138 



Westwood's British Butterflies." Near the tip of the fore- wings are some 

 pure white spots, and the hind- wings have a row of blue-centred black spots. 

 On the underside the hind-wings are beautifully mottled with pale olive-brown, 

 yellowish-buff, and white, the veins being white ; near the hind-margin is a 

 row of slender blackish-blue marks, above which are four eye-like spots, the 

 two middle ones being smaller than the outer ones, which are circled with 

 black. 



The width across the wings varies from two to three inches. 



Yarieties are rare. A very beautiful one in Mr. Vaughan's cabinet is 

 figured in Mosley's "Illustrations of varieties of British Lepidoptera.'' A 

 similar one from Mr. Ingall's collection is figured in Newman's " British 

 Butterflies." Another in Mr. Steven's collection is figured in the " Entomo- 

 logist/' Vol. 6. In these, the black is confined to the costa and tip of the 

 fore-wing, and a row of paler rings appear on the hind-margin of the hind- 

 wings. A variety without the apical spots was in the collection of the late 

 Mr. Alfred Owen. A remarkable variety is figured in the " Entomologist," 

 Vol. 13. In this specimen, the whole of the hind-margin of the fore- wings 

 is suffused with dark umber, almost black, in which the usual row of small 

 white circular spots near the apex, and the two white costal spots are replaced 

 by white fusiform blotches, and two white spots near the anal angle ; the two 

 large dark spots, which are usually on the disk, are wanting altogether. 

 The hind-wings are dark umber towards the base, and rust coloured, while 

 between each of the nervures, which are broad streaks of black, are large white 

 spots, forming a row parallel to the hind-margin. The markings are perfectly 

 symmetrical on all the wings. It was bred on September 3rd, 1879, from a 

 caterpillar taken in Clapton Park. Pale and dwarf specimens often occur, 

 and a variety, in which the spots are confluent, has been named Ely mi , an 

 Australian variety is also named Kershawii. 



The egg is stoat, and barrel shaped, with sixteen sharp edged longitudinal 

 ribs coming over the edge of the top, in the centre of which is a large circular 

 plain spot; the transverse reticulation crosses the ribs and knobs them; the 

 colour of the shell is dark green, the ribs are pellucid. (Rev. J. Hellins.) 



The caterpillar varies from dark grey to black, young individuals being 

 generally the darkest. The spines are paler, but the tips and branches are 

 black. There are a number of warty spots of greyish-yellow, and scattered 

 hairs all over it. The head is black and the legs and claspers generally a 

 dull red. It feeds solitarily beneath a silken tissue on various kinds of 

 thistles, and also on the nettle, millfoil, mallow, and artichoke. The Rev. J. 

 Hellins describes two varieties of the caterpillar in " Larvae of British Butter- 

 flies " : " the darker having the ground colour black, slightly freckled on the 



