180 LIFE AND SPORT IN HAMPSHIRE 



Save the lingering sulphur, the wall argus is about 

 the last of the butterflies of waning summer. It is 

 one of the insects that in flight I class between the 

 mere bobbers as meadow-brown, large heath, and 

 ringlet and the floaters and air-cutters, as white 

 admiral and silver-washed fritillaries. It has very 

 much the gait of the grayling butterfly, the half- 

 open, half-shut appearance of the wings in flight 

 being notable with both. Often the wall argus has 

 the appearance of the letter " V," a broad " V." A few 

 arguses appear in our wood in August, but it is not 

 their favourite haunt. The argus rather affects worn 

 and dusty footpaths through the environs of towns 

 a brick and mortar butterfly. It is content with 

 the poor flowers which town fields and their rubbish- 

 heaps yield, and will sun itself there as in the flowery 

 woods and fields we associate with bee and butterfly. 

 Like the skipper, the argus must get its back to 

 the sun whilst sunning. I notice that if it perches 

 face to sun it will crawl round and get its back to 

 sun ere it softly raises and lowers its " eyed " and 

 speckled brown wings or takes on that tranced look 

 peculiar to the sunning butterfly. The butterflies 

 which I have seen turning carefully their backs to 

 the sun are pearl and small skippers, common blue, 

 ringlet, large heath, silver- washed fritillary, white 

 admiral, and wall argus. Perhaps the habit is 

 common to all English butterflies that sun them- 

 selves. 



