PLATE XXIV. 
No. 1.—The Scarce Copper Butterfly (Chrysophanus 
Virgauree). 
No. 2.—The Female of the Scarce Copper Butterfly. 
No. 3.—The Scarce Copper Butterfly, showing the 
Under side. 
No. 4.—The Large Copper Butterfly (Chrysophanus 
No. 5.—The Female of the Large Copper Butterfly. 
No. 6.—The Large Copper Butterfly, showing the 
Under side. 
No. 7.—The Caterpillar of the Large Copper Butter- 
fly. 
No. 8.—The Chrysalis of the Large Copper Butterfly. 
dispar). 
(The Caterpillar and Chrysalis of the Scarce Copper Butterfly are represented in Plate xxiii. at Nos. 11 and 12.) 
CHRYSOPHANUS VIRGAURE# (the Scarce Copper, Nos. 1 to 3). 
of the true Chrysophani. 
black spots, except close to the border of the hind wings ; those of the female (No. 2), having 
numerous large black spots. The Caterpillar (No. 11, Plate xxiii.) is onisciform, but not 
flattened ; and the Chrysalis (No. 12, Plate xxiii.) is secured to a leaf or stem by a knob of web 
at the tail, and a girth at the middle. The under side (No. 3), is less distinctly ted than 
any of the old species by the ocellated spots which distinguish the genus. 
The Caterpillar feeds on the Golden-rod (Solidago Virgauree). This species has not been 
recently taken, and is considered by some to be doubtful as British, notwithstanding the 
existence of several specimens in old cabinets. It is possible that it may have become extinct, 
as we have seen C. dispar entirely disappear within the last few years. 
Chrysophanus dispar (the Large Copper, Nos. 4 to 8). This beautiful and conspicuous 
insect is, as far as we know at present, peculiar to England, no specimen having ever been as 
yet taken on the continent of Europe, or in any other quarter of the world. M. Boisduval, 
however, thinks it a large local variety of the Continental C. Hippotho’. However this.may be, 
there has been so great a demand for this beautiful insect since the appearance of the figure of it 
in Donovan's work, that the species is supposed to be extirpated—recently captured specimens 
haying been sold as high as £4 the pair. The male (No. 4) is rather smaller than the female, 
but of much more brilliant colour. The female (No. 5) is marked with large black spots, and 
the hind wings are nearly black, with a copper-coloured border. 
This species is the first 
The rich copper-coloured wings of the male (No. 1), are free from 
There is a female variety in 
which the border of black on the front wings is much narrower than in the specimen figured, 
and in which the copper-coloured border of the hind wings is much more dusky. The under 
side (No. 6) has the ocellated spots much more strongly and clearly marked than any other 
species of the genus, and is the same in both sexes. 
The Caterpillar (No. 7), which feeds on the Great Water Dock (Rumen aquaticus), is pale 
green, thickly powdered with white specks, and appears in June. 
The Chrysalis (No. 8) is at first green, then pale ash coloured, and eventually (in some 
specimens) deep brown. 
The perfect insect appears in July and August, and was formerly abundant in the Fenny 
districts of Huntingdon and Cambridge shires ; and it has been taken at Benacre in Suffolk, and 
