BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



attractive appearance, the blackish ground colour being 

 well adorned with white markings. 



Dingy Skipper. — {Thanaos tages.) This darker- 

 coloured species is a familiar tenant of grassy places 

 where there is chalk soil, and, when at rest, is still more 

 moth-like than its grizzled relative last described. It 

 flies in May and June, sometimes earlier and later. 

 The whitish-green eggs become orange-colour at a later 

 stage of development, and these are laid on bird's-foot 

 trefoil. The yellowish-green larva has a well-defined 

 line down the back, and a paler one on either side of the 

 body. The dark green pupa has a tinge of pink. The 

 imago is reddish-brown, with white freckled margins to 

 both pairs of wings. The under surface is brownish 

 yellow. 



Small Skipper. — {Adopaa thautnas.) A profusion of 

 herbage growing in damp situations seems to be the more 

 frequent habitat of this species, and it is of common 

 occurrence. The white egg becomes yellowish, and then 

 reverts to a paler colour again. Several are deposited 

 in a small cluster on the taller grasses, and when the 

 green larva is ready to pupate, it encloses itself by 

 fastening several grasses together in a silky covering. 

 The pupa is also green, and as with the larva, lines and 

 stripes are plainly discerned. The perfect insect has 

 brownish-orange wings, with dark venation, and the male 

 has a slanting black line on the centre of the forewings. 

 The under side is pale tawny. 



Large Skipper. — (^«_§r/a^<?5 sylvanus.) None of the 

 remaining Skippers on the British list need concern us, 

 excepting the present species (Fig. ii), which is of such 



