50 THE kntomologist's record. 



chosen ground. Lovely Argynnis j^apfiia spread their wings to catch 

 the rays of the sun, whilst A. adippe and A. aglaia dash from flower 

 to flower, hustling off the smaller creatures. An exquisite piece of 

 molten silver set in a golden frame on yon knapweed flower, shows the 

 beautiful A. latona, and soon many others are detected. The Red Ad- 

 miral (P. atalanta), the embodiment of warmth and richness, fans its 

 glowing wings, and keeps intruders to its own domain at a very respect- 

 able distance. Gonepteryx rhamni adds colour to the scene, its 

 yellow contrasting strongly with the rich orange of C. edusa, which fre- 

 quently pauses to join in the luscious banquet that this bank affords. 

 A potato field skirts the top of the bank, and along this I slowly pass, 

 to watch the aerial sprites in their gambols. Two Chalk-hill Blues 

 (Lycaena corydon) rush at each other, and all the passions of a life pent 

 up in their frail bodies seem let loose, as they fight with apparently viru- 

 lent fierceness. An interesting little Copper (Chrysophanus dorilis) with 

 brown wings and scarcely a tinge of the brighter colour, is not at all 

 infrequent, whilst the female is so much a Blue in shape and general 

 character, that the relationshij) of Coppers and Blues is manifestly 

 illustrated. A small moth bundles head-first off that flower into the 

 potato field and settles on the ground. I mark it down, and soon dis- 

 cover many Agrophila trabenUs taking an early nap, with one eye very 

 widely open. An epitome of black-and-white loveliness hovers over a 

 flower, and reveals itself as my Kentish favourite, Acontia hichiosa. 

 Bright green and scarlet Zygaena minos boom along, stirred to un- 

 wonted exertions by the heat, whilst other Blues join L. corydon in 

 its combats or play. A rapid rush, and Heliothis armigera is seen diving 

 its long tongue deep into the nectaries of a flower. A wonderful 

 instrument is that long flexible tube, made of two longitudinal halves, 

 fitted as it were by joints all the way down to make a sucker, whilst 

 the globular expansion at the top into which it opens, by alternately 

 expanding and contracting, causes the nectar to flow uj) into it, and 

 then forces it down its throat. The Browns, too, are prominent ; 

 there are plenty of E. ianira, with some striking varieties among the 

 males exactly like the ordinary form in size, general build and ai)pear- 

 ance, but with a marvellous supj^ly of silky androconia. Yes, one of 

 the specimens has two spots, the second half-way down the wing, and 

 here is another. "Another species," says my companion laconically. " I 

 think not ; where are the corresponding females if it is ? " is my reply. 

 " Not out yet," is the prompt answer, and so it turns out ; our varieties are 

 E. lycaon a near ally of E. ianira, who haunts the same ground. Four 

 other species of Fritillaries occur here besides those we have named, 

 among which the rich coat of Argynnis dia is noticeable, but we re- 

 gretfully leave the bank behind and soon reach a bridge crossing a 

 rapid stream. 



We bear^to the left without crossing the bridge, and sit down by 

 the side of the stream, where, under the shadow of the trees, we wipe 

 our streaming brows and take in large draughts of the purest 

 ozone. A lovely bank of bushes grows luxuriantly by the water's 

 edge, and a piece of waste ground, on which mahce-\\ke Skippers 

 skip, Colias hyale hesitates, and Pieris daplidice stays to sij^ the 

 honied sweets of the flowers, is followed by a clover field which 

 leads to the foot[of the mountains. Ilythyia carnella, Acidalia rnhricata, 

 Eudidia glyphica, Eubolia mensuraria, S2)ilodes cindalis, and many other 



