I hose of my readers who * n D 2 do not restrict their studies to

contemporary literature are doubtless familiar with ‘Peter Pindar’s’ poem on Sir Joseph Banks and the ‘Emperor of Morocco,’ certainly one of the best of his inimitable witticisms at the expense of science. The present insect is the ‘ Emperor of Morocco,’ who led Sir Joseph such a chase, and left him at last in the hands of an exasperated market-gardener.

a. 1. Arge Galatliea. 2. Erebia blandiaa. 2- Apatura Iris. non-walking fore-lcg. h. Do., club of aiiteuna. Apatura, f. Do., lan-a. of Pm-ple Emperor is a very appropriate

Its popular name as far as regards the male insect. The ground one, at least is brown-black in some lights, but in colour of the upper wings shining piu-ple, this effect being produced by others is a rich of the scales, as can be seen by the shape and arrangement under the microscope. The lightexamining a specimen are white, pui-e white m the maie, coloured bands and spots in the female. Beneath, the general colour and yellowish-white with black, grey, and here and there blue. is rust-red, blotched

When I first began to collect the British Butterflies, the Purple Emperor was considered one of the great prizes of entomologists — hardly inferior, in fact, to the Grreat Copper, which seems to have totally disappeared from the country. In those days the Emperor was supposed to restrict himself to the topmost branches of the oak-trees, and entomologists were accustomed to supply themselves with nets furnished with long handles made on the principle of the fishing-rod, the handle of the net being at least thirty feet in length. It so happened that I was engaged in getting together an illustrative series of insects for the Anatomical Museum at Oxford, and happening to possess a specimen of the Purple Emperor, I merged my personal feelings in the public welfare, and presented to the Museum my valued specimen.

There is a well-known saying to the effect that ‘Virtue is rewarded,’ and so it turned out on this occasion. A very short time after the personal sacrifice above-mentioned, a friend sent me a couple of Purple Emperors, male and female, which he had captiu'ed in Bagley Wood, while they were drinking in a puddle. Since that time the habits of the insect have been carefully studied, and the result has been that the Purple Emperor has been rendered comparatively familiar. Beautiful as it is, it has a strange liking for the most repulsive viands. There is nothing it likes better than the juices of putrid animal substances, and a dead dog or cat, which would drive away any human being who possessed nostrils and was not an entomologist, would attract the Purple Emperor to a rich banquet.

Now-a-days entomologists who wish to catch the Purple Emperor do not trouble themselves to procrue nets with preposterous handles weapons with which I scarcely believe that a successful stroke can be made. They now look out for a secluded open space or glade in the wood, situated, if possible, on wet soil, lay on the ground a piece of bullock’s liver, a dead rat or rabbit, or, in fact, any kind of animal substance, and go away again. The best plan is to make a circle of half a mile or so in diameter, and lay down the baits at distances of a few hundred yards.

In two or three days, according to the weather, they come back again, and steal quietly to the spot. Should the district

be one that is favoured by this insect, very few of the baits will be without a Purple Emperor either settling on it or being at hand ; and, like the Red Admiral, when engaged in taking food, the insect is so absorbed in its occupation that it can be taken without the least difficulty. If the locality be well selected, and the baits judiciously laid, it is very seldom that the entomologist will complete his round without having the opportunity of capturing this splendid Butterfly. So successful is this method of captuiing the Purple . Emperor that one entomologist succeeded in taking eighty specimens in nine days.

The caterpillar or larva is a very odd-looking creature, and is represented on Woodcut XLII. Fig. c. The most conspicuous points in this curious larva are the two horns with which the head is furnished. It feeds on the sallow, and, when partly grown, assumes so nearly the colour of the leaf that a sharp eye is needed to detect it. There are many markings and shades of colour in the caterpillar which need no notice, the general green hue and the horned head affording characteristics which cannot be mistaken. The perfect insect appears somewhere in July, the precise date depending much on the weather.

jSText comes the family of the Satyridse, in which the first pair of legs are not used for walking, the club of the antenna is bold and abrupt, and the wings are rounded. The larva has no spines, and the pupa is nearly smooth. Our first example is the Marbled White {Arge Oalathea), which is drawn on Woodcut XLII. Fig. 1. The colours of this pretty insect are simply black and yellowish-white, the amount of yellow differing according to the sex. The under surface is paler than the upper. The first pair of wings have a small eye-like spot near the tip, and on each of the second pair there are six similar spots arranged in a row near the edge of the wing. The row is not complete, there being a gap between the third and fourth spots. The larva feeds on grass, and the pupa does not suspend itself, nor indeed take any trouble in securing a resting-place. The perfect insect appears in July, and is very plentiful in many places, while in othei^s it is scarcely ever seen. The sea-coasts of Kent are favoured localities of this Butterfly, especially the country near Dover, Folkestone, and

Margate. Some years ago I took a great number of Marbled Whites in a field near St. Margaret’s Bay, and could have filled a cabinet with tliem in a few hours. Sometimes this Butterfly frequents a certain pasture field, which is a sure locality for it. Tlien if the field be ploughed up, and devoted to corn or clover, the Butterfly vanishes entirely from the neighbourhood.

