The Butterflies of the British IslesSouth, Richard
Science
The Butterflies of the British Isles
South, Richard
Butterflies -- Great Britain; Butterflies -- Great Britain -- Identification; Lepidoptera -- Great Britain
Barrett, writing of the butterfly in all its forms, says, "Its most
southern known locality in England is Chartley Park, Derbyshire, and it
is common in all 'mosses' of Lancashire and Cheshire--all moors about
Grange, and in Chat Moss, Risley Moss, Rixton Moss, Simondswood, Lindon
Moss, and Carrington Moss, as well as at Delamere Forest. In Yorkshire
abundant in Thorne Waste, not scarce in Wensleydale, and found on
Cottingham Moor, Hatfield Moors, and elsewhere. Northward it is found in
all suitable mosses and moors in Durham, Westmoreland, and Cumberland,
but seems to have been exterminated in Northumberland."
In Scotland it appears to be pretty generally distributed, and occurs
up to an elevation of some 2000 feet. Kane states that in Ireland it is
widely spread throughout, on the bogs and mountains. It is stated to
have occurred in North Wales a long time ago, but there are no recent
records from that country. Abroad it is found in Central and Northern
Europe, extending to Lapland, and through Northern Asia to Amurland. In
North America it is represented by two forms, which are not quite like
any of those occurring elsewhere.
The Small Heath (_Coenonympha pamphilus_).
To the ancient fathers the male of the butterfly on Plate 92 was known
as the "Selvedged Heath Eye," and the female was called the "Golden
Heath Eye." Harris figured it as "The Small Heath," or "Gatekeeper;" the
latter name being now associated with another species, it may be allowed
to drop out in the present connection.
The wings are pale tawny, with a brownish or greyish-brown border, of
variable width, on all the wings, and stronger in the male than the
female; there is a black spot towards the tip of the fore wing. The
under side resembles that of the last species in some degree, but the
eyed spots of the hind wings are not always prominent, often only white
dots, and may be absent altogether (Fig. 9).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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