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WATURALISTS LIBRARY.
BINT OMOuOGY.
Larae Copper, & Common Blue Buttertles.
LONDON, HENRY G. BOHN,
YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
THE
NATURALISTS LIBRARY.
EDITED BY
SIR WILLIAM JARDINE, BART.
F.R.S.E., F.L.S., ETC., ETC.
VOL. XXIX.
ENTOMOLOGY. c-vwet.ayz
ARITISH BUTTERFLIES. ,
BY JAMES DUNCAN
M.W.s., Bic.
» PRO.
EDINBURGH:
W. H. LIZARS, 3, ST. JAMES’ SQUARE.
LONDON:
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1855.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
MEMOIR OF WERNER, ° ios he ° = : 17
Account of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, 48
INTRODUCTION, . ° . ° . : 49
Plate I. elementary and anatomical Baaions &e.
Plate II. ditto, ditto.
Plate III. ele ee &e.
Genus PaPILtio, - - - : : 92
Swallow-tail Butterfly.
Papilio Machaon. Plate lV. Fig.l. . : 94
Scarce Swallow-tail Butterfly.
Papilio Podalirius. Plate IV. Fig. 2. ; oF
Brimstone Butterfly.
Gonepteryx Rhamni. Plate V. Fig. 1. - 100
Clouded Yellow Butterfly.
Colias Edusa. Plate V. Fig.2. . : 227408
Pale Clouded Yellow Butterfly.
Colias Hyale. Plate VI. Fig.l. .. : 106
Scarce Clouded Yellow Butterfly.
' Colias Europome. Plate VI. Fig.2. . 108
Genus PontT14, 3 ; : - : 110
Common Cabbage Butterfly.
Pontia Brassice. Plate VII. Figs, 1.and2, 113
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Early White Cabbage Butterfly.
Pontia Chariclea. Plate VIII. Fig. 1.—Male. i16
Small White Butterfly.
Pontia Rape. Plate VII. Fig. 3. ° 117
How..rd’s White Butterfly.
Pontia Metra. Plate VIII. Fig. 2. 119
Green-veined White Butterfly.
Pontia Napi. Plate IX. Fig. 1. ° 121
Dusky-veined White Butterfly.
Pontia Sabellice. Plate VIII. Fig. 3. : 123
Genus Mancipium, . : : ‘ 5 ° ° 124
Bath White Butterfly.
Mancipium Duplidice. Plate 1X. Fig.2. . 125
Orange-tip Butterfly.
Pontia Cardamines. Plate X. Figs. 1. & 2. 127
Wood White Butterfly.
Leucophasia Sinapis. Plate X. Fig. 3. ° 128
Black-veined White, or Hawthorn Butterfly.
Pieris Crategi. Plate XI. Fig. 2. : : 131
Apollo Butterfly.
Parnassius Apollo. Plate XI. Fig. 1., ° 134
Duke of Burgundy Fritillary.
Nemeobius Lucina. Plate XII. Fig. 1. 3 137
Genus MELiT#A, , A - ° yi ‘ 139
Pear]-Bordered Likeness.
Melitea Athalia. Plate XII. Fig.2., . ° 140
Greasy Fritillary.
Melitea Artemis. Plate XIII. Fig. 2. . 142
Glanville Fritillary.
Melitea Cinzia. Plate XIV. Fig.2. . . 144
Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
Melitea Euphrosyne. Plate XV.Fig.2. . 145
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
_Melitea Silenc. Plate XIII. Fig. 3, . .« 148
CONTENTS.
Genus ARGYNNIS. ° : St 4. GAAS 150
Queen of Spain Fritillary.
Argynnis Lathonia. Plate XVI. Fig. 2. ‘ 152
High Brown Fritillary.
Argynnis Adippe. Plate XVI. Fig. 1. : 153
Dark Green Fritillary.
Argynnis Aglaia. Plate XV. Fig.l. . : 155
Silver- Washed Fritillary.
Argynnis Paphia. Plate XIV. Fig. 1. ; 157
Genus VANESSA, i 2 ~ 3 = : & 159
Comma Butterfly.
Vanessa C.-album. Plate XVI. Fig. 1. ‘ 160
Great Tortoise-Shell.
