138 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



with a brown dorsal streak on the thorax. There are, 

 besides, a few other dark brown marks. 



The costal margin of the fore-wings of the imago 

 (Fig. 140) is convex, while the hind-margin of all the wings 

 is rounded. The colour of the upper surface is a deep 

 chocolate-brown, with a somewhat indistinct copper- 

 coloured band across all the wings parallel to the hind- 

 margin. This band is interrupted at the nervures, and 

 frequently assumes the form of circular coppery patches, 

 especially on the hind-wings. Each *of these patches 

 usually contains a small black spot. The colouring of 



141 



EREBIA EPIPHRON. 



the under-surface (Fig. 141) very closely resembles that 

 of the upper ; but the coppery band is even less distinct, 

 especially on the hind-wings, where also the black spots 

 are extremely small. The sexes are similar. Epiphron 

 is variable in size and in the development of the 

 coppery patch and the black spots, which last may 

 have white centres. 



E. aethiops, Esper; E. medea, Hiibner; E. 

 blandina, Fabr. (Northern Brown or Scotch Argus) 

 (Figs. 142 to 145), is a rather larger butterfly than 

 the last its wings expanding from i^in. to 2in. but 

 somewhat closely resembles it. Like the last, too, it is 



