, on which the spiracles are
placed ; they are white, outlined by a dark but indistinct ring ;
the under surface is whitish-green.”

About the middle of October the hibernaculum was formed
by spinning two blades of grass together at the edges, so
making a tube, in which the caterpillar remained during the
winter. On March 21 it left its retreat, but did not seem to
feed, and generally remained quiet, lying along a grass-blade.
On April 3 “ it had drawn together with silk six blades of
grass at the ends, forming a tent-like structure, and along the
surface of one of the broadest a little carpet of silk was spun,
upon which it rested with its head uppermost ; a silk cord also
encircled its body round the fourth segment.” It assumed the
chrysalis state on April 8, and had then passed two hundred
and eighty-nine days in the caterpillar condition. The chrysalis
measures five-eighths of an inch in length, is fairly cylindrical,
but tapering to the tail. “Dorsal view : the head is pointed in
front in the form of a short conical beak ; the eyes are rather
prominent ; the thorax is swollen in the middle, the widest
part, and then gradually tapers towards the last segment,
which is elongated and flattened. Lateral view : the beak is
slightly upturned, the thorax convexed, and the segment next
the thorax is rather swollen in the middle, so forming a rather
decided depression at the base of the thorax, where the silken
cord passes round ; the body gradually tapering to the last
segment, which terminates in a long compressed curved process
furnished with long hooks ; the wing-cases extend down two-
thirds its length, and only very little, if at all, swollen ; the
antennae and legs are but feebly modelled ; the tongue is well
defined, it is dusky at the base, blending into black at the
apex ; the colour is of a very pale primrose-yellow, shading
into pearly grey, and semi-transparent on the head, wings, and

198

THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES.

flap ; a dark medio-dorsal line commences at the base of the
beak, and passes down the entire length, gradually fading off
in the anal extremity ; it is blackest on the head and first
abdominal segment, and palest on the thorax, where it is light
brown ; there are two rust-red subdorsal lines, which run
parallel from the base of the antennae to the last segment ;
another similar line, united along the inner margin of the wing,
passes over two spiracles, and then runs parallel with the sub-
dorsal lines. . . . The antennae and wings are faintly outlined
with dusky brown. In general appearance and colouring the
pupa closely resembles a piece of dead withered grass.”

A female butterfly emerged on May 20, the transformation
from egg to perfect insect thus occupying about eleven months.
This local butterfly is on the wing in June ; sometimes it is seen
in the latter part of May, and, more rarely perhaps, in July.

This species appears to have been first noticed as an in-
habitant of Britain in 1798, in which year specimens were taken
in Clapham Park Wood, Bedfordshire, by Dr. Abbott, who,
four years later, also reported the butterfly from White Wood,
Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire. In 1823 it was found to occur at
Castor Hanglands, near Peterborough ; and in 1841 Doubleday
met with it, in large numbers, in Monk’s Wood, Huntingdon-
shire. Among other localities from which it has been reported
are Ropsley Wood, near Grantham, Notts, and Wychwood
Forest, Oxfordshire.

In its special localities, which, at the present time, are chiefly
the larger woods in Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and
Buckinghamshire, it frequents the flowers of ground ivy
{Nepeta, glechoma) and of the bugle (. Ajuga reptans).

Abroad it is locally common in various parts of Central
Europe ; also occurs in Finland, Central and Northern Russia,
Dalmatia, Piedmont, and in Labrador, and other parts of
North America..

A CLASSIFIED LIST OF THE BRITISH

BUTTERFLIES

Papilionidse.

PAPILIONIN/E
Papilio machaon
PIERIN/E

Aporia cratsegi
Pieris brassiere
,, rapre
,, napi
,, daplidice
Pontia daplidice
Euchloe cardamines
Leucophasia sinapis
Leptidia sinapis
Colias liyale
Eurymus kirbyi
Colias edusa
Eurymus hyale
Gonepteryx rhamni
Colias rhamni

Nymphalidae.

