THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



151 



ecies being now considered only varieties, j 

 aarly all of them are European, the warmer 

 ores of the Mediteranean being the home 

 the genus. Two or three arc found in 

 ,ia. but only one ( Meridionalis ) which was 

 rmerly considered a variety of Lachesis, is 

 rained to that C ontinent. Only one species 

 curs in Britain. 



GALATHEA, Linn., PI. 13, fig. 2. 



The marbled white. The half mourner. 



1 Galatea, L., Galatea (Galathea) a nymph 

 loved by Acis." — A.L. 



ImagO. — Plate 13, lig. >. Cream color 

 rUcd with black. A row of eyed spots on 

 I underside of the hind wing near the hind 

 ! rgin. 



Larva. — Green, a darker dorsal stripe ; , 

 nacular line whitish ; anal points tipped 

 h pink. The central portion is browner, 

 I some specimens are yellowish brown 

 tead of green. 



Pupa. — Short and stumpy, pale drab, 1 

 h slightly darker markings. It is not 

 pended by the tail, but the change takes 

 ce on the surface of the ground among the 

 ss stems. 



^ood Plant. —Timothy grass (Phlcum 

 'use ), and other grasses. 

 Times of Appearance. — This but- 

 fly makes its appearance in July, and 

 eggs are desposited about the end of the 

 nth. They are not attached to the grass, 

 allowed to fall in among it. These 

 ch the stems in about twenty days, and 

 young larvic feed slowly for a short time, | 

 1 then hybernate about the roots of the j 

 ss. They begin to feed again at the 

 !er end of April, or early in May, 

 ording to the season, and are full fed in 

 ie. They change to a chrysalis on the 

 $lace of the ground. 



labitat- — This butterfly is confined 

 it his country entirely to England, and does 

 a> occur at all in the more northerly 

 • nties, Yorkshire being the furthest north 

 io.hich it is found. In the Midland and 



more southern counties it is common enough 

 where it occurs, but this is always very 

 restricted. Often in one field only, or even 

 in one portion of it. It seems to prefer 

 roughish ground, ami a broken pasture is a 

 frequent habitat. On the Continent it is 

 generally distributed, but does not occur in 

 the Spanish peninsula nor in Scandinavia, or 

 the north of Russia. 



Variation, — Galathea varies much in 

 the extent of the black markings. Mr. Earn 

 has a specimen in his collection which is 

 entirely black, the usual markings showing 

 slightly as the insect is held in certain lights. 

 Other specimens exist in various collections 

 in which the dark color greatly predom- 

 inates. Mr. Stevens has one with the usual 

 dark markings of a rufus brown, and another 

 in the same collection with the ground color 

 very yellow, and the black markings very few. 

 Mr. Briggs has one with the under wings 

 suffused with hlack. Mr. J. I'. Barrett has a 

 specimen taken at Gravesend, in which the 

 black markings are confined to the base of 

 the wing, and a border around the outer 

 margin, leaving the centre of the wings only 

 traversed by the dark veins. We have 

 heard of a specimen entirely white, but cannot 

 at present say in whose collection it is. In 

 this country dark forms are rare, but in the 

 south-east of Europe are more frequent, and 

 the variety is called Turcica, B. Another 

 form from the same quarter is called Procida, 

 Hbst.. and which Dr. Staudinger describes 

 as "obncuriur." A third named variety is 

 Galeae, O., which wants the eyed spots. A 

 curious form of the female is also named 

 Lcitcoinclas, Esp. It has the underside of the 

 hind wings without black marks. Besides 

 these varieties specimens are found in which 

 the cream color of the ground of the wings is 

 replaced by pure white. I have seen many 

 such, but am not able to say whether it is a 

 local form, or occurs occasionally with the 

 type. 



Parasites. — I do not know of any 

 parasitic insects in this species. 



