The egg is at first greenish, then yellowish, and afterwards 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 1881, 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. 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 (Melitæa 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 disappearance from the central area, and in the other they are much intensified and greatly obscure the ground colour. Sometimes 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. obsoleta.

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 individuals 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.

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 Underwing Fritillary) is the pyronia of Hübner and Stephens, and a modification of var. corythalia, Hübn. 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 (Melampyrum 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). 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 caterpillars 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 headquarters 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 year's observations.

The 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 (Melitæa cinxia).

This butterfly is bright brownish-orange with black markings, as shown on Plate 71. 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). The caterpillars hatch in July and August, and hibernate in companies 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 distinguish 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 suspended from the lower parts of the stems of the plantain or 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 Fritillary." 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 butterflies, 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."

There is no doubt that between 1858 and 1863 the butterfly 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 (Melitæa 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 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 præclara 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 succisa).

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

The fine butterfly next in order is regarded as a member of the Danainæ by most authors. Although its generic position 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, Hübner, and not the true Papilio plexippus of Linnæus, 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 Danainæ, but Holland places it in Euploeinæ and Skinner in the Family Lymnadidæ.

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).

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 foothold 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 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 Vendée, 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.

The Milkweeds (Asclepias) are not indigenous plants, but, as pointed out by the late Mr. J. Jenner Weir, A. purpurescens and A. tuberosa 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 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 Satyrinæ, 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 (Melanargia galatea).

Older English names for the butterfly figured on Plate 75 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 modifications; but striking aberrations are rare in this country. Sometimes there is entire or partial absence of black pigment. A 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 occasionally 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 glomerata) and cat's-tail grass (Phleum pratense) are given as food-plants, but the caterpillars 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 years it has been observed at Sledmere, 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 (Erebia 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 Perthshire 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 fore wings become less and less complete, until they are reduced to a series of mere rings around the black dots. The black dots decrease in size and in number until they, together with the 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, Festuca ovina, Aira præcox, and A. cæspitosa 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 proportion, being less dumpy in form than hyperanthus, 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 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 Nephin, 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 æthiops = 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 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 aberration would be referable to obsoleta, 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.

The 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 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, antennæ 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.

Aira præcox, A. cæspitosa, and Poa are the grasses that seem to be the food of the caterpillar.

Mr. Haggart, of Galashiels, who had exceptional opportunities for observing the habits of this butterfly in its natural home, gives a most interesting account of it in the Entomologist 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 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 larvæ 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 larvæ are nocturnal feeders, coming up to feed on the grass just about dusk. The method of procuring the larvæ 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 larvæ very much in shape and colour. No artificial light can be used, as the larvæ 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.

"They are not difficult to rear in confinement if the larvæ 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, Dumfrieshire; 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 Yorkshire. It is common in Castle Eden Dene, Durham; at Grassington, in Yorkshire; at Witherslack and Arnside, in Westmoreland; and at Grange and Silverdale, in Lancashire.

Abroad, it is distributed through Central and Southern 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 semele).

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 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 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 triangular 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 "Larvæ of British Butterflies."