THE MARBLED WHITE. IOQ 



that the desired information was furnished. Recently I have 

 ascertained that A. cornuti, which grows to a height of four 

 feet, is used as a border plant in some parts of England. It is 

 commonly known as Swallow-wort, and is esteemed for its 

 fragrant pale purple flowers. 



We now come to the Satyrinae, which, as regards the number 

 of species belonging to it, is a very large sub-family. In Great 

 Britain, however, there are but eleven species, and although 

 some of these are rather local, none are really scarce, and most 

 are common. 



The Marbled White (Melanargia galatea). 



Older English names for the butterfly figured on Plate 75 

 are "Our Half-mourner" (Petiver, 1717), "The Marmoris " 

 (Wilkes), and " The Marmoress " (Harris). The ground colour 

 is white or creamy white, and the markings are black. On the 

 under side the markings are similar in design to those on the 

 upper side, but much fainter : the eye spots, which are not 

 always in evidence above, are well defined below, and especially 

 so on the hind wings. The female is generally whiter and 

 larger than the male, and has the basal half of the costa, or 

 front margin of the fore wing ochreous brown, and the markings 

 on the under side of the hind wings are tinged with the same 

 colour. 



Variation consists chiefly of increase or decrease in the size 

 of the black markings. At least one specimen is known in 

 which all the wings are uniform smoky black. This is in the 

 collection of Mr. A. B. Farn, and was captured near Rochester, 

 Kent, in 1871. Between this extreme and specimens with the 

 black markings of typical proportions there are various modifi- 

 cations ; but striking aberrations are rare in this country. Some- 

 times there is entire or partial absence of black pigment. A 



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