406 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



that, so soon as it settled, it sidled round till its back was to the sun,, 

 the latter shining fully upon it ; it then opened its forewings, each 

 falling through an angle of about 45°, dropping, however, its hind- 

 wings still lower, possibly at about 60°, so that the forewings rarely 

 fell as low as the hindwings whilst thus engaged; it also loved, 

 in the torrent beds there, to explore a head of Eupatorium 

 when sunning, and its appearance then is very different from that 

 when it is feeding or preparing for sleep, when, with the underside 

 of its hindwings only visible, its brilliant tints are entirely hidden 

 from view. We have already noted that, occasionally, it rests on leaves 

 in preference to flowers, e.g,, in a rough, overgrown, thistly field, near 

 Digne, in August, 1906, the $ s walked about and sunned themselves 

 on the leaves, and Baynor notes that, oh October 15th, 1904, a sunny,, 

 but cold, day, he saw a specimen of R. phlaeas fly up from the ground 

 and settle on an oak-leaf (about three feet from the ground). Its habit 

 of early rising has repeatedly been noted. Freir observes (Ent., xxvii., 

 p. 135) that, on August 18th, 1893, he saw fully two dozen flying about 

 one flower-bed at 6.15 a.m., at Walthainstow, the morning already 

 extremely hot and dry, the mean temperature at the time l%°k\ 

 Chapman observes that, in July 1898, at Bossekop, it was often seen 

 on the wing as early as 8 a.m. (Ent. Mo. Mag., xxxv., p. 28). At 

 Tromso, Schneider says that its flight is extremely shy and erratic, 

 and, as it haunts districts that are difficult to negotiate, it is not easily 

 taken. Here, too, it has a long period of flight, being observed as 

 early as June21st(inl883 and 1890), and as late as September8th(1891), 

 but the specimens certainly all, he says, belong to one long brood. It 

 haunts the flowers of Lotus and Vicia, and is also fond of sunning itself 

 by the roadsides on heaps of stones. On the Island of Huko, several 

 specimens were observed on July 21st, 1891, with V. icarus, sucking 

 nectar from the flowers of Lotus. Strand states that there are distinct 

 differences in habit between the arctic and southern phlaeas, and speaks of 

 the southern insect as a quiet, almost sluggish, insect, flying in meadows, 

 etc., whilst, in the far north, it is very shy and wild, and haunts rocky and 

 almost inaccessible places. It has never struck us that phlaeas was a par- 

 ticularly sluggish and innocent insect. Glaser says that, in Germany, 

 the butterfly likes to run on roads, or to visit flowers ; Thymus- 

 serpyllum., etc. It walks about boldly, sucking the nectar, and may 

 then be captured with the fingers. In Anhalt, the butterfly often 

 rests on the ground, opening its wings fully in the sunshine, or 

 sits with closed wings on the flowers, sucking the nectar thereof ; the 

 butterfly has a pretty rapid flight (Gillmer). In England, the species 

 varies greatly in its abundance and rarity in different years. In 1887 

 and 1893, it was very generally abundant, even in places where it 

 usually is comparatively rare and only occasionally met with. 

 Regarding this, Hawes says (Proc. Sth. Lond. Ent. SV>c, 1893, p. 136) 

 that, after phlaeas had become comparatively rare in Britain, it slowly 

 gained ground, until, in 1893, it was extraordinarily abundant. In that 

 year, in the Finchley district, the first brood appeared abnormally early, 

 being well out at the beginning of May (specimens were seen commonly in 

 April), the second brood was on the wing about July 10th (or fully 

 three weeks before the usual time). This brood, which is the most 

 regular as to time and numbers, scarcely ever fails to put in an appear- 

 ance during the first week in August ; but, this year, many of the larvas 