APATURINaE
Apatura iris
NYMPIIALIN/E
Limenitis sibylla
Limenitis Camilla
Polygonia c-album
Grapla c-album

Vanessa polychloros
Eugonia polychloros
Vanessa urticre
Aglais urtica:
Vanessa io

,, antiopa
Euvanessa antiopa
Pyrameis cardui
,, atalanta

Argynnis paphia
,, adippe

„ aglaia

,, latbonia

,, euphrosyne

Bren l his euphrosyne
Argynnis selcne
Brenthis selcne
Melitrea athalia
,, cinxia
,, aurinia

DANAIN.E

x\nosia plexippus

SATYRIN/E

Melanargia galatea
Erebia epiphron
Melampias epiphron
Erebia sethiops

200

CLASSIFIED LIST OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.

Satyrus semelc
Hipparchia semelc
Pararge egeria
,, megsera
Satyrus megcera
Epinephele ianira
Epinephele jurtina
Epinephele tithonus
Aphantopus hyperanthus
Hipparchia hyperanthus
Enodia hyperanthus
Coenonympha typhon
Coenonympha tiphon
Ccenonympha pamphilus

Lycaenidae.

LYC/ENIN/E

Zephyrus betulae
Thecla betulce
Zephyrus quercus
Thecla quercus
Thecla pruni
,, w-album
Callophrys rubi
Thecla rubi
Chrysophanus dispar
Polyommatus dispar
Lycccna dispar
Chrysophanus phi seas
Polyommatus phlceas
Lyccena phlceas
Lampides bceticus
Lyccena bocticus
Cupido argiades
Lyccena argiades
Lycaena argus
Lyccena cegon
Plebeius argus

Lycaena astrarche
Lyccena agestis
Lycaena icarus
Plebeius alexis
Polyotnmatus icarus
Lycaena corydon

Polyommatus corydon
Lycaena bellargus
Lyccena adonis
Polyommatus thctis
Cyaniris argiolus
Zizera minima
Lyccena minima
Nomiades semiargus
Lycccna acis

, , semiargus
Nomiades arion
Polyommatus arion
Lyccena anon

Lemoniidse.

NEMEOKIIN/E

Nemeobius lucina

Hesperiidae.

IIESPERIIN.E
Hesperia malvae
Thanaos tages
Hisoniades tages
PAM PHI LIN/E
Adopoea thaumas
,, lineola
j , actaeon
Augiades comma
Erynnis comma
Augiades sylvanus
Carterocephalus palaemou
Pamphila palccmon

INDEX.

* Species so marked in this Index are reputed British.

+o+

ADONIS BLUE, 170. Plates no,
in, 119

Adopeea actaon, 190, Plates 124, 125 ;
li?ieola , 189, Plates 124, 125; than-
mas, 187, Plates 124, 125
Ammonia jar, 19
Androconia, 14
Angles of wings, 12. Fig. 9
Anosia menippe, 106 ; plexippus , 106,
Plates 72, 120
Antennae, 4, 9

Apatura iris, 56, Plates 28, 29, 31 ;

var. iole, 57, Plate 31
Aphantopus hyperant hus, 130, Plates
88, 89 ; var. arete , 13 1 ; var. cceca,

1 31, Plate 89; var. lanceolata ,

1 3 1 ; var. obsoleta, 13 1
Aporia crateegi , 32. Plates 4, 5
Argynnis adippe , 87, Plates 53, 54>

57 ; var. cleodoxa , 88 ; var. locuples,

89 ; aglaia, 89, Plates 55, 59, 61 ;
var. charlotta , 90 ; euphrosyne , 94,
Plates 56, 64, 65 ; lathonia, 91,
Plates , 58, 63 ; niobe,* 88 ; paphia ,

84, iYater 50, 51, 52, 57; var.
valesina , 84, Plates 52, 57 ; selene,

96, Plates 56, 62, 66
Armature, 2
“Arran Brown,” 117
Augiades comma, 193, Plates 126, 127;
sylvanus, 192, Plates 126, 127

