44 European Butterflies axd Moths. 



genus nemeobius (steph.). 



Head small, eyes hairy, antennae slender, witli an abrupt and compressed club. Fore-wings 

 short and triangular, the costa and hind margin nearly straight, hind-wings rounded and dentated 

 Tlie only species, * N. I.7icma (Linn.), expands from i to i\ inches ; it is brown, with three rows of 

 dull orange spots on the fore-wings, and two on the hind-wings, the outer rows enclosing black 

 dots. Under side reddish-brown, with black marginal dots, and two rows of whitish spots on the 

 hind-wings. It is common in woods in many parts of Southern and Western Europe (including 

 the south of England) in May, June, and August. The larva is pale olive-brown, with a darker 

 stripe on the back, dotted with blackish, and a paler line on the sides. It lives on primroses and 

 sorrel from June to September. The butterfly is figured at PI. 13, Fig. 10. 



FAMILY VIII.— LYC^NIDiE. 



This family comprises most of our smaller butterflies, except the Skippers. They are blue, 

 copper-red, or brown, often with a short tail ; and the under side is generally marked either with 

 black eyes enclosed in pale rings, or with pale transverse lines. The antennae have a rather long 

 club; the palpi are hairy, with the last joint naked; and the front legs of the male are rather 

 smaller than those of the female, and the last joint of the tarsi terminates in a simple hook. 

 There are ten or e!c\-en nervules on the fore-wings, and the disco-cellular nervules are perpendicular, 

 with the fifth nervule rising between them. The larvse are wood-louse shaped, and covered with 

 fine short hair ; the head is small and retractile. This family is well represented in all parts 

 of the world, especially in the northern hemisphere and in South America, but the number of 

 distinctly-defined genera is small ; and while some are inclined to sub-divide them, others would 

 prefer still further to reduce the number of genera, by placing the Blues and Coppers, and perhaps 

 even the Hair-Streaks, in the same genus. 



GENUS I. — POLYOMMATUS (LATR.). 



The antenn.-E are slender, with the club abrupt and elongated ; the palpi are rather long, and 

 the eyes are sometimes hairy and sometimes naked. The upper side is more or less blue in 

 the male, seldom brown ; but the female is generally brown, though often dusted with blue. 

 There are nearly always eyes towards the base of the hind-wings beneath, and often on the fore- 

 wings also. In the latter case there is never more than one in the discoidal cell, and an eye-like 

 spot or streak at its extremity ; and the hind-wings have often a black transverse streak at the 

 end of the cell, surrounded with white, and there are often one or tvi^o rows of eye-like spots near 

 the hind margin, sometimes with reddish spots between. Some species have pale transverse lines 

 on the under side instead of eyes ; and these, and one or two others, have short and slender 

 tails on the hind-wings. These streaked species are sometimes placed in another genus, under the 

 name of Z(7;«/>/V/(-j (Hiibn.). The fore-wings have eleven nervules, the seventh and eighth nervule 

 rising from a common stem, and the sixth nervule separate. The larvjE are short and arched, and 

 generally live on the flowers and seeds of leguminous plants. Some hide themselves during the 

 day, and most of them hybcrnate, and may be obtained in spring or summer either by sweeping 

 or by searching for them on their food-plants. The butterflies frequent open flowery places, 

 especially on a chalk or limestone soil. A few .species are Alpine or Polar, and the genus is 



