Insects. 733 



a mixed or greyish hue : there are three ferruginous markings corre- 

 sponding in situation with those above, and each having a black cen- 

 tral dot : the legs in both sexes are nearly white. 



The average expansion of the wings is 1 *5 inch. 



Female. — The female appears to differ but slightly from the male, 

 it is however almost uniformly of larger size, and of less intense and 

 rich colour, a difference often observable among the Satyridse : the 

 fascia on the upper surface of the fore wings is less brightly ferrugi- 

 nous, but larger and more conspicuous, its four black spots are also 

 more distinct, and I do not observe that the third is ever wanting, as 

 in the male : the markings on the hind wings are also more distinct. 



The average expansion of the wings is 1*65 inch, some are larger. 



On placing a series of this butterfly between one of blandina and 

 another of Cassiope, the only two other British species referrible to the 

 genus Erebia, a marked difference will at once be observed : it is uni- 

 formly smaller than the former, and as uniformly larger than the latter. 

 Contrasted with blandina, it altogether wants the ocelli which adorn 

 that highly beautiful insect. Compared with Cassiope, its ground 

 colour is much darker, richer and more intense, and the fascia broader 

 and brighter, so that the contrast between the ground colour and the 

 fascia is infinitely more striking. The under sides of the two insects 

 present a difference quite sufficient to enable an observer at once to 

 separate them, the fore wings of Cassiope being suffused with an inde- 

 scribable red tint, which is not observable in Melampus, and having 

 many minor characters in contrast, which are more easy to detect than 

 to describe. 



Mr. Weaver has obligingly supplied me with the following infor- 

 mation respecting this important capture. " 1 took these butterflies 

 when the sun shone, morning and evening, the first on the 27th of 

 June, and the last on the 27th of July. They appeared confined to a 

 spot of level and rather marshy ground, about 150 yards in length and 

 50 in breadth ; it was grassy, but without heath ; and although there 

 was plenty of heath all round the neighbourhood, I did not see a sin- 

 gle specimen settle on it. The locality is among rocky mountains, 

 some of which attain an altitude of 4000 feet above the sea, and I 

 think the spot where I found the butterflies is at least 3000 feet. I 

 spent ten days in hunting them, and although I wandered over most 

 of the country for ten or fifteen miles round, I found them nowhere 

 else. The nearest village is Kinloch Rannoch, consisting of a few 

 scattered houses, one of which is a shop for sundries, two are pot- 



