410 INSECTS AT HOME. 



orange band corresponding with the copper band of tht other 

 side, and a number of grey-edged black spots. 



Fig. 1 represents the female, and Fig. 2 the male. 



The larva is a sluggish and slug-like creature, feeding on the 

 great water dock {Rumex hydrolapathuTn), which only grows 

 in wet places. It moves very slowly, and, as the colour almost 

 exactly resembles that of the leaf on which it feeds, it is not 

 easily seen. This caterpillar is shown at Fig. a, and the pupa 

 at Fig. b. Fig. c represents one of the antennae, Fig. d, the 

 palpus. 



As far as England goes, this handsome Butterfly is now 

 extinct. In former years it was tolerably plentiful in the fens 

 of C'3'Dibridge and Huntingdon, but no specimens have been 

 seen for many years, and, in all probability, the last British 

 specimens were taken in 1 848. 



A GOOD example of the Blue Butterflies is given on Wood- 

 cut XLIII. Fig. 3. This is the Clifden Blue (PolyommatiLS 

 Adonis). 



The colour of this pretty species is bright shining blue, 

 with a delicate wliite line on the costal margin of the fore- 

 wings, and a black line on the hind margin. The fringe of the 

 wing is pure white, with a black spot at the end of each 

 nervure. The female is brown on the upper surface, with a 

 slight gloss of blue, and on the fore-wings is an indistinct 

 blackish spot on the disc, and a number of small spots parallel 

 with the hind margin. Both sexes have the under-side of the 

 wings brownish, with a number of little spots. This Butterfly 

 is found on chalk downs and similar places, but seems to be 

 restricted to those spots where there is a substratum of 

 chalk. 



Passing of necessity by the rest of the Blues and the little 

 Butterflies called by the name of Hair-streaks, we come to 

 the family of Hesperidse, popularly known by the name of 

 Skippers, probably on account of their quick, uncertain flight. 

 They are all small insects, coloured with brown, black, grey, 

 and white, and very thickly and clumsily made, so that many 

 persons unskilled in entomology take them for moths. They 

 have the fore-legs fitted for walking, and when at rest they 



