150 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



revive an interest which its plentifulness has destroyed. The 

 collector will nevertheless need to take a large number 

 of specimens, and that for two reasons. In the first place 

 the wings are very fragile, and a small amount of wear 

 usually makes them ragged and the insect unfit for the 

 cabinet. Again/ the male differs considerably from the 

 female, and both are subject to a good deal of variation, 

 especially in the depth of the ground-colour. 



The Meadow Brown has a very weak, fluttering style 

 of flight, so that it would be the easiest thing in the 

 world to catch it were it not for its habit of settling 

 every few moments. In this it is wise, for no sooner 

 are its wings closed than it seems to disappear, so closely 

 does the under-surface of the wings resemble in colour 

 the bare ground or the ripening grass of the summer fields. 



The eggs are laid on grass in July or a short time 

 before or after, and hatch in a little under a fortnight. 

 It is not long, however, before the young larvae retire 

 to the roots of the grass to hibernate. They re-appear 

 in May, and are full-fed at the beginning of June, early 

 in which month the chrysalides may be found. The 

 perfect insects begin to appear in the second half of 

 June, and are on the wing till August. 



The larva (Fig. 160), which is about ijin. in length, 

 has a large head, and a forked tail tinged with pink. 

 There is a slight lateral skin-fold, with an edge lighter 

 than the ground-colour, which is bright green, somewhat 

 lighter on the dorsal surface and darker on the ventral. 

 There is a medio-dorsal dark stripe, as well as slight 

 traces of subdorsal ones. The segments are not clearly 

 marked, nor are the sections into which they are divided. 

 The body is covered with short white hairs. 



The pupa (Fig. 159) is stout and but little angled; the 

 anterior extremity is slightly two-eared. The ground- 



