SATYRS. 



93 



occupying the dorsal margin of the wing- 

 cases ; thirdly, an angnlated longitudinal 

 stripe on the wing-cases, dividing them into 

 two i. early equal parts ; fourthly, a shorter 

 stripe nearer the tip of the wing-cases ; and 

 fifthly, the cases of the fore and middle legs. 

 Newman. 



TIME OF APPEARANCE. The caterpillar 

 lives throughout the autumn, winter, and 

 spring ; the butterfly is on the wing during 

 the hay harvest. 



LOCALITIES. This is perhaps the most 

 generally abundant of all our butterflies, 

 frequenting every meadow when the grass is 

 ready for cutting. Mr. Birchall says it is 

 generally abundant throughout Ireland, and 

 that it occurs in the Iwle of Alan. Dr. 

 Buchanan White says it is a common species 

 in Scotland, although it was rare in the 

 Rannoch district in 1867. Its range does not 

 extend high up the mountains. It swarms 

 in most parts of Wales, and I have seen no 

 English district in which it does not abound. 



27. The Large Heath (Epinepfiele Tithonus). Upper 

 side of Male. 



Upper side of Female ad Under side of Male. 



27. THE LARGE HEATH. The hind mar- 

 gin of the hind wings is scalloped, that of the 

 fore wings is simple ; the colour of the fore 

 wings on the upper side is bright rust-colour, 

 approaching to fulvous, with a broad hind* 

 marginal band of umber-brown ; the costal 

 margin is also suffused with brown ; near the 

 apical angle of the median rust-coloured area 

 is a conspicuous circular black spot with two 

 white pupils ; the hind wings are umber- 

 brown, with a restricted rust-coloured patch 

 in the centre. The under side of the fore 

 wings is reddish fulvous, with a broad brown 

 hind-marginal border ; the hind wings are 

 marbled with gray-brown, the basal area and 

 a portion of the hind- marginal area being 

 darker ; the intervening space is paler or gray- 

 ish brown, and tinged with ochreous ; it con- 

 tains four darker spots, each of which has a 

 white pupil. Suchis ade-icriptionof the female ; 

 the male differs on the upper side iu having 

 a transverse brown band originating rather 

 above the middle of the wing, and descending 

 obliquely to the middle of the hind margin. 



Varieties Some few specimens have on 

 the upper side one or two additional smaller 

 black spots near the hind margin of the fore 

 wings ; these are very rarely white-pupilled. 



LIFE HISTORY. The EGGS are laid during 

 July on the blades of grass, and may be 

 described as truncated cones ; they stand 

 erect, the base being broader than the apex ; 

 they have sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen 

 perpendicular ribs, and a great number 

 of extremely delicate transverse stria, only 

 visible under a lens of high power; their 

 colour at first is canary -yellow, but in a few 

 days they acquire a browner hue, and before 

 the emergence of the CATERPILLAR they exhibit 

 a darker median band. The young caterpillars 

 emerge during August, generally between the 

 5th and 25th of the month, and at first eat 

 very little and grow very slowly ; they moult 

 twice before the winter, and hybernate at the 

 roots of grasses while still very small; in May 

 they reascend the grass and feed voraciously, 

 and are full-grown by midsummer. The 

 caterpillar, whsn full-grown, rests in a per- 

 fectly straight position on a blade or stalk of 



