72" 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



side is very different from the upper, as 

 will be seen from the very perfect repre- 

 sentation given below : the general tint is 

 dull rust-colour, shaded to gray along the 

 hind margin of all the wings : on the costal 

 margin of the fore wings are two white 

 blotches, one near the middle, the other 



smaller, and halfway between the middle 

 and the tip : between the larger white costal 

 blotch and the base is a vague whitish space, 

 containing two transverse black markings ; 

 towards the anal angle is an eye-like spot, 

 black with a blue pupil and a broad rust- 

 coloured circumscription, which is interrupted 



Under side of Female. 



by two white spots; between this eye-like spot 

 and the base is a short transverse white bar, 

 extending from near the middle of the wing 

 to the hind margin : the hind wings have an 

 oblique wedge-shaped median white band, the 



base of the wedge resting on the costal margin ; 

 there is a small blue-pupilled spot below this 

 band, and equidistant between the hind and 

 inner margins. 



Varieties. This insect is liable to variation, 



Upper side of a variety in the cabinet of Mr. Bond. 



which shows itself particularly in the absence 

 or partial absence of the white spots and 

 band. 



At page 5923 of the "Zoologist " for 1858, 

 the Rev. William Bree describes such a variety 



in these words : "On the 13th of July, 1857, 

 I had the good fortune to capture, in Ashton 

 Wood, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, a very 

 singular and interesting variety of Apatura 

 Iris. There is an entire absence of the beau- 



