14 



BKITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



eggs of Papilio machaon are to be found, in early June and on through 

 the month (often, indeed, until August), laid usually on Peucedanum 

 palustre, in its local haunts in Cambridge and Norfolk. 



July- September. — The eggs of many species of butterflies may be 

 obtained in July, e.g., that of Limenitis sibylla (a most beautiful micro- 

 scopic object) on honeysuckle; Apatura iris on sallow, etc. (We have 

 seen a dozen of the latter collected in a single morning by watching a 

 5 , in a place where larvae could never be beaten owing to the density 

 of the vegetation). 



The eggs of Urbicola comma, laid in August, on grass, do not hatch 

 until the following March. Similarly, those of Adopaea lineola and 

 ? Thymelicus acteon, laid in July. As most of the "skippers" hybernate 

 as larvae, care must be taken to look after the eggs of these species, and 

 not throw them away with the idea that they are infertile. 



The eggs of Plebeius aegon are laid in July on Ornithopus perpusillus, 

 etc., but do not hatch until the early part of the following March. 



The circular, flattened, greenish-drab eggs of Polyommatus astrarche 

 are laid in August and September, in little groups of two, three, or 

 more, on the underside of the leaves of Helianthemum vulgare. 



Eggs of Cyaniris argiolus are laid in August, sometimes beneath the 

 flower-heads of the umbels of ivy ; the young larvae then feed on tender 

 ivy-leaves and flowers. They are at other times laid on the flower-stalks 

 of holly, then the young larvae burrow in the unexpanded buds. 



Worn 2 s of Thecla w-album will oviposit freely if sleeved out in 

 the sun on elm, in the early part of July. In nature, they are to be 

 found above or directly below an aborted leaf-bud, and harmonise so 

 exactly with the colour of the bark of the elm-twig on which they are 

 placed that they are only to be detected with the utmost difficulty. 



The yellowish milk-white eggs of Zephyr us quercits, covered with a 

 rough raised reticulation, are laid upon oak-twigs, where they may be 

 found during the winter months. In spite of its colour, the egg is not 

 at all easy to see, looking like a small, inconspicuous fungoid growth ; 

 after the maturation of the embryo it grows somewhat darker. 



The females of Coenonympha tiphon will lay their eggs in confine- 

 ment, if placed in a suitable receptacle, and exposed to the sun, with a 

 supply of their foodplant, the beaked rush (Rhyneospora alba) ; this 

 should be potted, and the young larvae will feed thereon until their 

 hybernating stage with little trouble. 



Females of Erebia aethiops will lay their eggs quite freely in August, 

 if supplied with grasses in a suitable receptacle, and placed in the light 

 and sun ; the eggs are glued to the culms of Aira praecox, A. caespitosa, 

 etc., and are large and conspicuous. The young larvae appear in about 

 three weeks. 



The females of Epinephele tithonus will lay their eggs fairly freely 

 in confinement on Poa annua, Dactylis glomerata, and other common 

 grasses ; they hatch in about three weeks, and the young larvae hyber- 

 nate when exceedingly small. 



The females of Mdanaryia galathea give their eggs perhaps more 

 freely than any other butterfly ; they are unattached, hatch in August, 

 the young larvae feeding well on common grasses. 



The eggs of Argynnis adippe are laid in July and August on the 

 leaves of Viola canina, generally on the underside or on the stems. 



