THE SMALL SKIPPER. 1 87 



caterpillars had spun together sprays of the food-plant as shown 

 in the figure, Plate 123. One was removed for its portrait to be 

 taken, and it was supposed that the other bundle contained a 

 caterpillar also, and was not examined. 



The butterfly affects open places in, or the edges of, woods in 

 chalky districts,also the slopes of chalk downs and other hillsides, 

 as well as railway banks and even rough fields. It evidently 

 delights in sunshine, and may often be seen basking on a stone 

 or the bare earth. When at rest at night or on dull days it sits 

 on a dead seed-head or grass glume, with the wings closed 

 down over its back like a noctuid moth, and is then difficult to 

 detect until the eye becomes accustomed to its appearance. It is 

 widely distributed in Great Britain, but it is more at home on 

 chalk and limestone than elsewhere. In such localities as the 

 fens of Norfolk and Cambridge it is scarce, and seems to 

 have a rather limited distribution in Ireland, in which country 

 Galway is its headquarters, according to Kane. 



Abroad, it is found throughout Europe, and its range extends 

 to Western Asia. 



The Small Skipper (Adopcza thatimas). 



All the wings are brownish-orange, with the veins darker and 

 becoming black towards the outer margins, especially on the 

 fore wings. The male has a black sexual mark (Plate 125). 



Except that the colour varies in the direction of a pale golden 

 tint there is little in the way of aberration in this butterfly. At 

 least one gynandrous specimen has been recorded. 



The following descriptions of the early stages (Plate 124), 

 as well as the figures of the caterpillar and the chrysalis, are 

 from Buckler's " Larvae of British Butterflies " : — 



The egg " is of a long oval figure, half as long again as wide, 

 the shell glistening, devoid of ribs or reticulation ; at first white, 

 then turning dull yellowish, and at last paler again, with the 



