140 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



The eggs are laid at the end of the summer, and 

 hatch in about a fortnight. The young larvae feed on 

 several kinds of grass till, after the second moult, they 

 hibernate about October. They are full-fed at the end 

 of the following June, and the imago is on the wing 

 in July and August. 



The larva (Fig. 144) is stout, thickest in the middle, and 

 tapering towards both extremities, the anal one being 

 slightly bifid. The segments, which are not very distinct, 

 are subdivided into five sections. The body is covered 

 with small warts, emitting tiny hairs. The ground-colour 

 is whitish-brown ; there is a dark medio-dorsal line, 

 bordered with a tint paler than the ground-colour. On 

 each side below this is a pale stripe, bordered below 

 with a darker margin. The spiracles are black, and the 

 legs and claspers resemble in colouring the rest of the 

 body. 



The chrysalis (Fig. 145) has been described by Buckler 

 as about fin. in length, the wing-cases being long, the 

 body stout, especially in the middle, tapering to the tail, 

 and ending in a blunt, flat spike. The thorax is rounded, 

 and the head and eye-cases are prominent. At first the 

 anterior part of the body is pinkish-grey, and the posterior 

 dull yellow with dark dorsal stripe and other lines, and 

 spiracles also as in the larva ; but later the anterior part 

 changes to a dark brown, 



The costal margin of the fore-wings of the imago 

 (Fig. 142) are convex, as is also the hind-margin; the hind- 

 wings are very slightly scalloped. The fringe is rather 

 light. The ground-colour is a deep chocolate-brown 

 crossed on each wing by a band of a coppery colour. 

 This contains on the fore-wings four black spots, usually 

 white-centred, the third from the costal margin being less 

 constant than the others. On the hind-wings the nervures 



