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inches. They are of a rich dark brown, with a fulvous band, containing 

 several eye-like spot near the hind-margins. The female is paler in colour, 

 and has generally more and larger spots than the male. The underside is 

 paler in colour than the upper, and the fulvous band on the hind-wings is 

 replaced by a white one. Medea varies in the extent of the fulvous band, 

 and in the number and size of the eyed spots. 



Stephens, in his " Illustrations," gives the following varieties : — 

 Yar. b. Both sexes with the third ocellus from the apex of the anterior 

 wing, blind. 



Yar. c. Both sexes with the third ocellus obliterated. 

 Yar. d. Female with five ocelli on the band of the anterior wing. 

 Yar. e. Both sexes with the third ocellus from the apex of the anterior 

 wings blind, but the posterior wings with two ocelli only above. 

 Yar./. Posterior wings with only two ocelli. 



Yar. g. Ocelli very small, the third one being obliterated ; the posterior 

 wings beneath with five very distinct bands. The first at the base, pale 

 dusky; the second, broad, bent, deep reddish brown; the next attenuated 

 at each end, bluish-ash sprinkled with white, with three minute ocelli, and 

 terminating at the anal angle of the win<- ; the hinder one occupying the pos- 

 terior margin, and bright rufous brown . This is the form most frequently 

 met with in Durham. 



Yar. h. With white dots instead of ocelli. 



The Swiss specimens are generally larger than British, and their females 

 have an extra eyed spot on the fore-wim s. A named variety Mensina, H.S., 

 has the fulvous band on the wings rather obscured. 



The egg may be called large for the size of the butterfly, and is nearly 

 globular, though somewhat ovate in shape and laid on end ; the shell is glis- 

 tening, and ribbed, but not deeply, with about thirty longitudinal ribs, and 

 with very shallow transverse reticulations. At first, it is of a pale greenish 

 yellow colour, afterwards of a pale pinkish grey sprinkled with claret brown. 

 (Buckler's Larvse.) 



The caterpillar is of a pale stone colour, the warts being pale whitish 

 brown; the dorsal stripe is blackish brown, most intense on the hinder seg- 

 ments, and enclosed by two lines of a paler shade than the ground colour, 

 and a broad sub-dorsal stripe. The skin is covered, though not very closely, 

 with short, stout, curved pellucid bristles. 



The chrysalis is of a pale stone colour almost without markings, and very 

 stumpy. It is not suspended by the tail, but the caterpillar goes down 

 amongst the grass stems, and there changes. Before the butterfly emerges 



