83 



write a work on " Titles of Honour," nor to give any genealogical account of 

 the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary. " So far, however," he goes on to say, " the 

 name is appropriate in that dukes and these butterflies are alike somewhat 

 rare, and from his blazon of the plate it will be seen that the latter, as is 

 only ducal, have numerous quarterings." 



This brings to a close the first division of the Butterflies, viz., " Suc- 

 cinctse/' consisting of those which have girted chrysalides, so called because 

 the body is supported by a silken girth or belt. 



The next division is called " Pendulse," so called because the chrysalides 

 are attached by the tail only, and swing in the air, with the head pointed 

 towards the ground. 



Family SATYRIDJE. 



This family is of considerable extent, and almost universally dispersed over 

 the surface of the globe ; the number of species found in Europe is, in fact, 

 considerably greater than one-third of the whole of the European butterflies. 

 With the exception of one genus, Melanargia, which contains the species 

 known as Marbled Whites, the family consists of exceedingly dull coloured 

 butterflies of various shades of brown, the underside of the wings being 

 ornamented with eye-like spots. 



So large a family has been divided into 60 genera, but as the differences are 

 often very slight, most of them may be considered in the light of sub-genera 

 or sections. A. few species have been separated from Satyrus, and formed 

 into a genus (Pararge), on account of the eyes being hairy, and yet the 

 genus Polyommatus contains some species with hairy eyes and others with 

 naked eyes. 



Genus XII.— MELANAKGIA. 

 Meigen. 



Melanargia, from Melan — black, and Argoe — silvery. 



The generic name Melanargia was bestowed in 1829. Hubner, in 1816, 

 named the genus Arge, but as Arge is the name of one of the species con- 

 tained in the genus, and also the name of a genus in the order Hymenoptera, 

 we cannot do better than adopt Meigen's name of Melanargia. 



The species of this genus may be at once distinguished from all others of 

 the family by the ground colour of the wings, which is white, more or less 

 marbled with black. There are eight species, seven of them being European, 

 the warmer shores of the Mediterranean being the home of the genus. Two 

 or three are found in Asia, but only one, Meridionals, is confined to that 

 Continent, Only one is British. 



