44 LEPIDOPTERA. 



blackthorn gi-ows, rather than the woods themselves. It is 

 very fond of flying round, and settling upon, scattered oak 

 trees in such places, where it engages constantly in the 

 wildest combats with its congener, Tliccla qucrcus, the result 

 being that both speedily become worn and tattered. When 

 on the wing its movements are swift, and in bright sunshine 

 it is not easy to catch. At times, however, it devotes itself 

 to extracting the honey from the blossoms of bramble, and 

 even umbelliferous plants, and is then readily captured. 

 Should a cloud obscure the sun, it immediately becomes so 

 sluggish as easily to be secured by the hand. Females some- 

 times remain out until late in September ; and Lord Walde- 

 grave records in 27ic Entomologist the capture of one in 

 October. The eggs, being laid so late in the season, are not 

 hatched until the spring. 



Although so extremely local that many years may pass 

 without giving the anxious collector an opportunity of seeing 

 it alive, its range is wide. In the eastern counties it has 

 been taken occasionally in Norfolk and Suffolk ; more fre- 

 quently in Essex, where, in Epping Forest, it has been fairly 

 common ; also in Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, and 

 Northamptonshire, in some plenty. In very few localities 

 in Kent, Sussex. Hants, and Dorset ; rarely in Gloucestershire, 

 and possibly Somerset ; but found in many Devonshire 

 localities, especially in the sheltered valleys around the Dart- 

 moor range, and in the charmingly wooded districts about 

 Axminster and Sidmouth ; becoming common towards Dart- 

 mouth. It has also been found commonly near Marlborough, 

 Wilts, and plentifully in some parts of North Wales ; 

 apparently rare in South Wales ; but certainly existing in 

 some parts of the wooded districts skirting Milford Haven. 

 Also recorded from Worcestershire, and Cannock Chase in 

 Staffordshire ; and northward in the favoured districts of 

 Grange and Silverdale in North Lancashire, and Witherslack 

 in Westmoreland. This appears to be its northern limit, 

 unless the record of a single specimen at Barron Wood, 