Vanessa polychioros. Plate XVII. Fig.2. . 162
Small Tortoise-Shell.
Vanessa Urtice. Plate XIX. Fig. 1. : 164
Peacock’s Eye.
Vanessa Io. Plate XVIII. Fig. 1. : F 166
Camberwell Beauty.
Vanessa Antiopa. Plate XVIII. Fig.2. . 168
Red Admiral.
Vanessa Atalanta. Plate XX. Fig. 1. : 170
Painted Lady. -
Cynthia Cardui. Plate XIX. Fig.2. . . 174
Purple Emperor.
ApaturoTris. PlateXXI. .. ; : 177
White Admiral.
Limenitis Camilla. Plate XX.Fig.2. . 181
Genus HipparcHia. : : ‘ : ; : 184
Speckled Wood Butterfly.
Hipparchia Ageria. Plate XXIII. Fig. 4. 186
Wall Butterfly.
Hipparchia Megera. Plate XXII. Fig, 3. 188
The Grayling.
Hipparchia Semele. Plate XXII. Figs. 1. & 2. 190
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Marbled White Butterfly.
Hipparchia Galathea. Plate XXIII. Fig. 1. 192 ,
Large Heath.
Hipparchia Tithonus. Plate XXIII. Figs. 2.
and 3. : d . a - - - 194
Meadow-Brown Butterfly.
Hipparchia Janira. Plate XXIV. Figs. 1. & 2., 196
The Ringlet Butterfly.
Hyparchia Hyperanthus. Plate XXIV. Fig. 4. 198
Mountain Ringlet.
Hipparchia Cassiope. Plate XXIV. Fig. 3. 199
Arran Brown Butterfly.
Hipparchia Ligea. Plate XXV. Fig. 1. - 201
Scotch Argus Butterfly.
Hipparchia Blandina. Plate XXV. Fig. 2. 202
Scarce Small Ringlet Butterfly.
Hipparchia Davus. Plate XXVI. Fig. 1. . 204
Marsh Ringlet Butterfly.
Hipparchia Polydama. Plate XXVI. Fig.2. 205
Small Heath Butterfly.
Hipparchia Pamphilus. Plate XXVI. Fig. 3., 207
Silver Ringlet Butterfly.
Hipparchia Hero, . : ° : : ° 208
Hipparchia Arcanius, . - : : c 209
Brown Hair-Streak.
Thecia Betule. Plate XXVII. Figs.1.&2. 211
Purple Hair-Streak.
Thecla Quercus. Plate XXVII. Figs. 3.& 4, 212
Black Hair Streak.
Thecla Pruni. Plate XXVIII. Fig. 1. - 214
White Letter Hair Streak.
Phecla W-album. Plate XXVIII. Fig. 2. ai
Green Hair Streak.
Thecla Rubi. Plate XXVIII. Fig. 3. : 217
Genus Lyczna. 2 : - o « * prataae 219
Large Copper.
Lycena dispar. Plate XXIX. Figs. 1.&2., 220
CONTENTS.
Scarce Copper.
Lycena Virgauree. Plate XXIX. Fig. 3. 222
Purple-edged Copper.
Lycena Chryseis. Plate XXX. Fig. 1 - 224
Dark Under-winged Copper.
Lycena Hippothoé. Plate XXX. Fig.2. . 225
Common Copper.
Lycena Phieas. Plate XXX. Fig. 3. : 226
Genus PoLyoMMATUS. - ° : : - : 228
Azure Blue Butterfly.
Polyommatus Argiolus. Plate XXXI. Figs. 1.
and 2. : ae a Yeo
Bedford Blue Butterfly.
Polyommatus Alsus. Plate XXXI. Fig. 3. 230
Mazarine Blue Butterfly.
Polyommatus Acis. Plate XXXI. Fig. 4. 231
Large Blue Butterfly.
Polyommatus Arion. Plate XXXII. Fig. 1. 233
Alcon Blue Butterfly.
Polyommatus Alcon. Plate XXXII. Fig. 2. 234
Chalk-Hill Blue Butterfly.
Polyommatus Corydon. Plate XXXII. Fig.3. 235
Clifden Blue Butterfly.
Polyommatus Adonis. Pl. XX XIII. Figs. 1. & 2. 237
Common Blue Butterfly.
