HESPERIA MALV^. 231 



Staudinger notes the form as having " the hindwings beneath 

 brownish, and less marked with white spots, the genitalia different, a 

 summer form from southwest Europe," which hardly agrees with the 

 distribution suggested above by Elwes and Edwards. 



Egglaying. — The eggs appear to be laid indiscriminately on the 

 stem, in the furrows of the small twigs, the upper- and underside of 

 leaves of bramble, sometimes on the edges of leaves. They may be 

 obtained in confinement by sleeving a $ on bramble, wild straw- 

 berry, or Potentilla in the sun. The eggs are generally placed on the 

 underside, occasionally on the upperside, of a leaf, but much more 

 rarely on the stalk or on the edge of the leaf ; when the $ chooses 

 bramble, young leaves are selected (Raynor); laid singly on bramble on 

 the stem or upperside of a leaf (Pristo) ; some sent by Raynor were 

 laid on the undersides of strawberry leaves close against a rib ; the egg 

 is of a pale whitish-green colour, matching very fairly the glaucous tint 

 of the underside of a strawberry leaf, a whitish -green common to the 

 undersurface of the leaves of bramble, potentilla. and other usual food- 

 plants of this species (Chapman). 



Ovum. — Of a pale whitish -green colour; to the naked eye appearing 

 smooth and round; about two- thirds of a sphere or rather less, but the 

 lower margin is rounded off so that the base is smaller than a correct 

 section of a sphere would be ; the width is 0"63mm., and the height 

 about 0'44mm. ; the vertical ribs are about 23 in number, and are not 

 very high or marked, nor do the spaces between them form very distinct 

 hollows ; they diminish in number to the top, by stopping short and 

 by meeting, and form a rim round the micropylar hollow T , to which 

 about 12 are directly attached. This hollow is fairly circular, shallow 

 cup-shaped, about 0-12mm. across, and with a minute rosette of fine 

 cells at the bottom. The secondary ribs are very fine, and are con- 

 tinuous across the vertical ribs, and are about O02mm. apart (Chap- 

 man, June 20th, 1905). Rather more than half a sphere, circular in 

 horizontal section ; diameter about -7mm. ; pale creamy-white (with a 

 suspicion of greenish) in colour; 19 or more well -developed longitudinal 

 ribs extending from base to shoulder of egg ; this number, at shoulder, 

 becomes reduced, not by suppression of any of these primary ribs and 

 continuation of others, but by the extinction of all of them, and the 

 development of 9 new ones, each of which originates between two of 

 the primary ribs and is continued to the edge of the micropylar 

 depression. This is comparatively large, the bottom covered with a 

 number of very minute cells. Parallel with the outer margin of 

 the micropylar area is a large number (about 24) of fine transverse 

 ribs, which, curving between two longitudinal ribs, rise and cross the 

 latter, forming apparently a small knob at the point of junction. 

 Viewed from above, 14 of these ribs are observed, dividing the spaces 

 between the longitudinal ribs roughly into small rectangles (Tutt, 

 June 15th, 1896). Globular, with base rather flattened; the shell 

 ribbed rather irregularly with about 18 ribs, and transversely reticulated 

 with very even fine lines, which do not stop at the ribs, but cross 

 them, giving their edges a rough appearance, which is not real, but 

 only caused by the ribs, otherwise translucent, becoming opaque where 

 the lines cross ; as usual, a small space on the top of the egg is covered 

 only with very fine concentric reticulation. The colour is very pale 

 green all over (Hellins). Figured pi. iii., fig. 2. 



