The butterfly is out from May to July, and is met with (if at all) on heaths, clearings in woods, &c. Localities, in some of which it is very plentiful, are, Caen Wood; Coombe Wood; Epping; Halton, Bucks; Bedford; Aspley Wood, Beds; Plymouth, Teignmouth, Stowmarket, Dartmoor, Devonshire; Oxford; Wiltshire; Colchester; St. Osyth; Tenterden; Faversham; Deal; Canterbury. Very rare in north of England.
THE GREASY OR MARSH FRITILLARY. (Melitæa Artemis.)
([Plate XI]. fig. 4.)
The black markings on the upper side of this butterfly closely approach those of the last two species, but the interstices, instead of being filled up with a uniform fulvous tint, as in those, are "coloured in" with several distinct shades, some with pale tawny yellow, others with deep orange brown. This latter tint forms a band parallel
to the outer margin of each wing, the band on the front wings having a row of pale spots in it; that on the hind wings a row of black spots. Beneath, the upper wing has an appearance of the markings having been "smudged" together, and a shining surface, as if it had been greased, whence the common name of the insect; the hinder wings are like those of the two last, yellowish, banded with brownish orange, the outer band of which bears a series of black spots each surrounded by a pale yellowish ring.
The front edge of the front wing is slightly concave in its outline, about the middle, whereas it is convex in Cinxia and Athalia.
The caterpillar is black, with reddish brown legs. It is gregarious, feeding under protection of a web upon the leaves of plantain, devils-bit scabious, and some other plants.
The chrysalis is drabbish, with darker spots, and is said to suspend itself by the tail from the top of a tent-like structure made of blades of grass spun together at the top.
The butterfly appears in June (sometimes a little earlier or later), and frequents marshy meadows, moist woods, &c., but is a very local insect, abounding most in the south. The specimens, however, that I have seen from the north, are much larger, brighter, and more distinctly marked than the "southerners." The nearest localities to London are, Hornsey, and Copthall Wood at the top of Muswell Hill; West Wickham Wood, and