Polyommatus Alexis. Vignette Title-page, 239
Silver Studded Blue Butterfly.
Polyommatus Argus. Plate XXXIII. Fig, 3. 241
Brown Argus Butterfly.
Polyommatus Agestis. Plate XXXIV. Fig.1. 243
Durham Argus.
Polyommatus Salmacis. Plate XXXIV. Figs. 2.
and 3. . . . . : . . 244
Artaxerxes Butterfly.
Polyommatus Artaxerxes. Pl. XXXIV. Fig. 4. 245
PorTRAIT OF WERNER, 2
Vignette Title-page. The Becca Blue Butterfly, 3
In ali Thirty-six Plates in this Volume.
A ity koa au vist sey “
yoshi ils yet Uti
era} a) ibden wh
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pry
. V id. 4
MEMOIR OF WERNER*.
THE close of the seventeenth century witnessed
the birth of a new science, which assumed, in its in-
fancy, the pompous name of the Theory of the
Earth. Starting with a few ill-ascertained facts, and
connecting these together by fantastical assumptions,
it pretended to go back to the origin of worlds, to
sport, as it were, with them, and to create their his-
tory. Itsarbitrary methods, and pompous language,
seemed to remove it to a distance from the other
sciences ; and in fact, scientific men for a long pe-
riod excluded it from the circle of their studies.
At length, after an age of fruitless attempts, it has
been brought within the range assigned to the hu-
* Instead of writing anew the life of this distinguished
individual, for which few materials could be procured that
have not been already laid before the public, it has beer
thought that we should best consult the interest of our
readers, and at the same time give an agreeable variety to
our biographical notices, by intrcducing, in an English form,
the Eloge of Baron Cuvier, pronounced before the Royal
Institute of France. This sketch furnishes all that is in-
teresting in a life remarkably free from incident, and pre-
sents a view of Werner’s opinions and discoveries, distin-
guished by the analytical talent and philosophical discern-
ment for which its author was so eminent.
B
18 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
man faculties, and, confining itself to the modest task
of observing the globe as it actually exists, has pe-
netrated into its bowels, and, in some degree, ex-
plained its anatomy. It has henceforth taken its
place among the subjects of positive knowledge, and,
what is very remarkable, it has done so without losing
any thing of its marvellous character. The objects
which it has been enabled to see and to touch, —the
truths which it has daily brought under our eyes,—
are even more admirable and surprising than all that
the most prolific imagination had ventured to con-
ceive.
This happy reformation was commenced by two
celebrated men, Pallas and Saussure; and it was
completed by Werner. With him commences the
most remarkable epoch of the science of the earth,
—an epoch indeed which he himself may be said to
have filled; for he had the good fortune to witness,
during his own lifetime, the universal prevalence of
his ideas and views, although they were so novel in
their character, and foreign to the previous notions
of most naturalists. He has left as many inheritors
of his methods and doctrine as there are observers
in the world; and wherever mines are wrought, or
the history of minerals taught, some distinguished
man is to be found, who accounts it an honour to
have been his pupil.. Entire academies * have been
formed and distinguished by his vame, as if they had
* See Account of Wernerian Natural eg Society
at the end of this memoir, C
=
MEMOIR OF WERNER. 19
wished to invoke his genius, and make him their
patron in a manner previously unknown.
When hearing of such unusual success, who would
not suppose that he was one of those men who are
most ardent in propagating their doctrines, and who
have acquired an ascendency over their cotempora:
ries by numerous and eloquent writings, or who have
procured adherents through the influence of wealth,
or an elevated station in society? But in his case
there was nothing of all this. Confined to a small
town in Saxony, without authority in the country,
he could have no influence on the fortunes of his pu-
pils. He formed no connexion with people in power ;
and such was the singular timidity of his disposition,
and aversion to writing, that not more than a few
sheets of his composition have been committed to
the press. Far from seeking to render himself im-
portant, he was so little conscious of his own merit,
that the most trifling honours conferred on him, even
at a time when his reputation was spread throughout
all quarters of the world, greatly surpassed all that
he had ever hoped for or desired.
