British Butterfiles Part 15

The _b.u.t.terfly_ appears in June (sometimes a little earlier or later), and frequents marshy meadows, moist woods, &c., but is a very local insect, abounding most in the south. The specimens, however, that I have seen from the north, are much larger, brighter, and more distinctly marked than the "southerners." The nearest localities to London are, Hornsey, and Copthall Wood at the top of Muswell Hill; West Wickham Wood, and {139} High-Beech (Epping). It is also found near Brighton (plentifully); Carlisle; Durham; Burton-on-Trent; York; Haverfordwest, S. W.; Cardiff, S. W.; Weston-super-Mare; Bristol; and a great number of other places distributed throughout the country. In Ireland at Ardrahan, co. Galway. Rare in Scotland.

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARY. (_Nemeobius Lucina._)

(Plate XI. fig. 5.)

Though this little insect bears the name of _Fritillary_, at the end of its lengthy and important t.i.tle, it really belongs to a family widely differing from that of any of the true Fritillaries previously described, and it only shared their name on account of its similarity in colour and markings.

The _caterpillar_ (Plate I. fig. 8), instead of being long and th.o.r.n.y like those of the true Fritillaries, is _short, thick, and wood-louse shaped_.

Its colour is reddish brown, with tufts of hair of the same colour. It feeds on the primrose.

The _chrysalis_ differs from that of the true Fritillaries as much as the caterpillar does, being of the form, and suspended in the manner, shown at fig. 25, Plate I.

The _b.u.t.terfly_ is chequered on the upper surface with {140} tawny, and dark brown or black. It appears in May and June, and again in August, being found in woods, princ.i.p.ally in the south, and its range is often confined to a small spot hardly fifty yards in diameter, within which it may be quite plentiful. The following are among its recorded localities:--Carlisle; Lake District; West Yorkshire; Roche Abbey, Yorkshire; Peterborough; Stowmarket; Pembury; Barnwell Wold, Northants; Oxford; Blandford; Worcester; Gloucestershire; Bedfordshire; Epping; Coombe Wood; Darenth Wood; Boxhill; Dorking; Brighton; Lewes; Worthing; Lyndhurst; Teignmouth.

The _males_ of all the members of the family to which this b.u.t.terfly belongs, and of which this is the sole European representative--_the_ ERYCINIDae--have only _four_ legs adapted for walking, whilst the _females_ have _six_.

THE BROWN HAIR-STREAK. (_Thecla Betulae._)

(Plate XII. fig. 1, Male; 1 _a_, Female.)

The genus to which this b.u.t.terfly belongs, contains five British species, elegant and interesting insects, though not gaily tinted. They are most obviously distinguished from other small b.u.t.terflies by the _tail-like_ projection on the lower edge of their hind wings (though one of their {141} number, _T. Rubi_, has this very slightly developed). From each other they are best distinguished by the characters on their under surface, where they all bear a more or less distinct _hair_-like _streak_, whence their common name--Hair-streak.

The Brown Hair-streak is the largest of the genus, measuring sometimes an inch and two-thirds in expanse. The two s.e.xes differ considerably on the upper surface, the male being of a deep brown colour, slightly paler near the middle of the front wing, while the female possesses on the front wing a _large patch of clear orange_. Both s.e.xes have several orange marks upon the lower angles of the hind wings. Beneath, the general colour is tawny orange with duller bands, and marked with one white line on the front wing, and _two parallel white lines on the hind wings_.

The _caterpillar_ is green, marked obliquely with white; it feeds on the birch and also on the sloe.

The _b.u.t.terfly_ appears in August, continuing into September. It is generally distributed through the south, but is by no means an abundant insect. Mr. Stainton observes that it has a habit of "flitting along in hedges just in advance of the collector;" but it is also found in oak woods in company with the Purple Hair-streak.

Forty were taken in a season in woods near Henfield, Suss.e.x. Other localities are, Underbarrow Moss, Westmoreland; North Lancashire, common in some parts; Preston; Valley of the Dovey, Montgomeryshire; {142} Cardiff, S. W.; Barnwell Wold; Peterborough; Colchester; Epping; Darenth Wood; Coombe Wood; Brighton; Tenterden; Winchester; Woolmer Forest, Hants; Plymouth; Dartmoor; Wallingford, Berks; Ipswich; Dorsetshire; Norfolk; Wiltshire; Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire.

THE BLACK HAIR-STREAK. (_Thecla Pruni._)

(Plate XII. fig. 2.)

The upper side is very dark brown, sometimes almost black, and bearing near the _hinder_ edge of the _hind wings_ a _few orange spots_. This character will at once distinguish this from the next species (_W. Alb.u.m_). On the under side of the hind wing is a _broad band of orange_, having a _row of black spots on its inner edge_.

