The butterfly is on the wing in July, and usually disports itself around the elm trees, but it is fond of bramble blossoms, and may often be netted when feasting on those flowers. It is a local species, but, as a rule, plentiful enough in its localities. It is rare in Hampshire and Dorsetshire, scarce in Sussex, and not found in many parts of Kent. Ripley, in Surrey, was a well-known locality for it in the early part of the last century, and the caterpillars were found there commonly quite recently. In Essex it is generally common near Maldon. And, according to Barrett, it is "plentiful in various parts of Suffolk; very scarce in Norfolk; found more or less plentifully in Herts, Hants., Cambs., and Northamptonshire; very rare in Nottinghamshire; but again to be found in North Lincolnshire; and common in several localities near Doncaster, Barnsley, and elsewhere in Yorkshire. This appears to be its northern limit, and in this respect it contrasts curiously with _Thecla betulæ_ [The Brown Hairstreak], since it extends farther north in the east than that species; yet in the west is recorded no farther than Cheshire and Shropshire, where I found it thirty-five years ago upon Benthall Edge. In Herefordshire it is recorded but rarely; more commonly in Worcestershire; also in Derbyshire and Needwood Forest, Staffordshire; common around Burton-on-Trent and elsewhere in Leicestershire; and in Oxfordshire, Bucks, and Berks. But its metropolis seems to be Wiltshire, where Mr. Perkins has found it around Marlborough and Savernake in thousands, as well as in Gloucestershire." It has also been obtained in Monmouthshire, but its extreme western limit seems to be Weston-super-Mare, Somersetshire. Abroad it is widely distributed in Europe, except the extreme north and south-west; its range extends into Asia Minor, and to Amurland and Japan. [Illustration: _Pl._ 98. =Large Copper.= 1, 4, _male_; 2, 3, 5 _female_.] [Illustration: _Pl._ 99. =Large Copper.= _Caterpillar and chrysalis._] _Thecla spini_ and _T. ilicis_, two species of Hairstreak butterflies belonging to Central and Southern Europe, have been mentioned as occurring in Britain by some of the earlier authors. There is not, however, the slightest reason to suppose that either of them ever occurred naturally in this country. The Green Hairstreak (_Callophrys rubi_).