204 THE entomologist's eecokd. 



of course, long prior to sapphirns, Meig. (1830), but one wishes, at 

 once, to prevent the latter being attached to the wrong species. 



The habits of Araschnia levana and its summer form prorsa. 



By T. KEUSS. 



Do Araschnia levana and its seasonal form, prorsa, differ widely not 

 only in facies, but also in habits and favourite haunts ? If so, has 

 " mimicry " of other species anything to do with this ? 



Many who have seen the beautiful Araschnia levana var. prorsa in 

 its natural haunts on the continent will have been struck by the 

 resemblance this butterfly bears to Liuienitis sihtjlla, not only in facies, 

 but also in a certain peculiarity in the habit of flight when the insect 

 is at play. Eesting on the leaf of a bush in a wood-clearing, Limenitis 

 Sibylla launches itself vertically up into the air, towers to the height 

 of several yards, and then, after soaring an instant, dives and drops 

 gracefully back to its first resting-place. Several of these fine, white- 

 banded butterflies shooting up alternately straight as rockets into the 

 light, and again falling back on to the sun-warmed leaves of the 

 bushes from which they rose, make a dainty spectacle, and suggest the 

 elfin dances of the fairy tales to the mind of an observer. I had not 

 heard, nor had I myself noticed, that any other species ever indulged 

 in this kind of dance (L. sibi/lla, while visiting puddles on a road, flies 

 like any other Nymphalid), when, on a bright morning late in August, 

 a few years ago, I first came across several black, white-banded butter- 

 flies (prorsa) flying over the bushes on the margin of a wood in 

 Mecklenburg. I had not expected to see the insect, and was not thinking 

 of the species, when these specimens appeared (large 2 s) and quite sur- 

 prised me into mistaking them for L. sibylla , in spite of the lateness of the 

 season. Thej' danced — exactly as I had seen i>. sibijlla dance — up and 

 up, straight into the blue, and then came the broad soaring movement, the 

 dive down, and the fall. I felt mystified. This was, and yet was not, 

 L. Sibylla. I hastily netted a butterfly, and after a little " rubbing of 

 eyes " I recognised it to be ArascJinia levana var. prorsa, which form I 

 had not seen alive before. 



When I remembered the brown, fritillary-like A. levana, which I 

 had caught [also by chance — unexpectedly — while hunting for Melitaea 

 anriyiia (artemis)'] in the spring of the same year near Potsdam, I felt 

 forcibly how significant the fact that these two widely different butterflies 

 should be forms of one and the same species, might prove to be. Last 

 winter Mr. Merrifield broached the subject, remarking that it would be 

 interesting to know also whether the spring form levana flies like the 

 fritillaries it so much resembles. 



This instantly reminded me that levana had unexpectedly fallen a 

 prey to my net Avhile I was on the look-out for M. arteiuis on the 

 boggy meadows round the Havel lakes. This was on a cloudless 

 morning in May. i'elastrina avyioliis and Nisoniades tayes made them- 

 selves conspicuous on the road to the Havel, and I succeeded in 

 netting a pair of fine Papilio viachaon. The grass of the meadows was 

 short as yet, but many flowers were blossoming in patches, and these 

 were well visited hy butterflies and other insects. Melitaca artemis 

 came rushing along in rapid flight low over the grass, and I netted 

 several fine specimens, each one costing me a chase and many a splash 