BATH White, 41. Plates 12, 14
Benzine, 28

Black Hairstreak, 143. Plates 96, 97
Black-veined White, 32. Plates 3, 4
Bloxworth Blue, 156, Plates 102, 103
Board for Flat-setting, 22. Figs. 15-17
Brace and Band Modes of Setting,
24. Fig. 20

Brimstone, 54. Plates 25, 26
Brown Argus, 161. Plates 104, 105
,, Hairstreak, 138. Plates 94, 95

CALLOPHRYS rubi, 147. Plates
96, 97

Camberwell Beauty, 73- Plates 41,
42> 43

Carterocephalus palcemon , 195. Plates
126, 127

Caterpillar stage, 2
Chalk Hill Blue, 127. Plates 108,
109, 117

Chequered Skipper, 195. Plates 126,
127

Chloroform Bottle, 19
Chorion, 1
Chrysalis, 6

Chrysophanus dispar , 148, Plates 98,
99 ; var. rutilus, 149 ; circe,* 152 ;
dorilis,* 152 ; gordius ,* 152 ; hippo-
thoe,* 152 ; phlceas, 152, Plates
100, 101, 1 1 9 ; var. eleus, 152;
var, sekmidtii , 1 52, Plate 10 1 ; var.
hypophlceus, 154 ; virgaurea ,* 152
Classification, x

Clouded Yellow, 51. Plates 22, 23, 24
Clubs of Antennae, 9. Fig. 7

202

INDEX.

Cctnonympha pamphilus , 136, Plates
9 2, 93 ; var. lyllns, 136 ; var.
ocellata, 1 37, Plate 91 ; typhon , 132,
Plates 90, 91, 92 ; var. davits, 133 ;
var. laidion, 133 ; var. philoxenus ,
133 ; var. rothliebii , 133 ; var.

scotica, 133

Co lias edusa, 51, Plates 22, 23, 24;
var. helicc, 52, Plate 24 ; hyalc, 48,
Plates 20, 21
Collecting, 16

Comma, the, 62. Plates 32, 35
Common Blue, 163. Plates 106, 107,
1 18, 1 19

Compound Eye, 9
Cremaster, 6. Fig. 5.

Cupido argiades, 156, Plates 102, 103 ;
var. comyntas, 158; var. polysper-
chon, 158
Cyanide Bottle, 19

Cyaniris argiolus , 1 72. Plates 1 1 2, 1 13

DARK Green Fritillary, 89. Plates

55, 59, 61

Dehiscence, 7
Dimorphism, viii

Dingy Skipper, 186. Plates 122, 123
Drying House, 26

Duke of Burgundy, 182. Plates 120, 121

ECDYSIS, 5
Egg-stage, I

Emergence of a Butterfly, 7
Epinephele ianira, 125, Plates 84, S5 ;
jurtina , 125; tithonus , 127, Plates
86, 87, 1 19; var .albida, 128, Plate
1 19; var. mincki , 128
Erebia cethiops, 113, Plates 76, 77 ;
var. obsoleta , 114; var. ochracea ,

1 14; blandina , 1 13 ; epiphrott ,

in ; var. cassiope , hi, plates 76,
77 ; var. obsoleta, 112 ; ligea, * 117
Essex Skipper, 189. /Yato 124, 125
Euchlo'e card amines, 43, Plates 15, 17 ;

var. hesperidis , 44
Eyes or Ocelli, 4

FALSE legs of caterpillar, 4. Fig. 2A
Feelers, 4, 9
Feet, 3

GATEKEEPER, 127. /Yrzter 86,

87, }l9

Glanville Fritillary, 101. Plates 65,
69, 71

GO HEP TER YX rhamni, 54. Plates
25-27

Grayling, 1 1 7. Plates 78, 79
Green Hairstreak, 147. Plates 96,

97

Green-veined White, 38. Plates 10,
13, 14

Grizzled Skipper, 184. Plates 122,

I23

Gynandromorphism, viii

HEAD of Butterfly, 8, Fig. 6 ; of
Caterpillar, 4, Fig. 3
Heath Fritillary, 98. Plates 67, 68
Hermaphrodite, viii
Hesperia alveus ,* 185 ; malvce , 184,
Plates 122, 123 ; var. lavaterce ,
184 ; var. taras, 184
Ileterocera, vii

