148 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



THE LAEGE COPPEE BUTTEEFLY. 

 (Chrysopkanus Dispar.) (Plate XIII. fig. 2.) 



A FEW years ago, this was the pride of British ento- 

 mology, for we were supposed to have the insect en- 

 tirely to ourselves, it being unknown on the Continent, 

 whilst it literally swarmed in some of the fens of 

 Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. Then, from 

 some cause, never satisfactorily explained, it almost 

 suddenly disappeared, and, there is reason to fear, has 

 become quite extinct in this country. Still, hopes are 

 entertained that it may be surviving in some unexplored 

 districts, and that it will again " turn up." 



As comparatively very few persons have ever seen this 

 splendid creature on the wing, the following commu- 

 nication from one who has, quoted from the Intelligencer, 

 will be of interest to those who have not read it in that 

 periodical. It is from the pen of Mr. E. C. E. Jenkins, 

 of Sleaford, Lincolnshire. He writes : " I proceed to give 

 you some account of my own acquaintance with that most 

 beautiful insect, which, some thirty years ago, was so 

 abundant in the unreclaimed fens about Whittlesea 

 Mere, that I never expected to hear of its utter exter- 

 mination. Its brilliant appearance on the wing in the 

 sunshine I shall never forget, and to watch it sitting on 



