BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 435 



in order to absorb more readily the solar heat. Their caterpillars, again, are fur- 

 nished with a coat of long hair to protect them from the cold, and undergo a quick 

 metamorphosis in harmony with the brief duration of the Alpine summer. Many of 

 the species are unknown in central Europe, but reappear in the north either in 

 the same form or as closely allied types. Noticeable among the butterflies is the 

 Apollo (Pamassius apotto), a large white species with a pair of red spots on the 

 hind-wings and three or more irregular black ones on the front pair. It measures 

 over 2 inches across the wings ; and inhabits not only the Alps and other high 

 European mountains, but also visits gardens in Scandinavia. A yellow butterfly 

 of the north German moors (Colin* palceno) also occurs in the Alps; its wings 

 are bordered with black rose-festooned fringes. One of the fritillaries (Argynnis 

 •pales) inhabiting the Alps and Pyrenees, reappears in Lapland as A. lapponica, 

 which differs only in the width of the black markings. One of the blues, 

 (Polyom/matus pheretes), common to the Aljts and Scandinavia, is about an 





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1HK '.LACIER-FLEA. 



inch across, with the hind-wings marked by two oblique rows of round white 

 spots. A skipper (Hesperia andromedce) is known from the Alps, Sweden, 

 Norway, and Lapland. Of the red-spotted burnet-moths, the mountain species 

 (Zj/gama e.ridaus) ranges, above the tree limit, from the Alps and the Caucasus to 

 Lapland. A yellow form of the purple tiger-moth (Arctia purpurea flava) is 

 restricted to the Alps and Urals: while of the owl-moths, or Noctuos, we find 

 Agrotis hyperborea in the Alps, Hungary, Norway, and Lapland; .4. recussa in 

 the Alps, Pyrenees, Norway, Lapland, and the Altai: and Plusia kochenwarthi in 

 the Alps, Scandinavia, Lapland, and Labrador. A few moths, such as A. decora, 

 are exclusively restricted to the Alps and their immediate neighbourhood, 

 other insects, In spite of their minute size and delicate form, midges brave 



etc - frost and snow : their larva- developing amid wet moss at a height 



of 8000 feet above sea-level. They are thus true mountain insects, and alone 

 represent the flies in the high Alps. A peculiar kind of earwig (Forficida 

 biguttata) is solely Alpine. A remarkable inhabitant of the highest snow-fields 



