THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARY. 183 



on the under sides of the leaves of the cowslip (Primula veris\ 

 sometimes as many as ten on one leaf, but as a rule there will 

 only be one or two on a plant. When laid, the egg is very 

 glassy in appearance, but it gradually turns to .a pinkish-grey ; 

 and when the caterpillar is ^formed inside, the snell becomes 

 transparent, and its occupant can be clearly seen. It eats a 

 considerable portion of the shell in making its exit therefrom, 

 and afterwards consumes the remainder of the shell. When in 

 its last skin the caterpillar is brown, covered with short 

 whitish hair, among which are some longer dark brown or 

 blackish hairs ; the lines on the back and sides are blackish, 

 and there are black dots on the front part of each segment or 

 ring. Head, honey brown, notched on the crown ; eyes and 

 jaws, brownish. It feeds from June to August on cowslip, but 

 will also eat primrose {Primula vulgaris), and hides among 

 dead and withered leaves beneath the food-plant (Plate 121). 



The chrysalis is pale whity-brown, hairy above, with black 

 dots ; head and the upper edge of the wing-cases streaked with 

 black. 



Occasionally a few butterflies emerge in August, but they 

 usually remain in the chrysalis until May or June. 



This is a woodland species, and prefers the sunny but 

 sheltered nooks and glades, but also resorts to the broader 

 rides and pathways. Flowers do not seem to have any strong 

 attraction for it, but it may often be seen sitting on the foliage 

 of a bush or sapling tree. It appears to be pretty widely dis- 

 tributed, although to a certain extent local, throughout the 

 southern half of England, but seems to have almost or quite 

 disappeared from the counties of Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and 

 Essex. Dumfries is the only locality in Scotland from which 

 it has been reported. 



Its distribution abroad is limited to Central Europe, Den- 

 mark, Livonia, Southern Sweden, Central Spain North Italy, 

 and the Balkans. 



