PARARGE XIPHIOIDES.
Plate III.—Fig. 5.
This is not an English butterfly, though it is somewhat similar to the Speckled Wood Argus (Parage Ægeria). It is very commonly found in the Islands in most localities up to three or four thousand feet above the sea. It measures in expanse from two and a half to three inches. Those found early in the year are of a smaller and duller colour than those netted later on. It is of a rich brown colour, the fore-wings being freely marked with orange-yellow spots. The hind-wings are plentifully feathered at the base, and have a long dash of yellow down them, with three dark eyes near the margin, which is scalloped with faint white. The under-side of the fore-wings is lighter in colour than the surface, though similar in markings. The hind-wings are of a uniform olive-brown shade, with a long uneven silvery stripe half-way down the centre. There is no very decided knob on the end of the antennæ, which only thicken slightly towards the end.