PLATE 11
1. Larva of Large Garden White
2. Pupa of Large Garden White
3. Ichneumon Cocoons
4. Dipterous Parasite of Large G. White
5. Ichneumon Flies hatched from 3
6. Pupa of Small Tortoiseshell
7. Larva of Small Tortoiseshell
8. Larva and Pupa of Glanville Fritillary
9. Larva of Greasy Fritillary
The Peacock Butterfly (Vanessa Io), Plate V., Fig. 7.—This beautiful species is too well known, and too distinct in its colour and pattern to require any written description.
Few butterflies possess a name which so aptly describes them, and to make a mistake in its identification is hardly possible. All its efforts seem to have been exspended on the ornamentation of the upper surface, for the under side has hardly an attractive note. Dark and sombre though it be, it is well adapted for concealment during its period of hibernation.
The caterpillar is black, with bands of white dots round each segment, and the spines are larger than in the Small Tortoiseshell. It feeds in batches on Nettles, from June to August. The chrysalis inclines to green and has burnished spots. This species is common in England, and is occasionally met with in the South and West of Scotland.
The Camberwell Beauty (Vanessa Antiopa), Plate V., Fig. 6. —Why does not this handsome butterfly settle down amongst us, increase and multiply, and thus swell the little band of real natives who gladden the eye of the entomologist on his country rambles? It is a common insect over most of the Continent, and most abundant in North America, well up into Canada, where the winter is extremely severe. We have the food-plant in abundance, yet it is questionable if ever the Camberwell Beauty has been found in any but the winged state in this country. Records there are of its capture year after year, but there never seems to be progeny left by these occasional visitors. The wings are a dark chocolate-brown, bordered with creamy white. Between the brown and the white is a broad black band studded with blue spots; there are also two white spots on the costal margin near the tip of the fore-wing. It measures from 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 inches in expanse, North American specimens being the largest.
The caterpillar is black, with white dots, and has a row of red spots along the back. The pro-legs are also red, spines black. It feeds on the Willow. The chrysalis is brown, with darker spots; its abdominal points are sharp and angular. Single specimens of this species occur in most seasons from August to October, generally in the South, but it has been recorded for Scotland on several occasions.
The Red Admiral (Vanessa Atalanta), Plate VIII., Fig. 1.—He must have been a poet who first conceived so appropriate a name for this gallant rover. Possibly he was living long ago—
“When Britons truly ruled the waves,
In good Queen Bess’s glorious days,”
or later, when Nelson’s old “wooden walls” spread their bellying sails to catch the breeze. Those were days of romance. Fancy the Admiral of a super-Dreadnought—that big, black abortion of coal and iron—being associated with a butterfly! We would rather peer into the future and elect our aerial commander the “Red Admiral” of a fleet of graceful aeroplanes. This would certainly be more appropriate.
PLATE 12.
1. Small Heath
2. Green Hairstreak
3. Purple Hairstreak (Female)
4. White-letter Hairstreak
5. Black Hairstreak
6. Brown Hairstreak (Female)
7. Large Copper (Male)
8. Small Copper
9. Long-tailed Blue
10. Silver-studded Blue (Male)
11. Brown Argus
12. Common Blue (Male)
The colours of this butterfly on the upper surface are singularly bold, striking, and, withal, simple. They furnish a good test of colour discrimination. I have heard them spoken of as “jet black,” “intense black,” or “velvety black.” If you take a specimen into a good light, you will see that the whole area enclosed by the scarlet bands is a deep coffee-brown, while outside the band, on the fore-wing, the colour is black splashed with white, and there is a blue streak near the outer margin. The under side is a marvel of beauty too complex and wonderful for cold print. Common though this insect is all over our island from August to chill October, who can say that he has discovered his “retreat and hiding-place” from the storms and frosts of winter? Indeed, there are those who boldly assert that the Red Admiral does not hibernate with us at all, and, consequently, we are indebted each year for our supply to spring visitors from the Continent, which may be the reason why in some years it is more abundant than in others.
The caterpillar is a powdery yellow-grey in colour, sometimes inclining almost to black; a line of white spots appears on each side; there are some darker markings along the back, and a row of branched spines light in colour crosses the middle of each segment. You will generally find it hiding within a curled Nettle-leaf during the day. The chrysalis is grey, with a few shining points.
The Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui), Plate VIII., Fig. 2, is quite a suitable companion for a "Red Admiral," and they are often seen in company, although cardui is the earlier on the wing by at least a fortnight, and often a month. The ground colour of the upper surface is a rosy orange, varied with black and brown markings, while the white spots near the tip of the fore-wing are almost similar to those of the Red Admiral. Here, too, the under side is an exquisite bit of painting. It reminds one of a frosted window done in harmonious secondary colours. No doubt this subtle pattern must be protective, for you will notice that when the insect is at rest with the wings shut, the bright portion of the under side of the fore-wing is concealed. This is decidedly a migratory species, and it is an open question whether it hibernates in Britain. In Scotland we never see it until the autumn, and occasionally it arrives in fair numbers. We had one extraordinary swarm about the year 1880; I remember being on holiday at the time on the Island of Cumbrae, in the Firth of Clyde. Cardui was everywhere, and even fighting for possession of the Thistle-tops. In 1911 I had to be content with the sight of two specimens in Arran, but I heard of several more.
Like the other Vanessa caterpillars, the larva of this species is thorny, brown, and bears lines and spots of yellow. It may be found on Thistles and Nettles in May and June. The chrysalis is like that of Atalanta in colour, but hardly so stout.
The White Admiral (Limenitis Sibylla), Plate VIII., Fig. 4. —This butterfly is almost black on the upper surface, relieved by white bars and spots, and there is a row of dense black spots near the outer margin of the hind-wings. These white marks are carried through the wings to the under side, but the ground there is formed of various shades of brown, with some black dots and pencillings—while on the under surface of the body, and spreading out from it on to the wings, is a considerable region of a light sky-blue tint, very pleasing to the eye.
The caterpillar feeds on Honeysuckle, and is a lively green; the spines are reddish, those on the third, fourth, and sixth segments being larger than the others. There is also a white line bordered with brown along each side. The head is also red, with two lines of white down the face. The chrysalis is dark green, with silvery dots and lines, and bears grotesquely swollen lumps. This is a butterfly that I am afraid is becoming scarcer year by year; it is confined to the South. It is out in July.
The Purple Emperor (Apatura Iris), Plate VIII., Fig. 5, is undoubtedly the king of the forest glade. Wearing the regal purple, he looks down upon the world from his lofty throne on the top of some lordly oak. Somehow the build of this fine insect when seen in the hand cannot fail to impress the beholder with a sense of muscular power. The thorax is long, broad, and deep—more so than in any other British butterfly—and the abdomen, head, and antennæ are in like proportion. The wings are ample and in shape smart and serviceable. No loose scales or fluffy hairs soften the firm compactness of his whole bearing. Dark brown and purple alternate with the changing light all over the upper surface; a dash or two of red, and one eye-spot on the bottom angle of the hind-wing, with a bar and a few spots of white, are the main additions to the changing hues of the purple. The under side has a daring lightning flash of blue-white on a brown and olive ground on the hind-wing. The fore-wing (under side) has various spots of black and white on a darker ground, while there is also one eye-spot near the outer angle. He is said to have a fondness for carrion, and this queer taste is sometimes his undoing, as he is more readily captured when indulging his appetite than when soaring round the crown of some lofty oak.
But it is better still to seek for the caterpillars. These may be found on low Sallows or Poplars. They are green, dusted with white, and have oblique dashes of yellow on the sides; they taper considerably towards the tail, while the head is adorned with a pair of horns. The chrysalis is similarly coloured while alive, but when its inhabitant is gone the colour vanishes with it, and all that remains looks like a little bit of crumpled tissue paper. It may be found suspended to the under side of a leaf of the food-plant. The butterfly is out in July in the southern counties, and is oftener seen than captured.
The Marbled White Butterfly (Melanargia Galathea), Plate IX., Fig. 1.—We now come to a group of butterflies (the Satyridæ) quite the reverse in build and habits from the Emperors and Admirals. Of medium or small size, though the wings are ample, the body is small and the muscular power is never great; hence they are soft and downy, never fly far at a stretch, and are, although many of them common, very local in their habits.
