1902 An Extinct Butte7'fly 295 



brates, and this destruction is going on at a rapidly increas- 

 ing ratio. The most gigantic of all modern birds, the moas 

 of New Zealand, were killed and eaten by the Maories, The 

 dodo and the solitaire were exterminated by the Dutch 

 navigators. Within the present century the great auk has 

 become extinct, and as large and as beautiful an animal as 

 the quagga appears to have become a thing of the past. All 

 these larger animals have been destroyed by the direct 

 agency of man, others have been indirectly affected. Of the 

 latter, one of the most remarkable is what was formerly a 

 common species of butterfly, known to lepidopterists as the 

 large copper {Chrysophaiiics dispar), which formerly occurred 

 in abundance in Whittlesea Mere and in the Huntingdon- 

 shire fens, but which is now believed to be quite extinct, no 

 specimen having been captured for nearly fifty years." 



The four wings have the costal margin nearly straight 

 and rather pointed at the apex ; the hind margin is a little 

 rounded and in the hind-wing slightly waved. In the male 

 the ground colour of the upper surface is bright fiery copper. 

 The fore-wings have a rather narrow black hind margin, 

 which is broadest at the apex, a fine linear traverse black 

 spot at the extremity of the discoidal cell, and a smaller and 

 less distinct one between this and the base. The hind-wings 

 have a black indented hind margin with a short dark fusc- 

 ous median streak. 



The sexual difference of the upper surface of this species 

 is very remarkable. 



The female, which is of the same coppery hue as the 

 male, has the hind margin of the fore-wings broader than in 

 the latter, and in addition has a row of seven oblong black 

 spots parallel with the hind margin and three more distinct 

 ones in the discoidal cell, decreasing in size from the ex- 

 tremity. The hind-wings are brownish-black, with a cop- 

 pery orange band inside the black hind margin. Beneath, 

 both sexes are alike. The ground colour of the under sur- 

 face of the fore-wings is light orange red with a hind margin 

 of ashy-grey ; there are three black spots placed longitudin- 

 ally on the disc and a traverse row near the hind margin, 

 forming an undulating line across the wing, all of which are 

 encircled with pearly-grey ; bordering the hind margin is an 