But this man, though so little occupied with him-
self, and so far from conceiving that he was in any
degree called upon to write for the instruction of
others, had an indefinable charm in his language and
conversation. When once he had been heard —
when once, over a few fragments of stones or rocks
disposed almost by chance, he had developed, as if
by inspiration, all those general ideas and innumer-
able relations which his genius had perceived, no one
90 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
could resist the force of his attractions. Feeling the
ascendency of his talents, the pupils of Werner re-
spected him as a great master, and, returning the
regard he shewed for them, they soon loved him as
a father. Wherever they went, they promulgated
his doctrines, and spoke of his person with respect
and affection.
It was thus that, in a few years, the little school
of Freyberg, originally designed only for the instruc-
tion of a few miners for Saxony, again presented the
appearance of the earliest universities of the middle
ages. Pupils flocked to it from every civilized coun-
try; and, even in the most remote places, aged in-
dividuals, and men of science who had already at-
tained the highest celebrity, hastened to acquire a
knowledge of the German language, for the sole pur-
pose of being in a condition to hear and understand
the great oracle of Geology.
ABRAHAM-GOTTLOB * WERNER was born on the
25th of September 1750, at Wehrau on the Queiss,
in Upper Lusatia. J’rom his earliest years, he was
surrounded with the objects which were to form the
occupation and the glory of his life. His father, who
was the director of a forge, used to give him shining
minerals for his playthings; and, before he could pro-
nonnce their names, the child was learning, by piling
them together, tossing them about, and breaking
them in pieces, to group them, and recognise them
by their most prominent characters. He always—
* Gottlob, Praise God
MEMOIR OF WERNER. pit |
preserved a few of these pieces, and, when he shew-
ed his collection, which soon became one of the rich-
est in Europe, he seldom failed to draw attention to
these small beginnings of it, as if he wished to shew
a kind of gratitude for the first sparks which proved
the source of such abundant light.
It was intended that he should engage in the bu-
siness of mining, and as the laws of Saxony require
that those who embrace this profession should be re-
gularly licensed, he first attended the courses of me-
tallurgy in the school of Freyberg, and subsequently
those of jurisprudence in the University of Leipsic.
Two prevailing tastes, or, it may be rather said,
two passions, attended him through life — the love of
minerals, and the love of method. He delighted in
dividing and classifying things, like ideas. What-
ever admitted of being arranged, gave him pleasure ;
and when he began to purchase books, he seemed to
do so rather for the purpose of arranging ‘them me-
thodically, than in order to read them. Both these
prupensities were conspicuous in his first work, the
Treatise on the External Characters of Minerals, a
pamphlet of a few sheets, which he published at
Leipsic when he was twenty-four years of age. It
comprises an analysis and minute subdivision of all
the variations in the apparent properties of minerals.
Each of these properties is designated by an appro-
priate term, designed conjointly to form a definite
language, by means of which all mineralogists may
be readily understood.
This was rendering to mineralogy a service simi-
22 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
lar to that which Linnzus had conferred on botany;
but it was a service purchased at the same price. It
cannot be denied, that this vocabulary has introduced
into science more detail and precision; that persons
who accustom themselves to apply it, acquire a re-
markable facility in distinguishing minerals at the
first glance; and that the attentive examination ne-
cessary to draw up a description of these substances
on the prescribed model, has been the means of dis-
criminating many which might otherwise have con-
tinued to be long confounded in the crowd. But it
must be confessed, at the same time, that this idiom,
necessarily somewhat pedantic, and restricted in its
modes of expression as well as in its words, has given
an affected air to the works in which it has been too
servilely employed, together with a dryness and pro-
lixity more frequently fatiguing than useful.
These inconveniences seem, however, to have
been but little felt. Technical and half-barbarous
terminologies had long been the reigning fashion.
For thirty years the amiable science of botany spoke
no other language, and naturalists, already accus-
tomed to so many chains, experienced no apprehen-
sion at the prospect of submitting to another. In-
deed, we may suppose, that if any one was alarmed
at this new creation, it was Werner himself, and
that if he wrote so little after his first trial, it was
partly that he might escape from the trammels that
he had imposed on others. Happily his early work,
adapted as it was to the taste of the nation, made
MEMOIR OF WERNER. a3.
his name known, and procured him the means of
transmitting his ideas in a more agreeable form.
