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HESPERIA LINEOLA, Ochsenheimer : AN ADDITION TO 



THE LIST OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



By F. W. Hawes. 



The specimens, — three in number, all males, — from which 

 the accompanying description is made, were taken by me during 

 the month of July, 1888, in one of the eastern counties, and 

 remained until quite recently in my cabinet, merely as curious 

 varieties of Hesperia thaumas. Happening, however, one day 

 last month, to turn over those plates in Dr. Lang's ' Butterflies 

 of Europe,' on which the genus Hesperia is figured, I was struck 

 with the great resemblance of my specimens to a species repre- 

 sented at Plate 81, fig. 10. A reference to the description at 

 p. 351 of that work suggested the probability of the so-called 

 varieties being in reality H. lineola, the three main points of 

 distinction between H. lineola and H. thaumas appearing in 

 strongly marked contrast when the specimens under consideration 

 were compared with undoubtedly fresh examples of H. thaumas. 

 In the course of the week following my supposed discovery 

 Mr. Carrington spent an evening with me looking over my 

 collection of Diurni. To him I communicated my beliefs, at the 

 same time showing him the specimens, and he confirmed my 

 opinion that I had, indeed, British examples of H. lineola. 

 Since then we made a visit to the Doubleday collection at the 

 Bethnal Green Museum, when, whatever doubts I may have 

 had, were at once dispelled, my specimens being exactly similar 

 to the five males contained in the Doubleday European collection, 

 although two of my three are larger, and one is distinctly finer 

 than the examples labelled "lineola, France," in that collection. 



1. H. lineola. 2. H. thaumas. 



I believe H. lineola has been overlooked owing to its great 

 similarity to H. thaumas in appearance, and the fact that it 

 flies at about the same time of year (or possibly a week later) in 

 the same localities as the commoner insect. If all collections 

 in this country, consisting avowedly of British insects, were 

 carefully examined, I have little doubt that native H. lineola 

 would be found hidden away in some unexpected corners. At 

 any rate, an examination of localities known to produce H. 

 thaumas may result, during the coming season, in the capture of 

 this butterfly in widely different parts of the British Isles. The 

 known range in Europe extends, according to Dr. Lang's work, 

 from Scandinavia in the north to North Africa in the south. 



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