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
The wings are fuscous, with darker fuscous transverse bands on the
middle third of the fore wings; the space between these is sometimes,
and in both sexes, whitish; there are some whitish spots on the outer
band, usually towards the costa, but occasionally on the middle also,
and a series of white points on the outer margin of all the wings. The
hind wings have a whitish discal dot and a band beyond the middle, which
is almost parallel with the outer margin. The male has a well-marked
fold on the costa (Plate 122).
The egg is whitish-green when freshly laid; it afterwards changes in
colour to orange. The caterpillar is yellowish-green with a darker line
along the back and a paler line on each side; the spiracles are red and
edged with whitish. The head is pale brown, striped and marked with
purplish-black. The body, together with the head, is covered with a
short whitish pile. It feeds on bird's-foot trefoil (_Lotus
corniculatus_) from June until August, when it hibernates. I have not
seen the chrysalis, but it has been described as dark green with the
body tinged with rosy red.
The butterfly is on the wing in May and June; in some seasons it has
been seen as early as the end of April. Very occasionally, perhaps,
there is a partial second flight in August. It has been reported as
plentiful at Lyme Regis in August.
I took one or two specimens about the middle of August, 1903, in the
New Forest district, and in the same month of 1905 one of two
caterpillars sent to me by Dr. Chapman pupated in August, and the
butterfly emerged some time in the autumn, as I found it dead in the box
early in October. Both the caterpillars had spun together sprays of the
food-plant as shown in the figure, Plate 123. One was removed for its
portrait to be taken, and it was supposed that the other bundle
contained a caterpillar also, and was not examined.
[Illustration: _Pl._ 122.
=Grizzled Skipper.=
1, 2, 7 _male_; 4, 5, 8 _female_; 3 _var. male_; 6 _do. female_.
=Dingy Skipper.=
9, 10, 12 _male_; 11, 13, 14 _female_.]
[Illustration: _Pl._ 123.
=Dingy Skipper.=
_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and its shelter._
=Grizzled Skipper.=
_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and shelter; chrysalis
in cocoon._]
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