He was nominated in 1775 Professor and Inspec-
tor of the Cabinets of Freyberg ;—an appointment
bestowed on him that he might devote himself with-
out restraint to his strongest inclination, and which
retained him in a district the most calculated of any
in Europe {o satisfy it, since it is the most abundant
in different kinds of minerals, and has, from a re-
mote period, been pierced in allsdirections by the
operations of miners. All his efforts, therefore, from
this moment, were directed to mineralogy, and to it
alone ; but this single science, fecundated by his ge-
nius, became one of immense extent.
His first step had been to create for it a language:
his second was to form a system; but the latter, as
it was much the most important, was also greatly
the most difficult.
Organized beings present two bases of classifica-
tion, obviously given by nature; the individual, re-
sulting from the concourse of all the organs to a
common action, and the species, resulting from the
connexions which generation has established between
individuals.
More remote resemblances, however natural the
relations on which they are founded may be, are al-
ways more or less dependent on abstractions of the
mind. .
In mineralogy, classificators have sought in vain
for some principle corresponding in every respect to
24 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
these primary bases. The mysterious force of crys-
tallization is the only one that presents any resem-
blance to the generative power: it determines in like
manner the composition ; but this is only within cer-
tain limits. Recent experiments have evinced that
there are substances whose crystalline virtue is such,
that they constrain very considerable quantities of
different substances to accommodate themselves to
their form ; and it has been long observed in nature,
that crystals, inaall respects alike, those of sparry
iron, for example, may contain more or less of iron
or of lime, as there may be in two animals of the
same species a greater or less quantity of fat, of ge-
latine, or of the earth of the bones.
In mineralogy, therefore, crystallization must be
regarded as the fundamental principle of the species,
as far as it addresses itself to our sight; but in an
immense majority of minerals, the crystalline form
is not visible, and, in such cases, the composition is
very far from enabling us to determine it; for the
latter is more variable than in the crystals, and im-
pure intermixtures corrupt it more easily. No al-
ternative, then, is left, but to have recourse to the
properties which are most closely connected with
the fundamental principle, viz. cleavage, which is
only one of its phenomena, fracture, hardness, lustre,
and the effect of the body on the touch, which are its
more or less immediate consequences.
This plan Werner has pursued, not perhaps proceed-
ing exactly upon these reasonings, but led by that
MEMOIR OF WERNER. 25
kind of delicate instinct which formed the peculiar
character of his genius. He has the appearance of
adopting the identical composition of the molecules
as the principle of species, and as the point from
which he sets out. Perhaps he really believed him-
self to have set out from thence; but he never ac-
tually applies the principle but when it is in perfect
unison with the external properties, and, in all in-
stances, it is on these properties that he has founded
his distributions, leaving analysis to make itself har-
monize with them as it best may. All unctuous
stones, for example, are arranged in the magnesian
genus, although many of them contain a greater pro-
portion of argillaceous or siliceous matter than of
magnesia. So rigorously did he act on this prin-
ciple, that he always persisted m placing the dia-
mond among the siliceous stones, although it had
been incontestably proved by experiment that this
gem is a crystallization of carbon. Still more sin-
gular is the fact, that, among all the external pro-
perties, he paid least regard to the crystalline form,
which is the most fundamental of the whole.
It is true, that his investigations began ten years
before Hatiy had commenced his labours, and, con-
sequently, nearly thirty years before the doctrine of
that great mineralogist had been developed in the
admirable manner it afterwards attained ; and Wer-
ner, on his part, had caused the science to make
such remarkable progress, that he may easily be ex-
cused for not entering fully into all the views of his
96 MEMOIR OF WERNER,
rivals. But the conduct of some of his followers
admits of no excuse, who attempted, with an ill-di-
rected zeal, which he took every opportunity of re-
probating, to depreciate a series of truths with which
he had made them too little acquainted. A con-
trary proceeding would have been greatly more pro-
per, for it is. necessary to unite and combine the
results of the two methods. Far from being opposed
to each other, they are absolutely the same in spirit,
being in reality but two branches from the same stem.
Both of them, without denying that species depend,
in some respects, on composition, are too ready to
establish them without sufficiently consulting che-
mistry. They assume for them, tacitly at least, a
principle of individuality which is not inherent in
the matter that composes them. But although che-
mistry reproaches both with sometimes establishing
species gratuitously, she is obliged at the same time
to acknowledge, that they have often anticipated her,
by indicating distinctions in substances which she
was unable to detect by her analysis, till after the
fact had been announced.
