134 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



on the upper surface. On the wing it closely resembles 

 a female Small or Green-veined White, but its flight is 

 weaker, although that of the White is not very strong. 



The Marbled White is an extremely local butterfly, but 

 sometimes common over a very restricted area. It is 

 not a wood insect, and seems to prefer rough, broken 

 ground, like a chalk or limestone hill-side. It need not 

 be sought on such ground exclusively, for I found a 

 considerable number on one occasion, when the sun 

 was not shining, at rest on the grasses or rushes growing 

 in a swampy spot a few miles from Abingdon in Berk- 

 shire. Their position seemed to have been taken up 

 designedly with a view to concealment, for at a short 

 distance it was difficult to distinguish the butterflies from 

 the inflorescence of some of the rushes and grasses. An 

 instance this, probably, of protective resemblance. 



Galatea occurs locally in all the English counties 

 except nine or ten north-midland and northern ones. 

 It is, however, found in Yorkshire. In July the eggs are 

 laid amongst the grass. They are hatched in about 

 three weeks ; but the young larvae hibernate early near 

 the roots of the grass, and begin feeding again about 

 the end of April. They are full-fed about the beginning 

 of June, in which month the chrysalis may be found. 

 The imago comes out in July. 



The larva (Fig. 137) is about ijin. in length, the head 

 is large, the tail forked, and the body slightly dilated 

 along the sides. The segments are not clearly defined, 

 nor are the sections into which each segment is divided. 

 The ground-colour is dingy ochreous-yellow, sometimes 

 with a dull greenish tinge. There is a rather dark 

 dorsal stripe, and along the spiracular region a band 

 slightly darker than the ground-colour, bounded above 

 and below by a lighter line. The ventral surface, legs, 



