THE CHEQUERED SKIPPER. 197 



bordered laterally by a conspicuous whitish line, which is again 

 bordered below by a paler and indistinct green line, and a very 

 faint spiracular whitish stripe, on which the spiracles are 

 placed ; they are white, outlined by a dark but indistinct ring ; 

 the under surface is whitish-green." 



About the middle of October the hibernaculum was formed 

 by spinning two blades of grass together at the edges, so 

 making a tube, in which the caterpillar remained during the 

 winter. On March 21 it left its retreat, but did not seem to 

 feed, and generally remained quiet, lying along a grass-blade. 

 On April 3 "it had drawn together with silk six blades of 

 grass at the ends, forming a tent-like structure, and along the 

 surface of one of the broadest a little carpet of silk was spun, 

 upon which it rested with its head uppermost ; a silk cord also 

 encircled its body round the fourth segment." It assumed the 

 chrysalis state on April 8, and had then passed two hundred 

 and eighty-nine days in the caterpillar condition. The chrysalis 

 measures five-eighths of an inch in length, is fairly cylindrical, 

 but tapering to the tail. "Dorsal view : the head is pointed in 

 front in the form of a short conical beak ; the eyes are rather 

 prominent ; the thorax is swollen in the middle, the widest 

 part, and then gradually tapers towards the last segment, 

 which is elongated and flattened. Lateral view : the beak is 

 slightly upturned, the thorax convexed, and the segment next 

 the thorax is rather swollen in the middle, so forming a rather 

 decided depression at the base of the thorax, where the silken 

 cord passes round ; the body gradually tapering to the last 

 segment, which terminates in a long compressed curved process 

 furnished with long hooks ; the wing-cases extend down two- 

 thirds its length, and only very little, if at all, swollen ; the 

 antennas and legs are but feebly modelled ; the tongue is well 

 defined, it is dusky at the base, blending into black at the 

 apex ; the colour is of a very pale primrose-yellow, shading 

 into pearly grey, and semi-transparent on the head, wings, and 