And the Marbled White is no exception to the group. His name may suggest something hard, polished, and durable, yet he is anything but that. I wonder what his name might have been had he been common north of the Tweed, and not known in the South? To Sir Walter Scott, James Hogg (the Ettrick Shepherd), or Professor Blackie, the similarity of the black and white wings to the checking and soft, embracing folds of their own beloved tartan plaids would at once have appealed to their imagination, and henceforth they would have alluded to him as the “Shepherd’s Plaid” butterfly.
Creamy-white, with grey and black checking, and a few eye-spots on the black band of the hind-wings complete his simple scheme of colour. The under side is somewhat similar to the upper. Although common enough where it is found, it is a very local and stay-at-home butterfly.
The caterpillar is a grass-feeder, and is green, with a red head and tail. It tapers considerably towards both extremities. They are very small when they hibernate. The butterfly is out in July and August.
The Mountain Ringlet Butterfly (Erebia Epiphron), Plate IX., Fig 2.—It is strange that this fragile little fellow should choose the rough mountainside for his home. In a boggy hollow of Ben Lomond, nearly 2,000 feet above the sea, buried in snow almost the whole winter through, I know a colony of this butterfly which lives and flourishes under these seemingly impossible conditions. Doubtless it could be found on many more of our Highland hills.
The wings are a dark, fulvous brown, with an inconstant red bar near the outer edge of both wings, and on this rusty bar are usually a few small eye-spots, sometimes absent, or reduced to mere specks. The under side is almost similar. It is a very easily damaged little creature, requiring great care in handling, and I may add that in catching it is always advisable to carefully select your specimens on the ground, as quite a large percentage always appear to be rubbed, so soon do they become unfit for the cabinet even in the height of their season, which occurs during the first fortnight of July.
The caterpillar is said to be green, and feeds upon various grasses. It is also found on the mountains of Cumberland and Westmorland.
The Scotch Argus Butterfly (Erebia Æthiops), Plate IX., Fig. 3.—Like all butterflies, the Scotch Argus is seen at its best in its native haunts. You feel it has a subtle kind of association with its surroundings that defies definition. Seeing this species flirting about in dozens in a dell where the air is heavily laden with the perfume of Bog-myrtle and Honeysuckle, and where dragon-flies, bees, hover-flies, wasps, and ants, raise a drowsy hum dear to the ear of the entomologist, not to mention the hordes of bloodthirsty little midges, tends to the formation of a mental impression, which we always associate with this beautiful butterfly. It takes strange notions, too, at times. I have found it often “at home” as described above, and, again, I have come upon it solitary and alone on the bare hillside, far from the madding colony amongst which it was born. Five such wanderers I once encountered in a single day in August. All were on the move, either seeking a lost home or lover, or possibly pastures new.
The breeding ground is generally some sheltered glade or open corner of a wood. The butterfly is coloured a beautiful dark, velvety brown, with a broad, irregular tawny red band near the outer margin of both fore- and hind-wings. Within this band on the fore-wings are three black spots, each having a tiny white spot in its centre, and the hind-wings have in most cases a similar adornment; but as these spots are subject to great variation, always aim at securing a good row for your cabinet in order to show as many variations as you can find.
The under sides of the sexes differ from each other and are distinctive. In the female the under side of the fore-wing is marked very much the same as the upper side, but the whole colour scheme is lighter, while the hind-wings are a lighter brown, with a pale lavender band, distinctly iridescent and with just a trace of spots. The male, though nearly the same in markings, is very much darker.
The caterpillar is a grass-feeder, and is green, with some lighter and darker stripes. It is very like the grass it lives amongst. The eggs are laid in the autumn, and the young caterpillars hibernate.
The Speckled Wood Butterfly (Pararge Ægeria), Plate IX., Fig. 4.—There must be something peculiar about this butterfly, which always reminds me of a snake; it is curious how such an idea gets into one’s head and sticks there. I have a lot of preserved home and foreign snakes, and not a few of them are checkered and marked like this butterfly’s wings; one large skin of a boa constrictor bears a remarkable resemblance both in colour and spots. Nature seems to delight in these eyelike markings—you will find them on the trout, the peacock, the leopard, and on certain beetles, flowers, and birds’ eggs. Wherever you find them they are always beautiful and interesting, and have a certain protective use.
