﻿THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE COTSWOLDS. 215 



the picturesque old town of Painswick. The surrounding country 

 is thickly wooded, the majority of trees being beech on the hill 

 sides, with a fair sprinkling of oaks in the valleys. Making 

 Painswick Beacon my centre I was within easy reach of Hares- 

 field, Birdlip, and Sheepscombe, and these hills and the connect- 

 ing valleys constitute, in my opinion, one of the best butterfly 

 grounds in England. • 



Seated on one of the " banks " on June 21st, in the course 

 of an hour, viz. from 12 noon until 1 p.m., I counted the 

 following insects : — 



Lyccena avion (eleven), L. icarus (eight), L. bellargus (six), 

 L. astrarche (very numerous), Zizera minima (very numerous), 

 Argynnis aglaia (four), Pi/ramcis carclui (one), Melanargia galatea 

 (six), Coenonympha jjamphilus (yQvy numerous), Thecla rubi (four, 

 much worn), Hesperia malva (three), Thanaos tages (two), 

 Augiades sylvanus (very numerous). 



In addition to the above butterflies there were a good number 

 of the day-flying moths. Zi/gcena trifolii and Z.filipendulce were 

 very numerous and in fine condition, and Acidalia ornata fairly 

 common. 



During the four days I was in this district I netted about 

 twenty Lyccena avion in all, only seven of which were absolutely 

 perfect, six being very much worn, and the remainder, although 

 in fine condition and apparently only having recently emerged, 

 were all useless on account of small triangular pieces being 

 missing from the ends of the fore wings. I am rather at a loss 

 to account for this, as the fringes of the wings were quite perfect. 

 I have heard the opinion expressed that possibly this injury was 

 caused by ants while the wings were expanding, and certainly I 

 cannot think of any other explanation which quite fits the case, 

 as when the wings are injured by briars the piece usually hangs 

 loose. It was very interesting to contrast the habits of the 

 various "Blues"; for instance, while L. astrarche and L. 

 bellavgiis seem much attached to one place, and frequently 

 return there even after being disturbed, the L. avion were never 

 at rest, but seemed to be always on the wing, flitting from glade 

 to glade something after the manner of the " Fritillaries " ; in 

 fact this was the surest method of distinguishing them from the 

 females of L. bellargus and L. icavits, which rather resemble 

 them when in flight. The Zizera minima are also very fond of 

 congregating in one spot in small colonies, and strongly resent 

 any other insects trespassing on their preserves ; in fact I was 

 very much amused to see one of these fearless little insects 

 fiercely attack a magnificent Avgynnis aglaia which came too 

 near the particular plant on which it rested, the combat remind- 

 ing me of a picture I had recently seen of an aeroplane attacking 

 a Zeppelin ! I should hke to mention one peculiar circumstance 

 I noted in connection with Lycana avion, which is that during the 



