BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



its anal ciaspers, and when compelled to relin- 

 quish its hold, it fell among the grass and 

 assumed a somewhat crescentic form, the two 

 extremities approaching, and in this position 

 it remained a while perfectly motionless ; 

 after sufficient time had elapsed for the dis- 

 appearance of the supposed enemy, it began 

 to crawl, but all its movements were remark- 

 ably sedate, or even lethargic. The head is 

 rather narrower than the second segment, into 

 which it is partially received ; it is scarcely at 

 all divided on the crown, has a slightly convex 

 face, and a rough surface resembling shagreen, 

 and composed of approximate warts, each of 

 which emits a hair from its summit ; the body 

 is obese, decidedly thickest in the middle, and 

 diminishing towards both extremities ; the 

 division in to segments is not very manifest, and 

 is rather concealed by a division of each seg- 

 ment into four sections, each of which seems 

 composed of a transverse series of warts ; thus 

 the eye is attracted by the minor divisions, and 

 the major divisions, or segments, properly so 

 called, may readily escape notice ; the body 

 terminates in two short and blunt processes 

 directed backwards; the legs andclaspers form 

 two approximate series under the belly, and 

 are not perceptible from above, whether the 

 caterpillar is at rest or in motion. The general 

 colour of both the head and body is wainscot- 

 brown ; the ocelli are black, and one on each 

 side is unusually prominent, appearing almost 

 pedunculate ; the body has a narrow medio- 

 dorsal stripe almost black, and the colour on 

 each side of this is paler than the general 

 ground colour, thus rendering the medio-dorsal 

 stripe more conspicuous ; the spiracles are in- 

 tensely black ; half way between the spiracles 

 and the medio-dorsal stripe is a side stripe, 

 paler than the general ground colour, but bor- 

 dered, especially below, by a darker margin, 

 which is broken up into elongate spots, but 

 these are rather vague, and not very notice- 

 able ; the legs, ciaspers, and under surface are 

 nearly of the same tint as the dorsal surface ; 

 the warts are of a very pale hue, almost white, 

 each having in the centre a small black hair. 

 It was full fed at midsummer. Newman, 

 I am indebted to Mrs. Hutchinson, of 



Grantsfield, near Leominster, for the oppor- 

 tunity of describing this interesting caterpillar, 

 which, however, I only saw in that lady's 

 possession. Mr. Buckler has been fortunate in 

 obtaining an interview with the chrysalis also. 

 His caterpillar assumed this state on the 22ud 

 of June. It was not attached by the tail in 

 the usual fashion of the Satyridce, but was 

 placed in an upright position amongst the 

 grass, near the ground. " The CHRVSALIS," 

 says Mr. Buckler, " is nearly five-eighths of 

 an inch in length, the wing-cases long, the 

 body plump, thickest in the middle, tapering 

 to the tail, and ending in a blunt flat spike ; the 

 back of the thorax is rounded, the head and 

 eye-pieces prominent. At first the head, tho- 

 rax, and wing-covers were semi-transparent 

 and of a pinkish-gray tint, the body ochreous, 

 with dark dorsal stripe, and other lines and 

 spiracles also as in the caterpillar ; but by the 

 10th of July the eyes became black; the 

 thorax, antenna-cases, and wing-covers, after 

 passing through an opaque cream-coloured 

 stage, finally changed to a dingy dark pinkish 

 brown. The butterfly, a very fine male, came 

 forth on the fifteenth July." Buckler. 



TIME OF APPEARANCE. The young cater- 

 pillaris to be found in September and October, 

 the full-grown caterpillar at the end of June, 

 when it changes to a chrysalis, and the but- 

 terfly is on the wing in July and August. 



LOCALITIES. I am not aware of this species 

 having been found in Ireland or the Isle of 

 Man. In Scotland it is common. Mr. Doug- 

 las took it in the pass of Killikrankie in 1832. 

 At page 167 of the second volume of the " En- 

 tomologists' Weekly Intelligencer," Mr. T. 

 Chapman, of Glasgow, informs us that this 

 species was in plenty in rushy flats during the 

 second week in August, 1857, extending for 

 twelve miles along the east side of Loch 

 Long. And at page 171 of the same volume, 

 Mr. Jazdowski writes : " I have been spend- 

 ing the last few days at Braemar, and on one 

 of the hills near the village I found Erebia 

 Medea, in great numbers. The hill was almost 

 entirely covered with birch and pine trees, 

 and the insect occurred in an open space near 

 the top of the hill The ground here was 



