INSECT LIFE 177 



Each time a pearl skipper did this, it turned its back 

 to the sun. It sat as a rule on the close, short turf, its 

 tail always lower than its head, the upper part of the 

 butterfly being raised clear of the ground by means 

 of the legs. I suppose the pearl skipper was at an angle 

 of thirty degrees from the ground, only the tip of the 

 tail and the legs actually touching the ground. If it 

 sat on a leaf or a flower the position was identical. 

 The hind wings were separated from the front ones 

 not lying flat on them, as they do with many butter- 

 flies and the four wings were slightly turned upward, 

 about three-fourths open and one-fourth closed. This 

 is the skipper carriage of wings. The small skipper, 

 which I saw on the narrower belt of turf and jumper 

 across the road, when sunning arranged wings and tilted 

 up head and upper part of body in the same style. 



A pearl skipper suns for a minute or two, then is up 

 and off in a flash to a thistle or a scabious for a wee 

 bit more refreshment ; or it is off to sun on a fresh 

 spot; or to dodge and twirl for a moment round 

 another pearl skipper ; and, as it whisks from sunning 

 spot to thistle, it is often hard for the eye to follow it 

 for more than half a dozen yards ; suddenly it is lost 

 to sight, being so quick and erratic on the wing. 



It was only last year that I noticed the pearl 

 skippers turning their backs to the sun when they 

 settle and show off. The sun shines on the greeny 

 fluff which covers the back and all the upper part of 

 the body of the pearl skipper, and surely the effect 