Another insect belonging to this family is given on Woodcut XLII. Fig. 2. Its popular name is the Northern Brown {Erebia blandina or Medea). Tire latter of these names is the older in date, and although not so familiar as the former name, has been restored by Mr. Newman on the score of priority.

The colour of this Butterfly is deep blackish-brown, with an indistinct broad band of rust-red running nearly parallel with the hind margin of the wings. These bands are adorned with black eye-like spots, with centres of pure white. The two first spots of the upper wings are always united so as to form a figure of 8. The under surface of this Butterfly is very pretty, the colours being disposed in a very bold manner. The first pair of wings are dark-brown, with a very broad yellowish band in which are eye-like spots corresponding with those of the upper surface. The second pair of wings are liable to much variety, but may be generally described as grey with two broad waved dark bands. Several little black spots with white centres occupy the space between the bands.

This is not a common insect, inasmuch as it belongs more especially to the northern portions of our island ; and, though it is very plentiful in some parts of Scotland, is the rarest of the rare in the southern counties.

There are several other well-known Butterflies belonging to this family, but our space will not permit of description. Such,for example, are the Speckled Wood Butterfly {Satyrus Egeria), the Wall Butterfly {Satyrus Megcera), the Grayling {Satyrus Semele), the Meadow-Brown {Satyrus Janira), and the Ringlet {Satyrus Hyperanthus), the last-mentioned insect being remarkable for the fact that the upper surface of the wings is perfectly plain brown, while the under surface is warm brown adorned with sixteen spots, each spot having a white centre,

then a broad black circle, and then an outer circle of white. It is an extremely variable Butterfly, both in the size and number of the spots ; but ninety-nine specimens out of a hundred have the sixteen spots, three on each of the upper wings and five on each of the lower wings, the latter being arranged in two groups consisting of three and two spots. All these Butterflies are plentiful, and can be caught without difficulty in lanes or fields, their flight being sluggish, and never rising much above the ground.

We now pass to the family of the Lycsenidse, in which are included those small, but very lovely Butterflies which are known by the popular name of Blues and Coppers, in allusion to the prevalent tints of their wings. The latter insects are seldom seen except by those who go to look for them, but the former are prevalent everywhere, fluttering low over wide downs, settling on wild flowers, or aiding in adorning our gardens with their beautifully variegated wings. I well recollect that one of the chief pleasures of my childhood was to watch for the appearance of the Blue Butterflies in our garden at Oxford, a locality for which some of the species had a special predilection.

They might well frequent that garden, for I never killed but one of them, and that was for the purpose of examining the spots on the under surface by the aid of a small pocket microscope — to which instrument I owe much of my attachment to Natural History. Children have strange ideas in their little heads, and in my own brain as a child was a deeply rooted conviction of some affinity between the Blue Butterflies and the flower of the sweet-pea. I have plenty of children of my own now, but I can never see a Blue Butterfly without thinking of a clump of sweet-peas, an old garden wall, a snowberry bush, and a lattice-sided summer-house, covered with vine-leaves and grape-clusters. Neither wall, bush, summerhouse, nor vine has now an outward existence, but they are as vividly present to my memory whenever I see a Blue Butterfly as they were when I was a child of six years old.

On Woodcut XLIII. Figs. 1 and 2, is shown the rarest, even if not the most beautiful, of these Butterflies, the

celebrated Gtreat Copper Butterfly (Polyommatus or Chry-sophmms dispar).

The two sexes of this insect are very differently coloured. The male is fiery copper above, with a little blackish spot and a black hind margin to the upper wings. The lower wings are also edged with black, and have a slight streak in the middle.

Polyommatus dispar, female. 2. Bo., male, undersurface. 3. Polyommatus Adonis. 4. Hesperia Paniscus. 5. Hasperia alveolus. a. Polyommatus dispar, larva. b. Do., pupa, c. Do., antenna. d. Do., palpus.

The female has the upper wings marked with a broad black edge and a number of black spots, as shown in the illustration. Her under wings are brown, edged and spotted with black, and have a copper band parallel with the hind margin. Beneath, both sexes are alike, the upper wings being orange, diversified with a number of deep black spots, most of which are surrounded with a grey line. The under wings are grey, with an

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