92 



BEITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



only tolerably long and slender, but is almost perpendicularly set, 

 awl- shaped, and surrounded for half its length by the adornment 

 of the middle joint consisting of long, stiff bristles. The relation- 

 ship of Hiibner's Apausti (Apaustm menes, Cram.) with the Thymelicids 

 still needs determination. Reference should be made to Watson's 

 synoptical key of this group, sect. B, a (Pvoc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 

 1893, pp. 90-91). 



We have already pointed out' (antea) the peculiar character of the 

 Thymelicid egg, but, even in those of our three British species, there is 

 some difference, for that of Adopaea jiava (thaumas) is more oval 

 than those of A. lineola and T. acteon. The eggs of A. lineola and A. 

 ftava are distinctly flat eggs in shape, the upper surface being some- 

 what hollowed ; on the other hand, the egg of T. acteon is more dome- 

 shaped, and hence rather nearer the typical butterfly egg in appearance. 

 Its surface, too, approaches that of the Urbicolids (e.g., Augiades 

 sylvanus), for both T. acteon and A.sylvanus have an embossed or raised 

 network thrown, as it were, over the egg, with raised bosses where the 

 lines cross each other. The egg of A. jiava has this raised network in 

 a very modified form, the lines being very fine and only slightly raised 

 above the surface. In A. lineola the network is formed merely by the 

 ridges of the shallow pits which cover the egg, and has not the appear- 

 ance of a real net thrown over the egg. The sculpture and domed 

 shape of the egg of T. acteon, make this egg form, indeed, a sort of 

 primary transition to those of the Urbicolines, although, no doubt, 

 further discoveries in this direction are to be made by any lepidopterist 

 who has the chance of making observations on other Thymelicid and 

 doubtful Urbicoline species. The following comparison, made by 

 Sich, is worthy of careful study : — 





Flat Eggs. 



Domed Egg. 



lineola. fiava. 



acteon. 



l-20mm. 



0-72nim. 



-54111111. 

 1 : 1-7 

 1 : 2-2 

 1 : 1-3 



Length 



Breadth 



Height 



Proportion of breadth to length 



Proportion of height to length 



Proportion of breadth to height 



l-04mm. 0-92mra. 



0-66mm. 0-75mm. 



0-37mm. 0-40mm. 

 1 : 1-57 1 : 1-22 

 1 : 2-8 1 : 2-3 

 1:1-8 1 : 1-875 



From this it will be seen that acteon has the largest egg, lineola 

 the narrowest egg and Jiava (thaumas) the roundest egg. The chief 

 comparative characters of these eggs appear to be as follows : — 



Acteon — May be at once recognised by the network sculpture, the lines of the 

 reticulations being raised above the general surface, and not merely the margins of 

 the shallow pits. 



Flava — Different in shape (roundish-ovoid instead of an elongate-ovoid) ; 

 the sculpture of shallow pits as in lineola, but the pits smaller and the reticulations 

 more raised. The micropylar rosette cells differ also in being rather pointed, in 

 acteon and lineola rounded at their extremities. 



Lineola — Smaller than acteon, the sculpture consisting of shallow pits, rathei 

 than a raised network. 



Genus : Adop.ea, Billberg. 



Synonymy. — Genus: Adopaea, Billbg., " Enum. Ins.," p. 81 (1820); 



Boudd., "Hist. Sketch," p. 103 (1875); Wats., "Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond.," 



p. ( .)8 (Ls ( .):i); Kiibv, "Handbook," etc., p 20 (1897); Grote, " Proc. South 



Lond. Ent. Soc.."' p. 59 (1897); Staud., "Cat.," 3rd ed., p. 92 (1901); 



