64 THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



May 5 and u. They were "fed on currant and nettle 

 mixed, and were full grown from June 17th till the 23rd. The 

 first butterfly emerged on June 26, and the last on July 3, 

 and all were very fine and of the pale summer variety. Two 

 of the insects paired on June 30, and the female commenced 

 laying on July 1, and continued doing so till the 10th, when 

 there were 120 ova. Unfortunately, a very cold spell of weather 

 began on July 12, and more than half the eggs perished. 

 The butterflies resulting from the remainder appeared during 

 August, from the 17th to the 27th, but they would not pair, pro- 

 bably because, although they had emerged at an early date, 

 they properly belonged to the autumnal flight. 



In 1894 Mr. Frohawk reared 200 of these butterflies from 275 

 eggs laid by a female between April 17 and June 1 of that 

 year. The caterpillars were supplied with nettle only. The 

 first butterfly emerged on June 30, and the last on August 2. Of 

 the whole number forty-one were of the light fulvous form, 

 var. hutchinsoni, and all the others of the dark or typical form. 

 With few exceptions, the light-coloured butterflies were the 

 first to emerge, and the major portion of these during early 

 July, and before any examples of the dark form had come out. 



The egg is at first green in colour with ribs whiter, but 

 changes before the caterpillar hatches out to yellowish. In 

 confinement the female butterflies deposit their eggs singly or 

 in chains of three or four ; probably the latter is the usual 

 method of laying the eggs under natural conditions. 



The caterpillar when full grown is black, netted with 

 greyish ; the spines on the second to fifth rings inclusive are 

 yellowish, and those on the back of the other rings are white ; 

 the back from ring 6 to ring 10 inclusive is broadly white, 

 marked with black, and the upper surface of the other rings 

 is more or less yellowish. The head is black, marked with 

 ochreous ; the crown is lobed, and on each lobe is a short club- 

 like knob. 



