SCOTCH ARGUS. 10 J 



THE SCOTCH ARGUS BUTTLRFLY. 



(Erebia Blandina.) (Plate VI. fig. 4, Female.) 



The genus Erebia, to which this species belongs, is 

 composed of a group of mountain butterflies, very 

 numerous in the Alpine regions of the Continent, 

 seventeen species being described as inhabiting the 

 Alps ; and, though only two have yet been discovered 

 in this country (unless we admit Ligea, formerly taken 

 in the Isle of Arran 1 ), it is not at all improbable that 

 others may be waiting for us in some of the mountain 

 districts, if we will but look them up. Both tourists 

 and, more especially, residents in those localities should 

 be encouraged by the hope of adding a new species to 

 cur list to explore thoroughly the hill-sides and summits 

 at various seasons of the year, as many of the species, 

 besides being extremely local in their range, are only on 

 the wing during a very short period of the year. 



The Scotch Argus is a pretty, though not brightly- 

 coloured butterfly. 



The colour above is a deep rich brown, with a cop 

 pery or orange-red band on each wing, and each band 

 has several (three or four usually) black eye-spots 

 thereon. 



1 See p&ge 171. 



