13° 



THE BUTTERFLIES OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 





and Fife. Kane says that in Ireland it is almost confined to the 

 southern counties. 



Abroad it is found throughout Europe, except the North- 

 East, and its range extends into Northern Asia Minor. 



The Ringlet (Aphantopus hyperanthus). 



The sombre-looking butterfly, of which several figures will be 

 found on Plate 89, has been known by its present English 

 name since 1778, the year in which Moses Harris published 

 " The Aurelian." The Latin specific name was written hyper- 

 antus by Linnaeus, but Esper corrected this to hyperanthus. It 

 has, however, been supposed that Linnaeus really intended to 

 have written hyperanthes (a son of Darius), and this form of the 

 name has been used, but Esper's emendation is here adopted. 



All the wings are sooty-brown, the male when quite fresh 

 appearing almost black, and the sexual brand is then difficult 

 to see ; there are one or more black spots with pale rings, and 

 sometimes white pupils, on the fore wings, but these are always 



more prominent in the 

 female than in the male ; 

 in the latter sex they may 

 be entirely absent. On 

 the under side there are 

 generally two, sometimes 

 three, ocellated spots on 

 the fore wings, and there 

 are five such spots on 

 the hind wings, the two 

 nearest the costa being 

 double, and not very in- 

 frequently there is a smaller spot near or attached to the lower 

 edge of the double one. In the matter of size of the spots on 

 the under side there is a wide range of variation, and at one 



Fig. 27. 

 Var. lanceolata. 



