Butterflies and Moths Part 23

This species is very common in almost every locality in Britain.

_The Grayling_ (_Satyrus Semele_)

The Grayling is the largest of our 'Browns,' and, although a powerful flier, it seldom takes long flights. The female, which is shown in fig.

7, Plate V, is really a beautiful creature, the light markings of which stand out in bold contrast with the deep brown ground colour; but the male is comparatively dingy, there being much less contrast between the ground and the markings. He is also smaller than his mate.

The under side of both s.e.xes is similar (fig. 79), the pattern of the fore wings being much like that of the other side, but considerably lighter, and the hind wings are beautifully marbled with various greys and browns.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 79.--THE GRAYLING--UNDER SIDE.]

This species is not nearly so common as the two preceding, but it is very widely distributed, and is exceedingly abundant in some parts. On some of the heathery cliffs and downs of the south and south-west coasts it is so plentiful that the b.u.t.terflies are started into the air at almost every step, for it seldom flies except when disturbed. It is a common insect in Ireland, and also in parts of Scotland.

The caterpillar is a hybernator, and may be found feeding on gra.s.ses in the autumn and the spring. It changes to the chrysalis in June, and the perfect insect is on the wing from June to the beginning of September.

The colour of the caterpillar is pinkish drab above, and greenish drab beneath. A dark brown stripe, edged with a lighter colour, pa.s.ses down the middle of the back, and a dark line on each side. It changes to a dark reddish-brown chrysalis on the surface of the ground, or, according to some observers, a little beneath the surface.

_The Meadow Brown_ (_Epinephele Janira_)

Although this very common b.u.t.terfly is usually considered to be the dingiest of its family, yet it must be admitted that the colour of a freshly emerged specimen is really very rich.

The male is of a dark brown colour, with an indistinct patch of a lighter tawny brown near the outer margin of the fore wings, and a white-centred black eye-spot near the costal angle of the same wings.

The female (Plate V, fig. 8) is of a lighter colour, the eye-spot on her fore wings is larger and far more conspicuous, and an irregular patch of light orange brown occupies a large area of each of the same wings. She is, moreover, larger than her mate, and in every way a more attractive insect.

The Meadow Brown abounds everywhere, from June to September, and may be seen on gra.s.s land and waste grounds where other b.u.t.terflies are seldom found.

The caterpillar is green, and is rendered slightly rough by a number of minute warts. There is also a white stripe on each side. It feeds on various gra.s.ses in the autumn, hybernates during the winter, and is full grown in May.

The chrysalis is apple green, spotted with a lighter green, and has several black markings.

_The Large Heath_ (_Epinephele t.i.thonus_)

This b.u.t.terfly is sometimes called the 'Small Meadow Brown,' and is certainly much like the last species, both in colouring and habits.

The fore wings of the male (Plate V, fig. 9) are light orange brown, bordered with dark brown, and having a broad patch of the same across the middle; and near the costal angle is a round black spot with two white dots. The hind wings are dark brown with a patch of light orange brown near the centre, and a small eye-spot near the a.n.a.l angle. The female is exactly similar, except that she does not possess the broad bar on the fore wings.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 80.--THE LARGE HEATH--UNDER SIDE.]

The under side is shown in fig. 80, and is coloured with various shades of brown.

This is a very common b.u.t.terfly, and may be seen during July in most English counties, also in the south of Scotland, and in a few localities in the south of Ireland. It frequents meadows, heaths, downs, and lanes, like _Janira_, but is not nearly so abundant as that species.

The young caterpillar is hatched in August, and is still very small when it seeks its winter shelter among the stems of gra.s.ses. It resumes feeding in the following May, and is full grown towards the end of June.

Its colour is very variable--pale green, olive green, or dull brown, with five longitudinal stripes at about equal distances from each other.

These consist of a dark one down the middle of the back, a pale line along each side, and another pale line midway between these.

The chrysalis may be found at the end of June, attached by the tail to blades of gra.s.s. It is of a very light colour, almost white, but adorned with numerous black lines and patches.