The Speckled Wood is more easily recognized than described. The upper side is of a dull brown, spotted with pale yellow, or (as in some northern specimens I have taken) with white. There is one eye-spot near the tip of the fore-wing, and a row of three, sometimes four, similar spots in a submarginal row on the hind-wings. The under side is richer and warmer in colour, having a purple tinge, while the eye-spots of the hind-wings are nearly obsolete, but the spot on the fore-wing is, if anything, brighter. It is a fairly common species, and loves quiet, shady lanes on the edge of woodlands. In the South it is double-brooded. The female is larger and brighter than the male. The caterpillar is a grass-feeder, and is green, with lighter stripes. The butterfly is out from May to August.
PLATE 13.
1. Adonis Blue (Male)
2. Chalk-hill Blue (Male)
3. Little Blue
4. Azure Blue
5. Large Blue
6. Duke of Burgundy Fritillary
7. Grizzled Skipper
8. Dingy Skipper
9. Small Skipper
10. Lulworth Skipper
11. Large Skipper (Female)
12. Pearl Skipper (Male)
13. Checkered Skipper
The Wall Brown Butterfly (Pararge megæra), Plate IX., Fig. 5.—A rather smaller butterfly than the last, with the same number and arrangement of the eye-spots. The ground colour is, however, a light tawny brown, with dark brown markings. There is a broad diagonal bar across the fore-wings of the male. All the wings are bordered with brown. The female has two zigzag lines in place of the bar, and consequently has a lighter appearance; she is usually a bit larger than her mate. The under side of the hind-wings is a beautiful study in greys and browns, with the dainty little eye-spots double ringed. This species is common on waste lands and roadsides throughout the country; it is local in Scotland, but abundant where found, especially in Ayrshire. There are two broods only in the South.
The caterpillar is light green, with lines on the back and sides, and may be swept from grasses with the net in midsummer. The chrysalis is short and stout, and is found suspended by the tail to a strong grass stem.
The butterfly loves to rest on walls and stones which have been warmed by the sun; hence the name the “Wall Brown.”
The Grayling Butterfly (Satyrus Semele), Plate IX., Fig. 6. —This fine butterfly is larger and bolder in flight than any other of this group in our country. But you must always remember that butterflies love the sunshine, and without its cheering presence they are all very dull fellows indeed. Hence it is that a butterfly may appear, and really is, difficult to catch on a bright, warm day; yet it may fall an easy victim, and give but indifferent sport on a dull one. The Grayling has a strong partiality for living near the sea, and is found all along the west coast of Scotland, whether it be on a rock-bound shore or in a sandy, sheltered bay. During July and August one is pretty sure to encounter the Grayling sporting along just above high-water mark, and, not infrequently, whole colonies of them. The lichen-covered rocks above the shore are his favourite resting-place, and here he can sit and bask in the sun, and once he has closed his wings he may be said to have disappeared, so beautifully does the under side of his wings blend with the colour of the surrounding rocks. He shows a certain amount of wisdom, too, at times, for if you make a stroke at him with a net and miss, he is off to sea, flit-flitting just above the water, and making a wide detour before coming back to land.
The wings are brown, with an irregular light tawny band, in which, on the fore-wing, are two eye-spots, and on the hind-wing only one. But the finest ornamentation is on the under side of the hind-wings, which bear a strong resemblance to a granite rock speckled with lichens.
The caterpillar, I think, feeds mostly at night, as I have found it during the day under stones in hilly districts near the sea. It is variable in colour—brownish to black, with a few lighter lines on the back and sides, and it has a dirty putty-colour on the under side. It feeds on grass in May. The butterfly is out from July to September. It appears in August in Scotland.
The Meadow Brown Butterfly (Epinephele Janira), Plate IX., Fig. 7.—Perhaps this is the commonest of all our brown butterflies. On roadside or hillside, moor or meadow, one can hardly fail to notice this homely brown insect all through the summer rambles. The males are smaller and dingier than the females. They have an obscure reddish patch on the fore-wing which, with an eye-spot, relieves the upper surface of dark brown. The females are brighter and often more variable, the fulvous patch on their fore-wings being large and bright, and even extending into a band on the hind-wings. There is occasionally an inner patch of suffused yellow on the centre of the fore-wings; the under side is a paler brown, with a decided band of grey-brown on the hind-wing, which is also slightly scalloped.
The caterpillar is a delicate green, with a white line on either side, and may be swept from moorland grasses in May and June. The chrysalis is short and dumpy; pale papery grey, rather fragile, and is hung up by the tail to a grass-stem. The butterfly is out practically all through the summer.