High Brown Fritillary, 87. Plates

53, 54, 57

Holly Blue, 172. Plates 112, 113
Horns, 9

INSTAR, 5

KILLING, 18
Kite net, 7. Fig. 13

LABIUM, 4
Labrum, 4

Lampides bceticus , 154. Plates 102,
103

Large Blue, 179. Plates 116, 117
,, Copper, 148. Plates 98, 99
,, Heath, 132. 90, 91, 92

,, Skipper, 192. Plates 126, 127

INDEX

203

Large Tortoise-shell, 65. Plates 34, 36
,, White, 34. Plates 5, 6, 9
Leucophasia sin apis, 46, Plates 16, 18,
19 ; var. diniensis , 46 ; var. erysimi,
46 ; var. lathyri , 46
Limenitis sibylla , 59, Plates 30, 31,
33 ; var. nigrina , 59, Plate 31
Lingua, 4

Long- tailed Blue, 154. Plates 102, 103
Lulworth Skipper, 190. Plates 124,

I25

Lycceiia adorns, 1 70 ; csgon, 1 58 ;
argils, 158, Plates, 104, 105 ; as-
trarche, 16 1, Plates 104, 105 ; var.
artaxerxes, 161 ; var. salmacis,
1 61 ; var. quadripuncta, 162 ; bel-
largus, 170, Plates no, in, 1 19 ;
var. ceronus , 170 ; corydon, 167,
Plates 108, 109, 117, 1 18 ; var.
fowleri, 168 ; var. lucretia, 168 ;
var. syngrapha, 168, Plate 1 1 8 ;
i earns, 163, Plates 106, 1 07, 1 1 8,

1 19 ; var. arena , 164 ; var. ccernlca ,
164 ; var. icarinus, 164 ; var. me-
lanotoxa, 164

Mandibles, 4, 10

Marbled White, 109. Plates 74, 75
Margins of Wings, 12. Fig. 9
Marsh Fritillary, 103. Plates 65, 70,
73

■ Marsh Ringlet, 132
Maxillce, 4, 10

Mazarine Blue, 177. Plate 1 1 5
Meadow Brown, 125. Plates 84, 85
Melanargia galatea, 109. Plates 74,

75

Mehteea athalia , 98 ; Plates 67, 68 ;
var. corythalia , 98 ; var. eos, 99 ;
var. navarina , 98 ; var. niphon,
100 ; var. obsoleta, 98 ; var. pyro-
ma, 99 ; var. tessellata, 99 ;
aurinia, 103 ; Plates, 65, 70, 73 ;
var. prceclara, 104 ; var. scotica, 104 ;
cinxia, 101, Plates 65, 69, 71
Micropyles, 1

Milkweed Butterfly, 106. Plates 72,

120

Monarch Butterfly, 107
Mould and Mites, 28
Moulting, 5

NAPHTHALINE, 27, 28
Nemeobius Incina, 182. Plates 120,

121

Nervures and Nervules, 13
Nets, 16
Nomenclature, x

Nomiades avion, 179, Plates 1 16, 1 17 ;
semiargus , 177, Plate 1 1 5

OCELLI, 4

Orange-tip, 43. Plates 15, 17

PAINTED Lady, 78. Plates 44, 45,

49

Pale Clouded Yellow, 48. Plates 20,

21

Palpi, 5, 10

Papilio machaon , 29. Plates 1, 2
Pararge egeria , 120 ; var. egerides,
120, Plates 80, 8 1 ; megeera, 122,
Plates 82, 83

