Hesperia. 6 r 



GENUS I. — SriLOTHYRUS (DUP.). 



The club of the antennas is thick and straight; the hind tibiae are not furnished with a tuft 

 of hair; the fore-wings have transparent spots, and the hind-wings are dentated. The fringes are 

 spotted with pale and dark. The butterflies frequent weedy slopes, and are double-brooded, 

 appearing in spring and autumn. 



1. .S". Alcccz (Esp.), Malva7'uin (Hofifmannsegg). — Wings reddish-grey, with blackish bands; 

 fore-wings with small transparent dots in the middle, before the tips, and in cells 2 and 3 ; hind- 

 wings with pale spots beneath, but with no conspicuously paler spot in the middle above. Expands 

 from I to 1 1 inches. Common throughout Southern and Central Europe (except the north-west). 

 North Africa, and Northern and Western Asia. The larva is reddish-grey, spotted with yellow on 

 the 2nd segment, with a dark line on the back and a pale stripe on the sides. Lives in June 

 and autumn in the folded leaves of different species of mallow, and the autumn brood hybernates. 

 The butterfly and larva are figured at PI. 15, Fig. 7, a, b. 



2. 5. Aithecs (Hlibn.). — Very like Akt'tr, but slightly larger on an average. The upper side 

 shades into green or violet-grey, the transparent spots in cells 2 and 3 of the fore-wings are larger 

 and crescent-shaped, and there is a white spot in the middle of the hind-wings, which are rather 

 more distinctly spotted than in AlcecB. The fore-wings of the male have a stift" tuft of flock-like 

 hair on the under side at the base. It is met with in Southern Europe and Western Asia, as well 

 as in the southern half of France and Germany. The Spanish variety Marnibii (Ramb.) is 

 smaller than the type, and yellowish-grey, and the larva is reddish or yellowish grey, with 

 brownish stripes on the back and sides. It feeds on Marrubium hispanicum in spring and autumn. 



3. .S. Lavaterce (Esp.). — Wings above pale greyish-green, with dark bands, the transparent 

 spots of the fore-wings larger than in the other species, and those in cells 2 and 3 nearly square ; 

 hind-wings with a whitish spot at the base, and two rows of whitish spots beyond the middle. 

 The under side of all the wings is uniform pale grey. Expands about i^ inches. Its range is 

 similar to that o{ Altlica ; but it is a very local insect, and does not appear to be very common 

 anywhere. The larva is bluish-grey, with a blackish line on the back, two blackish stripes on each 

 side, and two pale yellow ones beneath them. It feeds on Stachys rccla in spring. 



GENUS II.— HESPERIA (FABR.). 



The club of the antennae is thick and straight ; the hind tibire are furnished with a tuft of 

 hairs, except in the last three species, and there are no transparent spots on the fore-wings, nor are 

 the hind-wings dentated. The wings are dark brown above, with white spots, which are generally 

 angular, and the fringes are spotted. The fore-wings have a transverse spot in the middle, and a 

 row of spots beyond, which is generally strongly curved and set backwards below the costa, so 

 that the spots which stand close to the costa are placed much nearer to the base than that which 

 follows; and the hind-wings have a more or less distinct central band, and a row of spots before 

 the hind margin, which are sometimes very indistinct, or absent. The under side is paler, and the 

 hind-wings are greenish-grey or brownish, with a white central band and row of spots, as well as 

 spots at the base. The species are either very variable, or else there are many closely-allied ones. 

 This has not yet been satisfactorily ascertained, and we shall here omit several forms described by 

 no one but Rambur, and most of which are probably mere varieties of other species. Rambur, 

 and subsequently some American entomologists, have attempted to employ the structure of the 

 abdominal appendages as a character to separate the species of Hcspcriuics ; but though this is 



