108 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



Scotland, as might be expected, being common 

 in England." Dr. White took it on the 9th 

 of August in 1859, and on the 28tli June in 

 1860. In a " List of Lepidoptera Observed 

 in the Vicinity of Dumfries," Mr. Lennon, 

 the author thereof, states that the Blue Hair- 

 streak is found in Comlor-gan Wood, and at 

 Dalscairth : the former an ancestral possession 

 of Lord Mansfield's, about ten miles south of 

 Dumfries, and near the coast ; the latter on 

 the slope of the wooded hills that bound to 

 the west the valley in which the town is 

 situated. It is reported from all the English 

 counties wherever lists have been received, 

 and my own experience is that it flies in some 

 abundance about the oak-trees in all our 

 woods in the south. 



34. Black Hairstreak (Theda W- Album). Upper 

 side. 



Under side. 



Under side of a Variety in the cabinet of Mr. 

 Bidwell. 



34. BLACK H AI RST RE AK. The costal margin 

 of the fore wings is nearly straight, the tip 

 scarcely pointed, and the hind margin simple. 

 The hind margin of the hind wings is slightly 

 walloped, and the wing is produced, and 



has a very decided tail near the anal angle. 

 The colour is black-brown, except a spot 

 on each fore wing near the costal margin, 

 and rather nearer the base than the tip of 

 the wing. This spot looks as though it 

 were seraitransparent, and is of a dull smoky 

 tint. At the anal angle of the hind wings 

 there is an orange speck ; the fringe is snowy 

 white on the inside, black on the outside; on 

 the tail it is quite white. The under side is 

 grayish-brown ; the fore wings have a narrow 

 transverse waved, snowy white line rather 

 beyond the middle ; before it reaches the 

 costal margin this line turns abruptly towards 

 the tip of the wings : the hind wings have a 

 snowy white transverse line, commencing at 

 the costal margin, and at first almost straight, 

 but afterwards forming a letter W, and then, 

 turning upwards, it approaches the end of the 

 butterfly's body ; between this and the hind 

 margin is a bright orange-red band, bordered 

 above by a scalloped black line, and below by 

 a series of semicircular black spots ; botli above 

 and below this orange band is a very slender 

 whitish streak. 



LIFE HISTORY. The EGGS are laid on the 

 twigs of the elm and wych elm (Ulmus cam- 

 pestris and U. montana) in July and August, 

 and are shaped something like an orange, but 

 are more depressed on the crown ; they are of 

 a whitish or putty colour, and remain firmly 

 glued to the rind of the twigs throughout the 

 winter. The full-fed CATERPILLAR rests on the 

 surface of the leaves ; its head is very small 

 and shining, and isretractile within the second 

 segment ; the body is shaped like a woodlouse, 

 the incisions between the segments being dis- 

 tinctly marked, and each segment having its 

 posterior margin slightly produced and over- 

 lapping the anterior margin of the next fol- 

 lowing segment ; there is a shallow rnedio- 

 dorsal furrow, which bisects the ridges already 

 described ; the lateral margins of the segments 

 are dilated, and the legs and claspeis com- 

 pletely hidden. Every part of the body emits 

 delicate hairs, which are very visible when 

 the caterpillar is viewed in profile. The head 

 is black and shining ; the body delicate pea- 

 green, the ridges bordering the dovsnl 