The Small Meadow Brown (Epinephele Tithonus), Plate IX., Fig. 8.—Also a common species, but does not so range far north. Wings, a bright tawny red inclining to yellow, bordered with dark brown, with an indistinct diagonal bar across the wings in the male. There is also a black spot near the tip of the fore-wings containing two tiny white spots; occasionally there are two small eye-spots on the hind-wings also. The under side of the hind-wing is shaded with red-brown and pale ochre, and bears a few small white spots surrounded by red rings. Under side of the upper wing is pale tawny yellow with outer edge dark; there is a black spot at the tip with two white dots in it.
The caterpillar varies from green to grey-brown; there is a dark red line along the back, and two light lines run along each side. It is a grass-feeder, and prefers a drier situation than the last species. Perhaps this is the reason for it being found in Ayrshire, the driest and sandiest county in Scotland. July and August are the butterfly’s months.
The Ringlet Butterfly (Epinephele Hyperanthus), Plate IX., Fig. 9.—This is a common and not very attractive-looking butterfly. Its colours, if it can be said to have any, are dingy in the extreme. The upper surface is a dark sooty-brown hardly relieved by a few faint eye-spots, which are very small and not always present. A dirty white fringe completes the upper side. The under side affords some compensation, however, for here we have the ringlets in some variety—pale yellow for the outer ring, which encloses black with a white spot in the centre. They are arranged three on the upper wing and five on the lower. They vary in size, as will be seen from the figure (Plate XIV., Fig. 9). It is not a very lively insect; it frequents dry pasture-fields in Scotland, preferring those bordering the sea.
The caterpillar is like the last species, but a greener grey; it feeds on grasses. The butterfly is out in July. When you do happen upon this species, keep a sharp lookout for varieties, as it has quite a range of well-known “sports”; the variation is mostly on the under surface.
The Marsh Ringlet (Cænonympha Typhon), Plate IX., Fig. 10. —This insect has to be sought for on the swampy moorlands and mountains of the North. It is of a dingy fawn-colour, sometimes brighter, often as if it had been held over the fire and “Peat-reekit.” It is somewhat remarkable what a number of creatures inhabiting this same region have gradually come to assume a similar coloration. Many of the Highland cattle on these moors have this dirty tawny-yellow tint; the deer and the hare find protection under the same guise. The upper surface of the Marsh Ringlet is varied with a few eye-spots, though I possess specimens with no spots at all, while others have four on each of the hind-wings and two on each of the fore-wings. The under side is generally better marked by eyes, six forming a row round the outer margin of each hind-wing, of which the first and last are usually the largest; fore-wing under side—two eye-spots, the one nearest the tip being the larger. There is also a light bar across this wing, and this is continued on to the hind-wing, where it broadens out and is irregular and often interrupted. The ground colour here is a subdued green-grey, getting lighter towards the fringe. Females have more ample and rounded wings than the males. I find the most comfortable way to hunt this butterfly is with bare feet and legs, and the trousers well tucked up, which will perhaps convey some idea of the nature of the ground it loves to flit over. Splash, splash you go over the Sphagnum and Cotton-grass, Heather and Marsh Wortleberry, while overhead the eerie cries of the curlew and the lapwing remind the naturalist that there are many young families hidden amongst the Heather, who will rejoice when they see the last of him and that fearful net of his.
The caterpillar is green, with white lines, and feeds on Cotton-grass in May. The butterfly appears towards the end of June.
The Small Heath Butterfly (Cænonympha Pamphilus), Plate XII., Fig. 1.—This can be best described as a smaller and brighter edition of Typhon; occasionally a large specimen may even be mistaken for a small Typhon, but you can always tell the smaller species by the presence of only one eye-spot on the tip of the fore-wing, and no eye-spots anywhere else. Its habits, too, are different, preferring, as it does, a much drier and more pastoral country to sport over. And its range is also wider, being found all over the country from June till September.
The caterpillar is green and a grass-feeder. I have swept it from grass in August.
