MAY BUTTERFLIES
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]
Snt,—In the interesting article on May butterflies, which appeared in your issue of May 23rd last, "E. M. N." writes : "The beautiful little Green Hairstreak, another May butterfly, is one of the most perfect examples of protective colouring to be found with us. On the upper surface, with the wings open, it is all green ; suddenly it shuts up and is turned into a frail fragment of brown, inconspicuous to the point of invisibility."
This is not the ease, the inverse being the order of things. The author, no doubt, intended to use the word " brown " where " green " appears, and vice versa. When the Green Hairstreak settles on a leaf, and closes its wings, it shows the green under surfaces, which harmonize perfectly with its surroundings, and render it practically invisible.—I am, Sir, LIONEL LACEY, F.E.S. (London). New York, June 23rd.
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