Peacock, 70. Plates 39, 40, 41
Pearl-bordered Fritillary, 94. Plates
60, 64, 65

Pier is brassicee, 34, Plates 5, 6, 9 :
var. chariclea, 34, Plate 6 ; dap/i-
dice, 41, Plates 12, 14; napi , 38
Plates 10, 13, 14 ; var. bryonice, 40
var. Jlava, 39 ; var. napcece, 40 :
var. orientis , 41 ; var. sabelticce, 39 :
var. rapes, 36, Plates 7, 8, 1 1 ; var
metra, 37 ; var. novanglice, 37
Pinning, 20; Pinning stage, 21, Fig. 14
Pins, 21
Plumules, 14

Polygonia e-album , 62, Plates 32, 35
var. hutchinsoni, 63, Plate 35
Proboscis, 4, 9
Prolegs, 2

Purple Emperor, 56. Plates 28, 29, 31

204

INDEX.

Purple Hairstreak, 141. Plates 96,

97

Pyrameis atalanta, 81, Plates 46-49 ;
var. klemensiewiczi , 82 ; cardui, 78,
Plates 44, 45, 49 ; hunt era,* 81 ;

virginiensis * 81

■% *

QUEEN of Spain, 91. Plates 58, 63

REARING from the Egg, 28
Red Admiral, 81. Plates 46-49
Rhopalocera, vii
Ringlet, 130. Plates 88, 89

SADDLES, 24. Fig. 18
Satyr us semele, 117. Plates 78, 79
Scales, 13. Fig. 10
Scotch Argus, 113. Plates 76, 77
Seasonable Dimorphism, viii
Segments, 2

Setting, Methods of, 22-24
Sexual Dimorphism, viii
Silver-studded Blue, 158. Plates 104,

.I05

Silver -washed Fritillary, 84. Plates

5o, 51

Small Blue, 176. Plates 114, 1 1 5
,, Copper, 152. Plates 100, 101,

1 19

,, Heath, 136- Plates 92, 93
,, Mountain Ringlet, 1 1 1. Plates
76, 77

,, Pearl-bordered Fritillary, 96.
Plates 56, 62, 66

,, Skipper, 187. Plates 124, 125
,, Tortoise-shell, 68. Plates 37,38
,, White, 36. Plates 7, 8, 11
Speckled Wood, 120. Plates So, 81

Spinnerets, 4
Spiracle, 3
Stadium, 5
Subsegments, 3
Swallow-tail, 29. Plates 1, 2

| THANAOS tages, 186. Plates 122,
123

Thecla ilicis, spini ,* 147 ; pruni , 143,
Plates 96, 97 ; 10 -album, 1 44, Plates
94, 95 ; var. butler owi, 145
Thoracic legs, 2
Tracheae, 3
Tubercles, 2

VANESSA antiopa, 73, Plates 41,
42, 43 ; var. hygicea, 73 ; var.
lintneri, 73 ; io, 70, Plates 39, 40,
41 ; var. bells aria, 71, Plate 41 ;
var. cyanosticta, 71 j polychloros ,
65, Plates 34, 36 ; var. testudo ,
66 ; urticce, 68, Plates 37, 38 ; var.
ladakensis, 69 ; var. po laris , 69
Venation, 12. Fig. 9

WALL, The, 122. Plates 82, 83
White Admiral,- 59. Plates 3 o, 31,33
White-letter Hairstreak, 144. Plates
94, 95

Wings, 11. Fig. 9

Wood White, 46. Plates 16, 18, 19 ,

ZEPHYR US betula, 138. Plates 94,
95 ; var. pallida, 139 ; var. spinos<e,

1 39 ; quercus, 141, Plates 96, 97 ;
var. bella, 14 1

Zizera minima, 176. Plates 114, 1 1 5

THE END.

&

■ ■

• ' < *»-.