The Brown Hairstreak (Thecla betulæ), Plate XII., Fig. 6. —There are five British species included in the very distinct group of interesting little butterflies, to which this species belongs. All of them are nearly black on the upper surface, but the undersides are exceedingly chaste in pattern, if not showy in colour. The Brown Hairstreak is the largest of the five. The male is a dark brown relieved by a lighter spot edged with black on the fore-wing, and the bottom angle of the hind-wing and the little tails are orange. The female has an orange bar across the fore-wing. The under side (Plate XIV., Fig. 7) is a tawny orange inclining to deep orange at the margins; a double white irregular line edged with black runs across the hind-wings, and between these lines the tawny shade is darker; the fringe is white.
The caterpillar is green, marked with diagonal yellow lines and tapers considerably towards each extremity. It feeds on Birch and Blackthorn. Though by no means a common insect, it is found in a great many localities from North to South of England, but not in Scotland. The butterfly is out in August.
The White-Letter Hairstreak (Thecla w-album), Plate XII., Fig. 4.—A smaller and, on the upper surface, a blacker insect than the last. Excepting for a small indistinct spot in the centre, and near the outer margin of the fore-wing, the upper surface is devoid of markings of any kind. The under side, however, provides all the distinctive features necessary for identification. The colour is a cool brown-grey, the fore-wing being traversed by a white line; the hind-wing has a similar white line, which forms a W at the basal angle; under it is a broad orange scalloped band, edged with black and white; the extreme outer edge is black, and this black edging scallops into the orange band. Tail black.
The caterpillar feeds on Elm; is pale green, with yellow bars and two rows of whitish humps along the back. It may be got by beating the Elm in early summer. The Butterfly appears in July, but is far from common, York being about its northern limit.
The Black Hairstreak (Thecla pruni), Plate XII., Fig. 5. —About the same size as the last, but many individuals are smaller. The ground colour is almost black, but near the tail are two or three conspicuous orange spots, which are not present in w-Album. The orange band on the under side of the hind-wing is much bolder and is edged with black spots on both sides, the inner row of spots being partially ringed with white; the white hairstreaks are fainter and slightly interrupted. This is the rarest of the group, and confined to a few localities in the South and South-East.
The caterpillar is green, with yellow spots and lines; it is found on Sloe and Oak. The perfect insect is out in July.
The Purple Hairstreak (Thecla quercus), Plate XII., Fig. 3. —The commonest and most widely distributed of the Hairstreaks extending well into Scotland where, however, it is not common. The upper surface in the male is shot with purple, while the female has a patch on either fore-wing of a still more pronounced sheen. The under side (Plate XIV., Fig. 8) is a cool grey; the "hairstreak" is white and strongly defined by an inner edging of dark brown. There are also two orange eye-spots near the tail, which in this species is rather small.
PLATE 14
1. Pupa of Red Admiral
2. Larva of Red Admiral
3. Larva of Small White
4. New Small Skipper
5. Pupa of Small White (showing hole through which ichneumons emerged)
6. Larva of White Admiral
7. Brown Hairstreak (under side)
8. Purple Hairstreak (under side)
9. Ringlet (under side)
The caterpillar is a reddish-brown and grey mixture, with a lighter angular pattern along the back, and a light line along the sides. It feeds on Oak.
I once came upon a small colony of this little butterfly flying round some Oak-trees in Argyllshire, but not one of them came lower than 15 feet from the ground, and after trying a variety of expedients I had to retire discomfited without a single capture. A visit to the same spot on subsequent days failed to reveal a single specimen. August was the month. In the South it is out in June.
The Green Hairstreak (Thecla rubi), Plate XII., Fig. 2. —The smallest of the British Hairstreaks and a fairly common species. Deep dingy brown above, bright emerald-green below, traversed by white hairstreaks, although in some specimens I have taken these white lines are absent. An elusive little butterfly, as when it settles amongst green herbage with the wings closed it is rendered almost invisible, so well does it harmonize with its surroundings.
The caterpillar is green, spotted and striped with yellow; it feeds on Bramble and Broom. The butterfly is out in June generally, but I have found it in the closing days of May in a favourable season. In the South a second brood appears in August. It reaches as far north as Perthshire, and is frequently met with in the West Highlands.
The Large Copper Butterfly (Polyommatus Dispar), Plate XII., Fig. 7.—I am afraid there is now only one British locality where this fine butterfly can be successfully pursued. Strange to say it is not one of the few places where it was found so abundantly a century ago. Neither is it any use going after it there with a net, or any other of the usual appliances.
