174 



BRITISH BVTTEEFLIES 



This butterfly is not known in Scotland or Ireland, nor is it to 

 be found in several of the northern counties of England. Its chief 

 haunts are the waste cliffy grounds of the southern and some of 

 the midland counties of England, where it is usually restricted to cer- 

 tain small districts. In some places it is really a common insect, 

 and among these may be mentioned Brighton, Horsham, Dover, 



Folkestone, Margate, 



Gravesend, New Forest, 

 parts of Gloucestershire, 

 Cambridgeshire, and 



Devonshire, also in the 

 Isle of Wight and South 

 Wales. 



The perfect insect is 

 out in July, during which 

 month the eggs are de- 

 posited on various grasses, 

 or indiscriminately on 

 leaves and stems in grassy 

 spots. 

 The caterpillar feeds on grasses ; and, being still small at the 

 end of the autumn, hj-bernates during the winter among the stems of 

 grass. It feeds again in April, and is fully grown hy the end of IMay. 

 Its coloiu' is a dull green or brownish, with a darker stripe down 

 the back, and lighter stripes along the sides. Its spiracles are black. 

 The chrysalis is pale brown, marked with lines of a slightly 

 darker shade. It may be found among grass stems, without any 

 attachment, during the month of June. 



Fifi. 77. 



-The M.uir.LEi) White 

 Unl'EK Side. 



The Small Ruujlet {Erebia Epipliyon) 



On account of the very limited range of this butterfly, only those 

 who have the opportunity of visiting its haunts can have any 

 practical acquaintance with its natural history. It is almost 

 exclusively confined to the lake district in England, to a few 

 mountainous localities in Scotland, and to one or two similar 

 localities in Ireland. Its strong partiality for elevated situations 

 has earned for it the popular name of Mountain Ringlet. 



The colour of the upper surface (Plate V, fig. 3) is a dark 

 brown, with a broad band of rusty brown, parallel with the liind 

 margin of each wing, and broken by the wing rays. Each di\ision 



