95 



the " Scottish Naturalist," as Splendida, by Dr. Buchanan White, who des- 

 cribes it as follows : " Larger and brighter coloured, the apical spot of the 

 front one with two white dots (mine has only one). Found by Mr. Davidson 

 in the Island of Longa, on the west coast of Rosshire, being the only form 

 occurring there." He goes on to say, " that it occurs occasionally in Aber- 

 deenshire; and that he has taken it in the island of Capii, near Naples." 

 The South European variety, Hispulla, Hubner, is a large richly coloured 

 form, expanding nearly two inches and a half ; the black spot at the tip is 

 very large, the light markings of a deep orange tawny, and the veins broadly 

 black, the hindwings too have a distinct tawny band. It has been reported 

 as being taken in Hayling Island, but the specimen is more probably like my 

 female from the Isle of Harris. The Algerian form, Janiroides, which is 

 also said to occur in Spain, has a row of small brown dots in yellow rings on 

 the underside of the hindwings. In the Corsican form, Nurag, the male is 

 brown with a fulvous blotch on each wing, and the eye spot surrounded with 

 fulvous ; and the female is fulvous, the underside of the hindwings is uni- 

 formly brown, without paler markings or black dots. 



The egg is yellowish -white with brownish markings. It is globular, and 

 has lines on its surface like the meridan lines on a geographical globe, and a 

 pretty scalloping at the top that gives a flower-like appearance to that portion. 



The caterpillar is of an apple green colour, with a darker dorsal line, and a 

 yellowish white stripe on each side, and white anal points. It is covered 

 with roughish looking warts, which emit short hairs. It feeds on grasses of 

 various kinds, preferring the soft meadow grasses to the coarser species. 



The chrysalis is suspended by the tail to a blade of grass, but often so 

 slightly that it falls to the ground. The shrivelled skin of the caterpillar re- 

 mains, enveloping the tail of the chrysalis, and supporting it. The chrysalis 

 is stout, with two little horns on the head ; the tail ends in a short, stout 

 sword spike, on the tip of which are a few straight feeble bristles. The 

 colour is green, with some brown spots and lines. 



Two species of parasitic Hymenoptera have been bred from it, namely, 

 Ichneumon reptermis and Apanteles nothus. 



This butterfly begins to emerge at the end of June, and continues on the 

 wing for some time. Specimens may be seen even as late as the middle of 

 September, and during the greater part of this time the female may be noticed 

 laying her eggs. Near the railway station at Yentnor, in the Isle of Wight, 

 I captured some specimens in 1866, on the 11th of October, and at Dover 

 they have been seen as late as October 29th. They evidently belong to a 

 second brood, as the specimens are beautifully fresh. The eggs are laid 

 singly on the grass blades, and hatch in about a fortnight. The caterpillars 