The _caterpillar_ is green, with four rows of yellow spots. It feeds on the sloe.

The _b.u.t.terfly_ comes out about the end of June or in July. It is generally a very rare insect, but is occasionally taken in great plenty in certain spots. The Rev. W. Bree, writing to the _Zoologist_ from the neighbourhood of Polebrook, North Hants, says, "_Thecla Pruni_ is very uncertain in its appearance. In 1837 it literally swarmed in Barnwell and Ashton Wolds; I do not scruple to say that it would have been possible {143} to capture some hundreds of them, had one been so disposed; for the last few years it has appeared very sparingly indeed." It has also been found in the following localities:--Overton Wood; Brington, Huntingdonshire; and Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire.

THE WHITE LETTER HAIR-STREAK. (_Thecla W. Alb.u.m._)

(Plate XII. fig. 3.)

This is very much like the last in appearance, and has often been mistaken for it by inexperienced eyes. The _points_ of difference are--on the upper side, the absence of the orange band at the hinder edge of the hind wings, and the presence of a _bluish grey circ.u.mflex line at the inner angle_; here also is sometimes a _small orange dot_;--beneath, the _orange band forms a series of arches_, bounded on the edge nearest the root of the wing _by a clear black line_ instead of the rounded black spots seen at this part in _Pruni_.

The _caterpillar_, which feeds on the elm, is wood-louse shaped; pea-green, barred with yellow; head black. May be beaten off elm trees in May.

The _b.u.t.terfly_ appears in July, and is found in various situations, sometimes flying high up round elm trees, sometimes descending to bramble hedges, or fluttering {144} about in weedy fields a foot or two from the ground. It was formerly a much rarer insect than at present, and now its appearance in any given locality is a matter of much uncertainty. Mr. J. F.

Stephens writes as follows to the _Zoologist_:--

"For eighteen years I possessed four bleached specimens only of _Thecla W.

Alb.u.m_, having vainly endeavoured to procure others, when, in 1827, as elsewhere recorded, I saw the insect at Ripley, not by dozens only, but by scores of thousands! and although I frequented the same locality for thirteen years subsequently, sometimes in the season for a month together, I have not since seen a single specimen there; but in 1833 I caught one specimen at Madingley Wood, near Cambridge."

Other localities:--Near Sheffield; Roche Abbey; York; Peterborough; near Doncaster; Polebrook, Northants; Allesley, Warwickshire; Brington, Huntingdonshire; Yaxley and Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire; Needwood Forest, Staffordshire; Wolverston, near Ipswich; Chatham; Southgate, Middles.e.x; West Wickham Wood; Epping; Bristol.

{145}

THE PURPLE HAIR-STREAK.(_Thecla Quercus._)

(Plate XII. fig. 4, Male; 4 _a_, Female.)

At once the commonest and the handsomest of the Hair-streaks, being found in almost every part of England where there is an oak wood, and looking like a small Purple Emperor, with its rich gloss of the imperial colour.

The _male_ has all the wings, in certain lights, of a dark brown colour, but with a change of position they become illuminated with a deep rich purple tint, extending over the whole surface excepting a narrow border, which then appears black. The _female_ has the purple much more vivid, but confined to a _small patch_ extending from the root to the centre of the front wing. Beneath, the wings are shaded with greyish tints, crossed by a white line on each wing, and having _two orange spots_ at the inner corner of the hind wing.

The _caterpillar_ (Plate I. fig. 9), which feeds on the oak, is reddish brown, marked with black.

The _chrysalis_, which is sometimes attached to the leaves of the oak, and at others is found _under the surface of the earth_ at the foot of the tree, is a brownish object, of the lumpy shape shown in Plate I. fig. 28 (a form shared by the chrysalides of all the Hair-streaks). {146}

The _b.u.t.terfly_ is seen in July and August, flitting about in sportive groups round oak trees, and occasionally descending within reach of the net. It also affects other trees besides oaks, some thirty or forty at a time having been seen gambolling about one _lime_ tree. It being so generally distributed, it will be needless to particularize its localities.

THE GREEN HAIR-STREAK. (_Thecla Rubi._)

(Plate XII. fig. 5.)

This pretty little species is at once known from all other English b.u.t.terflies by the rich _bright green_ colour that overspreads its under surface. Above, the wings are deep, warm brown.

The _caterpillar_ is green, spotted and striped with white, and feeds on the bramble; also on the broom, and other plants of the same order.

The _b.u.t.terfly_ appears first in May and June, and again in August, it being _double-brooded_. It is found flying about rough brambly hedges, and often settles on the outer leaves of low trees about a dozen feet from the ground. It seems to occur generally throughout the country, and extends into the southern parts of Scotland. It has been found in many localities close to London.

{147}