The correct place and method are no great secret, being, as it is, in the very heart of London—to wit, Stevens’ Auction Rooms, King Street, Covent Garden. A cheque-book there is a more reliable, and, if properly handled, sure means of bringing a specimen into one’s collection. I don’t suppose there is anybody now alive who remembers having seen the Large Copper flitting about its native Fen lands so long ago as 1850 or thereabout, for the precise date is difficult to discover. The Large Copper has become as extinct as the dodo or the great auk. Fortunately, many specimens are still to be seen in old and well-preserved collections, and not a few of these have already passed through the hands of the auctioneer. There are various Continental “Coppers” which more or less resemble the “dear departed.” And it is as well that the points of difference should be well known, as these foreigners can be had for a few pence. Dispar sells at as many pounds.
The male and female differ very much from each other, the male being a clear scarlet copper tint, with black margins and a small black spot in the centre of the fore-wing. The female is larger and not so brilliant; the black marginal band on the fore-wing is broader, and has a row of black spots in addition to the central black spot. The hind-wings are much dingier, except for a brighter band round the outer margin next the black outline. It was out in July and August in the Fen lands of the south-eastern counties. Various causes have been assigned as the reason for its disappearance. Draining of, and burning rubbish on, these wastes, and the constant persecution the insect had to endure from mercenary natives who, once they discovered there was money in it—and the more money, doubtless, the scarcer it became—all lent their quota of assistance towards finally exterminating this fine butterfly.
The Small Copper Butterfly (Polyommatus Phlæas), Plate XII., Fig. 8.—Less in size but hardly less brilliant in colour, the Small Copper is not likely to share the fate of its larger relative. A lively, restless, little imp it is, and has well earned the title of “the flea,” by which it is known in some districts.
As it is the “only Copper we possess now,” a detailed description is unnecessary, but I would direct the young collector’s attention to the fact that there are some nice variations of this common little species apt to be overlooked, perhaps the most striking being a white form, and another and commoner one having a row of blue spots on the upper surface of the hind-wings.
The caterpillar feeds on various species of Sorrel, and is green with three red lines.
There are several broods in the year, but it is generally more abundant in the autumn. Found everywhere.
The Long-Tailed Blue (Lycæna Bætica), Plate XII., Fig. 9. —While there is no doubt this lovely little blue has been repeatedly taken on our shores, the fact remains that we must still regard it as an occasional visitor only. It may, and we all hope it will, yet be classed amongst our resident fauna. From what we know of it, it seems to have a more than usually wide range; it is recorded for Europe, Africa, Western Asia, East Indies, and Australia. The male is a deep blue, with two black spots just above the tails; the female shows more brown. The under side is quite different from that of any of our native blues, being barred and spotted in white, and two shades of fawn-brown, with two green spots near the tail. A lookout for it may be kept all along our south coast during July and August.
The Silver-Studded Blue (Lycæna Ægon), Plate XII., Fig. 10. —In all of the group to which this insect belongs, numbering about ten species, the males differ very much in colour, especially on the upper surface, from the females. The males are nearly always blue of various shades, and the females brown and blue in varying proportions.
In Ægon, the male is a warm violet-blue, the outer margins being bordered with black. The female is brown shot with blue, which becomes more intense near the outer margin of the hind-wings, where there is a row of orange spots touching an outer row of black spots; but these two rows may be nearly or altogether absent. The under side (Plate XV., Fig. 4) is banded with orange and black-spotted, the black spots being ringed with white. The silver studs are on the outer margin of the orange band, principally on the hind-wings. This is a fairly abundant species all over England on dry soils, and has been met with in Scotland. The caterpillar is green, sometimes brown, with a darker line along the back and white lines on the sides. It feeds on Clover, Vetch, Broom, and other leguminous plants. The butterfly is out in July and August.
The Brown Argus (Lycæna Astrarche), Plate XII., Fig. 11. —Here is a “blue” in which both sexes are brown, a rather unusual thing. In every other particular, however, it bears the family hall-mark. The upper surface is dark brown, bordered with bright orange spots. The under side (Plate XV., Fig. 6) is banded with orange and spotted with black dots ringed with white. For the Scotch variety, Artaxerxes, these spots are solid white, and there is in addition a white discoidal spot on the upper side of the fore-wing. This variety is local in Scotland, but fairly numerous where found, generally near the sea, and plentiful all along the Ayrshire coast in June and July. It is said to feed on Helianthemum, but has probably many other food-plants, such as the Hemlock Stork’s-bill (Erodium cicutarium), which is common where it flies.
