114 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



Wiltshire. Re| iorted as having been taken 

 nearGreatBedwyn and in West Woods; scores 

 have bet n taken by the pupils at Marl borough 

 College 2'. A. Preston. 



Worcestershire. Trench Wood, not com- 

 mon J. E. Fktclier. 



37. Large Copper (Pclyommatus Hippottie). Mule. 



Female. 



37. LARGE COPPER. The four wings are 

 nearly straiyhton the costa, andaltnost pointed 

 at the tip ; the hind margin is simple and 

 eiltire ; the hind margin of the hind wing* is 

 slightly waved : the culour of the upper side 

 ia brilliant fiery copper in the male ; the fore 

 wings have a narrow black hind margin, and a 

 small transversely oblong black spot halfway 

 between the base and tip, and between this 

 und the base of the wing is an indistinct black 

 dot : the hind wings have a black notched 

 hind margin, and a short, slender, median 

 streak ; the inner margin is also tinged with 

 black. In the female the fore wings have a 

 black hind-marginal band, broader than in the 

 male, a transverse series of seven oblong black 

 spots parallel with the hind margin, and three 

 other black spots in a straight series between 

 this and the base of the wing: the hind wings 

 are smoky black-bro-.vn, with a broad copper- 

 coloured band parallel with the hind margin. 

 Although so different on the upper side, the 

 sexes are alike on the under hide ; the fore 

 wings are orange-red with gray hind margin, 



and seventeen velvety black spots, eleven of 

 which are encircled with pearly gray ; the 

 others are less dUtinct, and form a series 

 parallel with the hind margin : the hind wings 

 are pearly gray, with an orange band pai-allel 

 to the hind margin, and fifteen black spots on 

 the disk, all of which have a pale gray circum- 

 scription ; on each side of the hind-marg ; nal 

 orange band, and close adjoining it, is a series 

 of rather indistinct black spots. 



VARIETIES of this species are not common ; 

 in those that have pas.ied through my hands 

 there has been a remarkable uniformity of 

 colouring, but Mr. Dale informs me he pos- 

 sesses a female almost entirely black. 



LIFE HISTORY. The EGG is laid on the leaves 



during the month of August, and the young 

 caterpillars (never, to the best of my belief, ob- 

 served) probably emerge during the following 

 mouth, and hybernate very early at the base 

 of the petioles, a situation in which they 

 would be particularly liable to injury, and 

 indeed dastruction, from the long-continued 

 floods of such frequent occurrence in the 

 aqueous districts, which constitute the sole 

 English habitats of this brilliant butterfly. 

 The CATERPILLAR is full fed in June, and then 

 lies flat on the dock -leaf, rarely moving from 

 place to place, and, when it does so, gliding 

 with a slug-like motion, the legs and claspers 

 being entirely concealed. The head is ex- 

 tremely small, and can be completely with- 

 drawn into the second segment ; the body has 

 the dorsal surface convex, the ventral surface 

 flat ; the divisions of the segments are dis- 

 tinctly marked, the posterior margin of each 

 slightly overlapping the anterior margin of the 

 next, and the entire caterpillar having very 

 much tiie appearance of a Chiton; the sides 

 are slightly dilated; the legs and claspers are 

 seated in closely approximate pairs, nearly on 

 a medio-ventral line. The colour is green, 

 scarcely distinguishable from that of the dock- 

 leaf ; there is an obscure medio-dorsal stripe, 

 slightly darker than the disk, and in all pro- 

 bability due to the presence of food in the 

 alimentary canal. The CHRYSALIS is obese, 

 blunt at both extremities, attached by minute 



