20 



THE ENTOMOI-CKilST S RECORD. 



high up on the mountains, trefoils and hieraciums, although 

 still abundant, are dwarfed and less conspicuous. It is from these 

 dwarf thistles, and flowers that rise but a few inches above the 

 ground, that it obtains its supply of nectar, and if it be on the wing 

 Avhen the sun disappears, a sudden drop among the heritage, or upon 

 the rock, is the usual result. How inconspicuous it then becomes, 

 with its dark grey coat, for the underside of its wings is dull, with grey 

 scales, as is the upper side. How much more complete a protection 

 does this aftbrd than Avould the more brilliant colour of its relative of 

 the lower levels." 



The references, too, to that strangely allied family of moths, the 

 Burnets, are deeply engrossing. 



First Mr. Tatt finds one (Zyijaena traasalpina) " with deep blue 

 fore-wings of exquisite tint, having six bright scarlet spots arranged in 

 three pairs on each of the wings ; the hind wings are of the same 

 bright scarlet colour, Avith a narrow margin of the beautiful blue of the 

 fore-wings. Identical in shape, in spotting, and in general appearance, 

 with the common Six-spotted Burnet moth (Zi/gacna t^li/ieiulnlar) of 

 our liritish hill-slopes, there is yet a difierence, scarcely definable in 

 words, unless it be a bluer tint to the ground colour, a slightly 

 different shade in the scarlet, and a dini trace of a dark shade round 

 the scarlet spots of the fore-wings, Avhich makes them abundantly 

 easy to separate." 



The next is " larger than the one we have just mentioned. Its 

 colour is usually green, only occasionally being blue. Its antennse also 

 are longer, and their tips more pointed, and there are only five scarlet 

 spots on each fore-wing, arranged in two pairs with a solitary spot 

 near the outer margin. This individual a great deal resembles our 

 British ]>road-bordered Five-spotted Burnet {Z. trifolii), although, to 

 a trained eye, the difference in the shape of the wings, and in the 

 antenn;e suggests that there is in reality a greater distance between 

 the two than between the two six-spotted forms which we were com- 

 paring just now. Of their relationship, however, there can be no doubt, 

 and closet naturalists have maintained that they are only varieties of 

 one species." 



The third l^urnet is similar to the last, but has traces of a sixtff 

 spot, especially on the underside. Next comes Z. minos. Then 

 Z. achilleae, whose spots are situated in the usual positions, but the 

 outer pair are joined into a blotch, as in Z. iitinos, but "very rarely are 

 the other spots connected to form the longitudinal blotches found in the 

 latter species. As we look over a large number of specimens we soon find 

 that here and there a specimen has one or two of the blotches of 

 minos well developed. No specimen, however, has all three blotches, 

 and the busal and central pair of spots are usually distinct. This 

 then, is a species in a transition state between the spotted Burnets and 

 the streaked Burnets ; on the way to form a purely spotted species, 

 perhaps, if the blotched be the older forms ; on the way to form a 

 blotched species if the spotted be older. The ground colour of the fore- 

 wing varies with the sex, those of the gentlemen being green, those of 

 the ladies being of a bronzy hue, sometimes even golden." Lastly, for 

 yet another species is obtained, comes a noble Zygaena, differing vastly 

 from the others, " with grand creamy rings surrounding the five red 

 spots on the fore-wings, whilst in addition to the usual spots, a narrow 

 transverse red band with a creamy border runs parallel to the outer 



