132 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



wings. The insect often expands as much as 4iin. The 

 female may be known by its broader nervures and by 

 the absence of a black tuberculous spot which is found 

 on the hind-wings of the male. 



The Ringlets, or Browns. 



These form a well-defined group of eleven butterflies, 

 all, with one exception the Marbled White being some 

 shade of brown marked with no other colours than 

 black, white, and ochreous-yellow. All are adorned with 

 a larger or smaller number of eye-spots near the hind- 

 margin of the wings. The spots are most conspicuous 

 on the under-surface ; indeed, in almost every case the 

 under-surface is much more highly ornamented than the 

 upper. The eye-spots, when fully developed, are very 

 beautiful, and may be seen in perfection on the under- 

 surface of a good specimen of the Ringlet (Epinephele 

 hyperanthes). They are jet-black, with a tiny pure white 

 centre, and surrounded with a pale yellow ring. All the 

 butterflies of this group are small or middle-sized, and, 

 being sober-tinted, cannot compare with some of our 

 larger butterflies, or even with the Blues and Coppers ; 

 but yet many have a quiet beauty of their own. The 

 black marbling on a creamy ground of the Marbled 

 White (Melanargia galated) is very pleasing, and so 

 are the rich warm browns of Epinephele tithonus, the 

 Large Heath. The female of the Grayling (Satyrus 

 semele), which often attains a considerable size, has a 

 very richly chequered under-surface ; while the eye-spots 

 of the Wall butterfly (Pararge megcera) five concentric 

 circles round a white centre are very delicately beautiful. 

 The downy appearance of the two dark butterflies, the 

 Northern Brown (Erebia cethiops) and the Mountain 

 Ringlet (E. epiphron)^ and of the pale Marsh Ringlet 