_The Ringlet_ (_Epinephele Hyperanthus_)

This is another rather plainly dressed insect, though somewhat prettily adorned on the under side. The upper surface is of a very deep sepia brown, almost black, with a few indistinct black eye-like spots near the margins. The under side (Plate V, fig. 10) is of a lighter umber brown, with corresponding eye-spots generally very conspicuous. These spots are black, with white centres, and generally surrounded by light rings. They are subject, however, to considerable variation. Those on the upper surface are sometimes quite absent in the male, but are nearly always readily perceptible in the female. On the under side, too, they are occasionally quite absent, while in other varieties they are minute white-centred dots, without any surrounding light ring. Our coloured drawing represents the most usual form.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 81.--THE RINGLET--UPPER SIDE.]

The favourite haunts of the Ringlet are the borders of woods, and the sheltered sides of flowery hedgerows. It is not so widely distributed as some of the common 'Browns,' but is usually very abundant where it occurs, sometimes appearing in such numbers that several may be taken with a single stroke of the net. It does not seem to be a frequenter of Scotland, and is known in Ireland only in the south. Its head quarters are the southern and south-midland counties of England.

The eggs are laid in July on various gra.s.ses, on which the young caterpillars feed from about the middle of August till the cold weather sets in. They hybernate at the roots of the gra.s.ses till the beginning of the following May, and change to the chrysalis state about the middle of June, suspending themselves to gra.s.s blades by means of their a.n.a.l hooks.

The colour of the caterpillar is dull green or brown, and is marked with five longitudinal stripes much like those of the Large Heath.

The chrysalis is pale brown, spotted and striped with a darker shade of the same colour.

_The Marsh Ringlet_ (_Caenonympha Typhon_)

The upper surface of this b.u.t.terfly is shown in the first figure of Plate VI, and the under side in the accompanying woodcut; but it must be remembered that the species is a very variable one, so much so that it is almost impossible to give anything like a short and, at the same time, a satisfactory description. The female may usually be distinguished by a pale patch across the middle of the fore wings; and the eye spots of the same wings, always more or less indistinct when present, are sometimes entirely wanting. The markings of the under side are even more variable, the transverse bars and the eye spots being often particularly conspicuous, and at other times hardly discernible.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 82.--THE MARSH RINGLET--UNDER SIDE.]

This is generally spoken of as a northerner, its chief localities being in the mountainous parts of Scotland and the elevated districts of the north of England, but in Ireland it extends to the southern ranges. Its haunts are elevated moors and marshy heaths, where its food plant--the beak-rush (_Rhyncospora alba_)--abounds, and it is on the wing from the end of June to August or September.

The caterpillar is green, with five longitudinal stripes--one dark one, bordered with yellow, down the middle of the back, and two pale yellow ones on each side. It is a hybernator, and is full grown about the end of May, when it suspends itself by the hindmost claspers to a silken carpet, and changes to a green chrysalis with pale brown wing cases.

_The Small Heath_ (_Caenonympha Pamphilus_)

The last member of the family _Satyridae_ is the well-known Small Heath, that may be seen almost all over the British Isles on heaths, meadows and moors, from May to September.

The upper surface of this b.u.t.terfly (Plate VI, fig. 2) is a tawny yellow, with a dark brown border, and a spot of the same dark tint near the tip of each fore wing. The under side is much like that of the last species, but there are no eye spots on the hind wings.

The eggs of the first brood are laid during May and June on the various gra.s.ses on which the caterpillar feeds.

The caterpillars that emerge from these are fully grown in July or early August, and go through their changes during the latter month; but the later ones hybernate during the winter, and are not full fed till the following May.

The colour of the larva is pale apple green, with a wide darker stripe down the back, two others along the sides, and two more between the latter and the dorsal stripe. All these five stripes are bordered with a whitish colour.

The chrysalis is bright apple green, dotted with white, and the wing cases are striped with a purple-brown line edged with white.

CHAPTER XV

_THE HAIRSTREAKS, COPPERS AND BLUES_