Chapter VII: Part II: Descriptions of Species (4)

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.

=Marsh Fritillary.=

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

=Glanville Fritillary.=

1, 2, 4 _male_; 3, 5, 6, 7 _female_.]

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.

=Milkweed Butterfly.=

_Egg, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis (after Smith)._]

=Marsh Fritillary.=

1, 3, 5, 9, 10 _male_; 2, 4, 6, 7, 11 _female_.
1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 _English_; 8 _Welsh_; 3, 5, 10, 11 _Irish_.]

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."

=Marbled White.=

_Eggs enlarged, caterpillar and chrysalis._]

=Marbled White.=

1, 2, 4 _male_; 3, 5, 6 _female_.]

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.

=Small Mountain Ringlet.=

_Egg, natural size and enlarged; young caterpillar._

=Scotch Argus.=

_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis._]

=Small Mountain Ringlet.=

1, 4 _male_; 3 _female (English)_; 2, 5, 6, 7 _male (Scotch)_.

=Scotch Argus.=

8, 11 _male (Scotch)_; 9 _do. (English)_; 10, 12 _female (Scotch)_.]

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."

=Grayling Butterfly.=

_Males_, 1, 3 _(Chalk)_, 2 _(Heath); females_, 4 _(Heath)_; 5, 6 _(Chalk)_.]

=Grayling Butterfly.=

_Egg enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis (both after Buckler)._]

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_, _Aira cæspitosa_, and _A. præcox_.

The butterfly delights in sitting rather than flying about cliffs and sand-hills, heaths and downs, stony hillsides, 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," no doubt in reference to the pattern and colour of the under side. It was also known as the "Tunbridge Grayling" 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 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.

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 Britanniæ Icones." 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.

The caterpillar has a green head, which is larger than the first ring of the body (1st 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 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_.

=Speckled Wood.=

_Spring Brood:_ 1, 2 _male_; 3, 5 _female_.
_Summer brood:_ 4, 6 _male_; 7 _female_.]

=Speckled Wood.=

_Egg, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis._]

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 emergence 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 September; 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 pupæ, twenty per cent. as half-fed caterpillars. Butterflies from the winter pupæ 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 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, _egeria_ proper, occurs in South-Western Europe, North Africa, and Syria.

The Wall Butterfly (_Pararge megæra_).

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 markings 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 is absent on the fore wings in this sex, the central black transverse lines are more distinct.

=Wall Butterfly.=

1, 2, 5 _male_; 3, 4, 6 _female_.]

=Wall Butterfly.=

_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis._]

The Wall Butterfly just emerged from the Chrysalis, and with wings distended.]

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 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 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 subdorsal) 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 (1st 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.

=Meadow Brown.=

1, 2, 3, 4 _male_; 5, 6, 7 _female_.]

=Meadow Brown.=

_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillars and chrysalis._]

The Speckled Wood, it was noted, prefers shady places; the present butterfly is more partial to sunshine and plenty of it. 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 Linnæus, 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 without the black brand, and is more ornamented with orange, which generally forms a broad patch on the outer area of the fore 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.

The 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.

The 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.

=Gatekeeper.=

_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalis._]

=Gatekeeper.=

1, 2, 6, 7 _male_; 3, 4, 5 _female_.]

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 _Epinephele 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 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 pinkish-ochreous, but the normal brownish orange remains. Other somewhat similar specimens have been recorded.

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 caterpillar 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_, _Triticum repens_, and _Dactylis glomerata_, from September to June. The butterfly is on the wing in July and August. Although these butterflies may be seen, sometimes in considerable 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_).

Pretty 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 Kircudbrightshire, but not common in other southern counties up to Argyle 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 _hyperantus_ by Linnæus, but Esper corrected this to _hyperanthus_. It has, however, been supposed that Linnæus really intended to have written _hyperanthes_ (a son of Darius), and this form of the name has been used, but Esper's emendation is here adopted.

=Var. lanceolata.=]

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 infrequently 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 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 _coeca_.

=Ringlet.=

_Egg, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalids._]

=Ringlet.=

1, 2, 3, 7 _male_; 4, 5, 8 _female_; 6 _var. cæca_, _male_.]

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 "Larvæ 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 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 (_Coenonympha 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, 7-11). 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, 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, Westmoreland, 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 Borkhausen), Pl. 90, Figs. 1, 2, 4, 5 male, 3 female, is the _typhon_ of Haworth, as 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 present are rarely very distinct. The female is much paler than the male. The under side of the hind wings is somewhat similar to that of the typical form, but sometimes the whole area is a 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. _philoxenus_ 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 caterpillar 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 subdorsal and spiracular lines are of the same pale yellow, but the subdorsal is edged above with dark bluish-green, and between these two lines is an interrupted streak of a darker colour, posteriorly with a slight tinge of reddish or pink, and the caudal fork is tipped with pink."

=Large Heath.=

1, 3, 4, 6 _male_, 2 _female (Delamere)_; 7, 9 _male_,
5 _female (Arran)_; 8 _male (N. Salop)_; 10 _do. (Ireland)_;
11 _do. (Carlisle)_.]

=Large Heath.=

_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillars and chrysalis._]

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 caterpillars 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."