l62 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



The eggs are laid on several species of grass in May 

 and June. The larvae hatch out in about a fortnight 

 and are full-fed in a month that is to say, usually 

 towards the end of July. The imago would thus appear 

 in August. The earlier brood must no doubt have 

 passed the winter in the larval state. 



The larva (Fig. 176) decreases in girth towards the anal 

 extremity, which is bifid. On the back, each segment 

 is divided into transverse sections, which are sprinkled 

 with tiny points. The body is bright green, with a pale- 

 bordered, medio-dorsal, darker green stripe. On each side 

 is a pair of dark green stripes, bordered below with 

 yellowish-green, the lower stripe containing the light 

 brown spiracles. The head is dull green, the anal points 

 are pink, and the legs are tinged with the same colour, 

 while the claspers resemble in tint the ventral surface. 



The chrysalis (Fig. 177), which is suspended by the 

 anal extremity, is bright green, sprinkled with white dots, 

 and the wing-cases bear a dark brown stripe edged with 

 white. 



The imago (Figs. 178 and 179) has all the wings rounded 

 and edged with a pale fringe ; the costal margin of the fore- 

 wings is convex. The ground-colour of the upper surface 

 (Fig. 178) is a pale drab-brown, similar to that of the last 

 butterfly, its congener ; but the wings in the butterfly before 

 us have darker brown margins. Near the tip of the fore- 

 wings is a black spot, often indistinct, within a ring slightly 

 paler than the ground-colour. The under-surface (Fig. 179) 

 of the fore-wings closely resembles the upper ; but the black 

 spot has a white centre, and is situated in a bright yellow 

 ring, while a dark line stretches from the costal margin a 

 good way across the wing nearer the base. The hind- 

 wings are ashen-grey, dark near the base, and paler near 

 the hind-margin. Between these two colours is an 