The caterpillar is green, with a darker line along the back, and a pale line on each side; head black and shining. There are many intermediate forms between Artaxerxes and the type.
The Common Blue (Lycæna Icarus), Plate XII., Fig. 12.—Known to everyone who sees anything at all of the country. It is the blue butterfly, noticed even by those who hardly know a butterfly from a bullfrog.
An intelligent little chap he is, too, with an eye for his own safety, as I once found when I had the opportunity of observing quite a number of them on a piece of waste ground near the sea. The weather was dull and threatening rain, and not a butterfly was on the wing; but I could see plenty of our common blue friend hanging on, with closed wings, to the ends of rushes, grass-stalks, and on thistle-tops; but always when I came within a step or two they adroitly changed their position, putting whatever they were resting or hanging on between us, just edging round the corner as it were, so as to be out of sight. Apparently the idea of flying away from an enemy was here considered as too risky under the conditions which prevailed; the safest plan was to hide, so hide they did. It was the funniest game of hide-and-seek I ever played. I have since seen the small blue dragon-flies adopt the same tactics on the rushes by the side of a pond. No wonder this little fellow is so common. In the struggle for existence he has shown himself able and well-fitted to survive; nevertheless I had a good time amongst them that afternoon and boxed some fine varieties. The male bears a warm shade of blue, and the female is from nearly black to brown, with a blue blush spreading from the body outwards, both wings being bordered with a row of orange and black spots, often on a ground of white. Sometimes, too, there is a discoidal black spot edged with white; but the females are very variable. The under side (Plate XV., Fig. 5) has the characteristic markings of the “blues,” and, excepting that the female is a little darker in ground colour, both sexes are pretty much alike.
The caterpillar is green, with a dark line on the back, and a light yellow line on each side; it feeds on Trefoil and Clover. The perfect insect is common everywhere from June till August.
The Clifden Blue, or Adonis Blue (Lycæna Bellargus), Plate XIII., Fig. 1.—It will be sufficient to point out the specific characters of each of these blues without going into minute detail, which would be wearisome, even if it were possible (which it is not) to paint in words what Nature has painted so admirably on the butterflies’ wings. The male Adonis is a brilliant azure blue; fringe, deep and white, and divided into sections by black lines. Female, brown to nearly black, with a row of orange and black spots round the base of the hind-wing and sometimes continued faintly into the fore-wing; it is browner on the under side than the male. Both resemble the Common Blue very much, but the spots are scarcely so numerous or so bold. The wings, however, are generally more ample, those of the males being more rounded.
The caterpillar is green, with a darker line on the back, and a yellow line on each side; spotted with orange on the back. This is a fairly common species confined mostly to the South, where, being double-brooded, it is out in June and August.
The Chalk-Hill Blue (Lycæna Corydon), Plate XIII., Fig. 2. —A larger insect than the last, and the male an extremely pale iridescent blue, which is shaded off at the margins into a black border, with a white fringe checked with black. Female, dark brown, black and white checked fringe; eye-spots nearly obsolete along the margin of both wings. Under side in male almost white, shading to pale green, blue next the body on the fore-wing; hind-wing, with a wash of pale brown for the ground; spots black, outlined with white. A marginal row of orange spots is confined to the hind-wing in the male, but extends to the fore-wing in the female; the ground colour of it, however, is a pale fawn, which sets forth the eye-spots beautifully.
The caterpillar is green, striped on the back and sides with yellow. A decidedly southern species, frequenting the chalk downs of the South and the Isle of Wight, or the limestone districts of the Midlands. It is out in July and August.
The Azure Blue or Holly Blue (Lycæna Argiolus), Plate XIII., Fig. 4.—This is a very dainty little butterfly of a deep sky-blue, with rounded wings narrowly fringed with white, ticked with black. The female has a broad, irregular, black border, occasionally extending well into the wing. But the under side (Plate XV., Fig. 3) marks a new departure, being of a very pale, shimmering blue, with only a few small, black spots, which form an incomplete row on fore- and hind-wings.