66 



tudinal ribs, and the approximate size may be put as 1-lmm. in 

 height, by -Smm. wide. The insect also lays commonly on cuckoo- 

 flower, but owing to the nature of this plant I do not consider the 

 ova so easily to be found on it. 



Gonepterij.v rhamni. — Ova may be found underneath the leaves of 

 buckthorn during May, and are usually deposited singly on, or 

 between, the prominent ribs of the young leaves near the tip. Very 

 occasionally I have seen them on the twigs. The favourite spot 

 seems to be an outstretching branch which occupies a prominent 

 position on the sunny side of a green ride in a wood, and although 

 I consider that the butterfly only lays its ova singly, several may 

 be found on one leaf in such situations. Probably several indi- 

 viduals in passing select the same leaf to oviposit upon, owing to 

 its especial suitability, I have seen as many as seventeen in this 

 way on a single tiny shoot, and so crowded were they together that 

 in some cases ova had actually been deposited on other ova instead of 

 on the leaf. The colour, when freshly laid, is pale greenish, turning 

 quickly to lemon-yellow, and darkening to almost a slate colour 

 before hatching. In shape they are an elegant tapered spindle, 

 about l-3mm. high, and with a maximum width of -Smm., and very 

 beautifully sculptured, with twelve longitudinal ribs, which, how- 

 ever, are not as prominent as in other species ; and between these 

 is the usual arrangement of many horizontal rungs. 



Li)nenitis aihylla lays one of the most highly specialized ova I 

 have so far met with. It is deposited singly on the leaves of honey- 

 suckle in July and early August, and the butterfly appears to prefer 

 plants hanging from forest trees a few feet up from the ground, and 

 in situations which are not fully exposed to the direct rays of the 

 sun. In shape the ovum is remarkably like the fruit of the black- 

 berry, about 'Omm. high, and -Smm. wide, with a flattened base ; 

 upright as is usual with butterfly ova, but the sculpture instead of 

 taking the form of ribs and rungs, consists of large hexagonal pits 

 roughly arranged in rings from around the micropylar area, and 

 with short spines standing out from the angles of these hexagons. 

 The colour is a pale greenish-yellow, showing purplish cloudings as 

 the larva within matures, and finally becoming almost black when 

 on the point of hatching. 



Vanesm urticii. — I have only found these ova wild laid by watch- 

 ing the parents early in May, and so locating the selected site, as it 

 would be a somewhat hopeless task to examine the leaves of a 

 whole bed of nettles in the expectation of discovering the right one. 

 The underside of a young leaf a little below the tip of the shoot 



