SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



ROOSTING BUTTERFLIES. 

 By John T. Carrington. 



/CONSIDER [NG 

 ^■^ that more than 

 half of the span of 

 life allotted by nature 

 to the perfect state 

 of butterflies is spent 

 in sleep, it is of the 

 first consequence that the manner 

 of roosting should be as far as 

 possible protective. Alert and well ^jf 



able to save themselves during the <ggjl& 



active period of their existence, '^*»— 



when the sun is hot and their 

 power of flight is strong, they are perfectly help- 

 less in the dusk of evening, the night-time, early 

 morning and on dull days. Then we may pick 

 them up- with our fingers and place them on our 

 hands without the slightest show of movement on 

 the part of the insects. When in this condition of 

 torpor or sleep induced by absence of sunlight, 

 butterflies form an easy prey to prowling enemies, 

 which may by chance take them before they have 

 provided for the continuance of their species. 

 Therefore, we must conclude that the habit of 

 roosting adopted by each kind, is most conducive to 

 protection during the long hours of sleep. 



When we take the list of the European Rhopa- 

 locera and scan it deliberately through, it is only 

 possible to come to one conclusion upon the know- 

 ledge possessed as to the manner of roosting of the 

 various butterflies. Indeed, we, in this countrv, 

 need not take the whole European list if we are in 

 search of discovery into the resting habits of these 

 insects. Very little is really known about the 

 roosting positions, from the protective point of 



view, of the majority of our 1 iritish species. Mi. si 

 entomologists know how to hunt for several of our 

 " blues," or Lycaenida:. Various kinds are to be 

 found so soon as the sun has set, resting upon the 

 stems of grass ; though not all the species affect 

 the same position. Some species invariably rest 

 with the head of the insect turned away 

 from the earth, looking skywards, whilst 

 other species al- 

 ways roost with 

 the head looking 

 downwards. One 

 wonders why 





Anosia plexippus 

 Roosting. 



nearly allied species, § 

 with the markings 

 and ground colour of the 

 underside of the wings, 

 which is the only side visible 

 among this group when 

 roosting, should invariably 

 adopt these unlike posi- 

 tions on the stems of grass. 



Some of the fritillaries (Argynnidas) and Melitaq, 

 often affect the heads of flowers as the night 

 resting-place, though I fancy this is rather 

 accidental than otherwise. It may be those fre- 

 quenting the flowers at night were "caught" in 

 that position by the sun going down whilst they 

 were feeding off the honey in the flowers, as so 

 often seen with humble bees. We cannot find a 

 large proportion of, say, Aygynnis euphrosyne or 

 Melitcea athalia out of the total 

 population of these species in any 

 locality affected by them at rest 

 on the flower heads. Still it is not 

 uncommon to find both species in 

 that position on a dull morning 

 after a bright day. I have seen 

 seventy of the latter kind on heads 

 of thistle and other flowers in a 

 single morning, in the great wood 

 near Hailsham, in Sussex. So, 

 likewise, may we find the grizzly 

 skipper at rest, though chiefly on 

 lower - growing flower heads. 

 Hespeiia comma sits upon the 

 smooth stems of young hazel 

 boughs in woods, on the borders 

 of the chalk downs where it flies, 

 and H. sylvanushas much the same 

 habit. Another of our skippers, 



b 3 