The only difference is, that each of these two
great mineralogists gives too exclusive a preponder-
ance to the characters which have been most the ob-
ject of his study.
Hatiy, conceiving crystallization as alone worthy
of being compared with analysis, has recourse to
more rigorous and scientific methods, but which pers
mit many substances to escape notice.
MEMOIR OF WERNER. 27
Werner, by admitting to the same privilege pro-
perties of a subordinate kind, embraces more easily
all sorts of minerals; but, in so doing, he overlooks
what is most profound and mysterious in their na-
ture; and when, in the conflict of the two methods,
he has opposed these subordinate qualities, not only
to analysis, but to crystallization itself, he has almost
always infringed that fundamental law, of which the
properties he believed himself entitled to employ are
only the corollaries.
Werner had thus invented a language for de-
scribing minerals, as well as a method of arranging
them, and had assigned to each their distinctive cha-
racters; in this manner constituting a mineralogy,
properly so called, or what he termed Oryctognosy,
that is, a knowledge of fossils.
The history of their arrangement on the globe, or
what he named Geognosy—knowledge of the Earth
—was the third point of view under which he re-
garded them.
The Earth is composed of mineral masses; and
modern observers have ascertained that these masses
are not distributed at random. Pallas, in his la-
borious journeys to the extremities of Asia, had re-
marked that their superposition was capable of be-
ing referred to fundamental laws ; and the same thing
was confirmed by the observations of De Saussure
and De Luc, while traversing, in numerous direc-
tions, the most elevated mountain-ranges in Europe,
Without quitting his small province, Werner ac-
98 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
quired the most intimate acquaintance with these
laws, and could read in them the history of all the
revolutions from which they had resulted. Follow-
ing each bed in the order of its continuity, without
allowing himself to be bewildered by rents and shift-
ings, or by the crests and other summits which rise
above them, he in some measure determined their
age, and the age of all the accessory matters which
intermingle with their principal substances.
The different fluids which have surrounded the
globe, the changes in composition which they have .
undergone, and the violent commotions by which
each change has been accompanied, were all legible
to his eyes on the monuments which they have left
bebind them.
A universal and tranquil ocean deposites in large
masses the primitive rocks, which are strongly crys-
tallized, and have silica for their predominating in-
gredient. Granite forms the base of the whole. To
this succeeds gneiss, which is nothing more than
granite beginning to assume a slaty structure. By
degrees, argil begins to predominate. Schists of
different kinds appear ; but in proportion as the pu-
rity of the precipitations becomes changed, the dis-
tinctness of the crystalline grain diminishes. Ser-
pentines, porphyries, and traps succeed, in which
the grain is less distinctly formed, although a sili-
ceous nature begins to resume its purity. Internal
agitation in the fluid destroys a portion of these pri-
mary deposites; and their debris forms new rocks,
MEMOIR OF WERNER. 29
united by a cement. It is in the midst of these
commotions that life first begins toappear. Carbon,
the first of these products, now shews itself. Lime,
which was associated with the primitive rocks, be-
comes more and more abundant; and rich deposites
of sea-salt, one day to be explored by man, fill large
cavities. The waters, again becoming tranquil, but
having their contents changed, deposit beds less
thick, and more varied, in which the remains of living
bodies are successively accumulated, in an order not
less determinate than that of the rocks which con-
tain them. At last, the final recession of the waters
spreads over the continent immense alluvial collec-
tions of moveable substances, which form the ear-
liest seats of vegetation, of culture, and of social life.
Metals, like rocks, have had their epochs and their
successions. The last of the primitive, and the first of
the secondary rocks, have received them abundantly.
They become rare, however, in deposites of more
recent formation. They are usually distributed in
particular situations, in those veins which seem to
be produced by rents in the rocky masses, and filled
after their formation; but they are by no means of
equal age. The last formed are known by their
veins intersecting those of older date, and not being
themselves intersected. Tin is the oldest of the
whole ; silver and copper the most modern. Gold
and iron—those two masters of the world— seem
to have been deposited in the bowels of the earth
at all the periods of its formation; but at each pe-
30 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
riod iron appears under different forms, and we can
assign the age of its different mines.
