90 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



near, as well as bits of stick, etc., carefully inspecting them, and often 

 staying to feel with the ovipositor as if she were about to lay an egg, 

 but goes on again as before ; indeed, her selection of a proper place 

 for an egg is most carefully made, and appears to be a matter of the 

 greatest solicitude. The egglaying seems to be done chiefly an hour 

 or two before and after noon, after which the £ s are usually to be 

 seen busily feeding on flowers. Although the butterflies soon disappear 

 in continued dull weather, they fly freely enough in the gleams of 

 sunshine in stormy weather, indeed, at very high elevations the ability to 

 take advantage of transient gleams of sud shine may be of great advantage 

 to the species. On dull afternoons both sexes may sometimes be seen 

 sitting upright on flowers, their wings thrown over their backs, the 

 forewings well down between thehindwings,and the antennae projecting 

 at a wide angle in front ; sometimes, however, in bright weather, when 

 merely resting and not asleep, they show quite three-fourths of the 

 outer marginal edge of the forewings extending beyond the apex of 

 the hindwings, the antennae still well protruded in front, but opened 

 out at a rather smaller angle than those of Plebeius argus (aegon) under 

 similar conditions ; at this time the body is held close down to the 

 resting-surface, the abdomen, indeed, touching the latter throughout 

 its length ; at rest, A. coridon may, therefore, sit in a variety of ways, 

 sometimes, as noted above, sitting upright with its forewings more or 

 less withdrawn in the hindwings, at others hanging down from a 

 flower, with the forewings more or less hidden. It rests, however, 

 quite differently when asleep ; it spreads its legs out widely so that 

 the last thoracic segment practically touches the resting-position, the 

 forewings so far withdrawn between the hindwings that only the 

 extreme tips of the former are exposed, whilst the middle part of the 

 costa of the latter projects as a slight curve or arch beyond the middle 

 of the costa of the forewings ; the inner margins of the fore- and 

 hindwings in a straight line, and apparently enveloping the body ; the 

 antennae held widely apart, at least at an angle of 60°. We were 

 much interested on the very dull afternoon of August 17th, 1907, near 

 Preda, at the sight of a $ A. coridon and a $ Polyommatus eros, both 

 resting on the same head of knapweed ; the latter was bent over, as 

 is its habit in cloudy and wet weather, and, whilst the coridon was 

 seated beneath the bent or arched part of the peduncle, head down- 

 wards, the eros had taken up a position beneath the flower, also hang- 

 ing head downwards, the former acting as a roof and protecting it 

 from rain. Lucas particularly notes (Ent., xxxiv., p. 228) how well- 

 protected A. coridon appears to be when resting on the flowerhead of a 

 small plantain (Plantatjo media). When waking, the $ A. coridon first 

 raises and lowers its wings alternately, then raises its forewings so that 

 the discoidal spot beneath becomes visible ; it then commences to walk in 

 stately fashion, often stopping to paw, as it were, the air with its front 

 pair of legs. When brought from a dark to a light position during the 

 day, A. coridon, like A. thetis, opens its wings as soon as a bright light 

 falls on it. It would seem that A. coridon will rest on almost any- 

 thing, e.g., in the Via Mala, on August 20th, 1907, consecutive 

 examples were observed on flowers of Eupatorium, thyme, clover, 

 scabious, Etieracium, and Saxifraga azoides, feeding equally eagerly on 

 the flowers of all. One 9 was observed moving its hindwings alter- 

 nately ; another $ only moved slightly its right hindwing up and 



