FRITILLARIES. 



57 



giving the surface a gray appearance ; they 

 form transverse series on the sections of the 

 segments ; the spines are ochreous as well as 

 their branches, excepting the extreme tips, 

 which are black : the yellowish spines give 

 the caterpillar the appearance of having 

 much more decided yellow stripes than is 

 the case ; the legs are black ; the claspers 

 pale dingy brown. It changes to a CHRYSALIS 

 suspended by the tail very soon after attain- 

 ing its full size, and is often found under the 

 coping-stones of walls, on the trunks of trees, 

 and on park palings. The chrysalis has a 

 divided or eared head, the two points being 

 widely separated and acute ; the thorax has a 

 short, elevated dorsal keel, and two spines on 

 each side ; the body has t\vo series of dorsal 

 spines, each series consisting of six spines. I 

 am indebted to Mr. V. Lewes for full-grown 

 specimens of the caterpillar, sent expressly for 

 this work. Newman. 



TIME OP APPEARANCE. The caterpillar is 

 found in June, about the middle or latter end 

 of which month it assumes the chrysalis state, 

 and the butterflies appear about the middle of 

 July, and remain on the wing about a month, 

 when they retire for the winter. 



LOCALITIES. This butterfly seems to be ab- 

 sent from Scotland and Ireland, but to be 

 generally, although sparingly, diffused through- 

 out the midland and eastern counties of Eng- 

 land ; I am aware that Mr. Birchall mentions 

 a specimen said to have been seen near Gal way 

 in 1861, but it was not taken, and he evi- 

 dently discredits the on dit. In England its 

 rarity in the north and extreme south-west is 

 very noticeable : from Northumberland and 

 Westmoreland I have no record of its oc- 

 currence ; from Cumberland, Durham, and 

 Lancashire, one from each county ; six York- 

 shire localities are reported ; from Derbyshire, 

 Nottinghamshire, Staffordshire, Northampton- 

 shire, and Norfolk, it is reported as rare ; and 

 in Herefordshire, as "not common " ; in Cam- 

 bridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Warwickshire, 

 Worcestershire, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, 

 Bedfordshire, Middlesex, Buckinghamshire, it 

 is "not uncommon"; in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, 

 Hampshire, and Dorsetshire it is "common": 



in Devonshire a dozen localities are mentioned 

 where single specimens have been taken. It 

 is rather a feature in the history of this insect 

 that it occurs singly : in the very numerous 

 records I have received more than half speak 

 of single specimens. 



Berkshire. Burghfield, near Keading 

 C. S. Bird. 



Buckinghamshire. Drayton-Beauchamp 

 H. H. Crewe. 



Cambridgeshire. Generally. 



Cheshire. Eastham E. Birchall. 



Cornwall. Near the gasworks at Looe, but 

 very rare ; I recollect them much more plen- 

 tiful Stephen Glogg; Whitsand Cliffs J. J. 

 Reading. 



Cumberland. A single specimen taken on 

 the bank of the Solway J. B. Hodgkinson. 



Derbyshire. Breadsall H. H. Crewe; 

 Calke Abbey H. A. Stowell. 



Devonshire. Scarce near Plymouth J. J. 

 Heading, who mentions a great number of 

 localities within the county where single 

 specimens have been taken ; I have seen a 

 single specimen every spring for the last five 

 years on the road from Plymouth station to 

 Plymbridge G. C. Biynall. 



Dorsetshire. Glanville's Wootton, rare in 

 the autumn, but more plentiful in the spring 

 J. C. Dak. 



Durham. A single specimen at Wbitburn, 

 on the 23rd July, 1858 John Hancock; a 

 single specimen at Darlington J. Sang. 



Essex. The caterpillars were formerly 

 most abundant, feeding on elm at Bnckhurst 

 Hill, on the borders of Epping Forest, but I 

 have not seen them for many years E. Nevr 

 man; very common round Colchester in 1860, 

 the caterpillars feeding on elm, sallow, and 

 osier, now rare W. H. Harwood ; Chingford 

 W. J. Argent. 



Glamorganshire. Scarce Evan John. 

 Gloucestershire. Scarce J.Merrin; once 

 nearStrond M. G. Musgrave ; a great num- 

 ber of localities in this county have reached 

 me through the kindness of correspon 

 dents. 



Hampshire. Some years not uncommon in 

 the spring after hibernation G. B. Corbin. 