The necessity of abridgment obliges me thus to
bring together, under one view, results which, as
may easily be conceived, could not be obtained but
by many thousand observations. All Werner's ob-
servations, however, were made with so much care,
and so scrupulously combined, that their accuracy
has been confirmed by all subsequent investigation ;
and if we except his opinions regarding volcanic
countries, none of his views met with any opposition
which did not soon pass away.
Such, then, is the nature of Geognosy, or of the
position of minerals, viewed as lying above one an-
other, or in a vertical direction. But in their hori-
zontal position—that is, as they are placed by the
sides of each other—there are likewise differences,
of which it is important to take notice. These dif-
ferences form the fourth point of view under which
Werner regards minerals, and which he designates
by the name of Geographical Mineralogy.
Indeed, the rocks of most recent formation, and
which lie above the others, are the least elevated ;
the oldest penetrate through them, and form high
mountains. From this we infer, that the fluid sunk
in its level, in proportion as the solid substances in-
creased. It divided itself into basins, the produc-
tions of which became of a diversified character.
The surface of different countries is therefore dissi-
IWEMOIR OF WERNER. 31
milar—a fact which becomes more manifest, the
more attentively we examine their structure.
But every mineral is capable of being turned to
some useful purpose; and, on the greater or less
abundance of particular kinds in certain localities,
and the ease or difficulty with which they are ob-
tained, often depend the prosperity of a people, their
advancement in civilisation, and all the details of
their manners.
In Lombardy, for example, we see only houses
of brick ; while Liguria, which is contiguous to it,
is covered with palaces of marble. Its quarries of
travertin made Rome the most beautiful city of the
ancient world; those of coarse limestone and gyp-
sum have rendered Paris one of the most agreeable
of modern times. But Michael Angelo and Bra-
manti could not have built at Paris in the same style
as at Rome, because the same materials were a-
wanting ; and this influence of local soil extends to
things very remote and important.
Under the shelter of those ridges of limestone
which intersect Italy and Greece, varying in height,
branching in numerous directions, and giving rise to
abundance of rivulets ;—in those charming valleys,
rich in all the products of animated nature, philoso-
phy and the arts first sprung up. It was these that
gave birth to minds of which the human race have
most reason to be proud; while, on the other hand,
the vast sandy plains of Tartary and Africa have al-
ways prevented their inhabitants from becoming any
?
52 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
thing else than fierce and wandering shepherds. In
countries where the laws and even the language are
alike, an experienced traveller can conjecture, from
the habits of the people, and the appearance of their
dwellings and clothing, what is the composition of
the soil, in the same manner as a philosophical mi-
neralogist can infer, from the same source, what are
likely to be their manners, as well as their degrees
of comfort and instruction. Our granitic districts
produce very different effects on all the habits of the
people from those that are calcareous. The natives
of Limousin, or of Lower Bretagne, are neither
lodged nor fed like those of Champagne or of Nor-
mandy ; and it may even be said that they do not
think alike. Even the results of the conscription
have been different, and the difference is conform-_
able to a uniform law in the different districts.
Geographical mineralogy, then, assumes a high
importance, when we connect it in this manner with
what Werner called Economical Mineralogy, or the
history of minerals as applied to the wants of man.
The comprehensive mind of this great Professor
seized with equal facility all these relations, and his
auditors listened, with an ever new delight, to the
exposition of such of them as the plan of bis public
prelections permitted him to embrace. But, in his
private conversations, he followed up their application
to a much greater length. ‘The history of man and
languages was connected, according to his views,
with that of minerals; and he never conceived tha‘
MEMOIR OF WERNER. oo
he was departing from his principal subject, by in-
dulging in these other inquiries. He traced the mi-
grations of different tribes by the inclinations and
directions of countries, and in this way connect-
ed their marches and stations with the structure of
the globe. He grouped the various languages toge-
ther, and, tracing each to a common source, origi-
nating always in the highest central land of an ele-
vated mountain-range, he regarded each dialect, as
descending and subdividing, according to the di-
rection of the valleys, becoming soft or harsh as it
happened to become stationary in a level or a moun-
tainous country, and, in process of time, departing
in its character from the allied tongues, the more
widely as the natural obstacles to communication
became more insurmountable.
