194 POPULAR ENTOMOLOGY. 



says : " How greatly was my astonishment increased when, 

 after I had withdrawn it a little way, I saw its skin burst, 

 and a head as black as ink, with large staring eyes, and 

 antennge consisting of two branches, break forth and move 

 itself briskly from side to side ; it looked like a little imp 

 of darkness/' Mr. Dale, who seems to have attentively 

 watched these little insects, found several in A ndrena barbi- 

 labris, a species of Wild Bee, and caught one flying over a 

 hedge : he says, " It looked milk-white on the wing, with 

 a jet-black body, and totally unlike anything else : it flew 

 with an undulating motion." There is much relative to the 

 natural history of these singular creatures, which still re- 

 mains unascertained or doubtful. There are several species 

 of the genus Stylops in England ; and North America and 

 the Mauritius have also furnished specimens of the order. 



LEPIDOPTERA. NYMPHALID^E. 



MELIT.EA. 



Generic Distinctions. See page 97. 



MELIT^A SILENE, Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary, 

 greatly resembles M . EupTirosyne, described in May, but it is 

 much smaller ; the surface is similar, and the difference on 



