RINGLET SCOTCH ARGUS. 77 



Then again, another has the black pupils exceedingly 

 large and rich, forming a most elegant variety. 



The spots on the upper side in the male are some- 

 times quite imperceptible. 



The ground colour of the upper side is occasionally of 

 a pale drab or fawn colour. 



The caterpillar of this species is very like that of the 

 last in colouring, and feeds on the same grasses. 



The butterfly, which is out in June and July, is a 

 common and widely distributed species, frequenting 

 woods, shady corners of hedge-rows, &c. 



THE SCOTCH ARGUS BUTTERFLY. 

 (Erebia Blandina.) (Plate VI. fig. 4, Female.) 



THE genus Erebia, to which this species belongs, is 

 composed of a group of mountain butterflies, very 

 numerous in the Alpine regions of the Continent, 

 seventeen species being described as inhabiting the 

 Alps ; and, though only two have yet been discovered 

 in this country (unless we admit Liyea, formerly taken 

 in the Isle of Arran 1 ), it is not at all improbable that 

 others may be waiting for us in some of the mountain 

 districts, if we will but look them up. Both tourists 

 and, more especially, residents in those localities should 

 be encouraged by the hope of adding a new species to 

 our list to explore thoroughly the hill-sides and summits 

 at various seasons of the year, as many of the species, 

 besides being extremely local in their range, are only on 

 the wing during a very short- period of the year. 



The Scotch Argus is a pretty, though not brightly- 

 coloured butterfly. 



The colour above is a deep rich brown, with a cop- 

 pery or orange-red band on each wing, and each band 

 has several (three or four usually) black eye-spots 

 thereon. 



1 See page 121. 