Even the laws of the military art Werner endea-
voured to trace to those of geology ; and if his ac-
count was to be received, every general should have
commenced his career by studying for some time at
Freyberg. In a word, he referred every thing to
the object of his own passion, and, as Tournefort,
the celebrated botanist, formerly imagined that even
stones vegetated, Werner in like manner fancied that
stones could speak, and he thought himself warranted
confidently to demand of them the whole history of
the world.
Strangers who happened to visit Freyberg, and
expected to enter into conversation with a minera-
logist only, were surprised at his continual discus
Cc
34 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
sions on tactics, politics, and medicine. They were
sometimes tempted to regard them as allied to the
reveries of a maniac. Indeed, we may admit that
there must have been something of exaggeration in
generalizing to such an extent the relations of a
single object; but it ought also to be kept in mind
to what a degree those conceptions, of so varied and
exciting a nature, presented in an attractive and of-
ten eloquent form, must have warmed the imagina-
tions of youth. At that age, when exceptions are
so much disliked, and difficulties so easily surmount-
ed, the disciples of Werner hurried with enthusiasm
upon a field of inquiry which he described to them
as so vast and fruitful. A mineralogy purely mine-
ralogical would perhaps have disgusted many of
them; but they devoted themselves with ardour to
a mineralogy which seemed to present them with the
key of nature; and even although, on a final analysis,
there might only remain to them the foundation of the
science, would they not still have reason to rejoice
at the pleasing illusions which had been the meaas
of leading them thither ?
Some individuals who have since risen to the first
rank among the mineralogists of Germany, had wish-
ed to hear him, only for the purpose of obtaining a
summary knowledge of mineralogy; but having once
listened to him, that science became the profession
of their lives.
It is to this irresistible influence that the scienti-
fic world has been indebted for those laborious aus
MEMOIR OF WERNER. 35
thors, who have so carefully described tne different
states in which minerals exist; and for those inde-
fatigable observers who have removed from the globe
the last veil that concealed her mysteries. Karsten
and Wiedeman in the cabinet— Humboldt, Von
Buch, Daubuisson, Hermann, and Freyensleben, on
the summit of the Cordilleras, amidst the flames of
Vesuvius and tna, in the deserts of Siberia, in the
deepest recesses of the mines of Saxony, of Hun-
gary, of Mexico, and of Potosi— have been led on
by the spirit of their master. They always ascribed
to him the honour that resulted from their labours ;
and it might be said of him, what could formerly be
said with truth of Linnzus only, that Nature was
every where interrogated in his name.
Few masters have enjoyed in the same degree the
pure and unreserved gratitude of their scholars ; but
no one, perhaps, had ever so much deserved it by his
paternal regard for them. There was no sacrifice
which he would not make for his pupils. His time
and strength were at their service ; and if he knew of
any of them in temporary need, his purse was opened
to supply their wants. When his audience became
too numerous for each to see conveniently the ob-
jects which he exhibited, he divided the students,
and repeated the lecture. His door was at all times
open to them: he took his meals usually with some
of them in company, as if he had wished that no
opportunity should be lost for their instruction.
Such a master might well entrust tae care of his
36 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
reputation to his scholars; and it is in fact by them
that it has been established. In this point, also, re-
sembling Socrates, to whom he has been compared
in so many other respects, nothing can be known of
his views but from the notes that have been taken of
his lectures. Whether it was that he was satisfied
with the indisputable ascendency which he acquired
by his powers of speaking, or that the vivacity of
his imagination could not submit to the restraint and
tediousness of writing, it was not without the great-
est difficulty that he prevailed on himself to prepare
for the press one or two pamphlets, and a few ar-
ticles for the journals. But he engaged in oral dis-
cussion as readily as could be wished, and his con-
versation was that of a man of genius, as well as
of benevolent feeling. For hours together he would
continue to utter the boldest and best connected
ideas ; but nothing could make him take up a pen.
He had an antipathy even for the mechanical act
of writing, which was rendered amusing by its very
excess. His letters are extremely few. The ten-
derest friendship, the most profound esteem, could
scarcely extort one from him; and at last, that he
might not reproach himself for this want of polite-
ness, he ceased to open such letters as were sent to
him. One author, who was desirous to have the
opinion of many scientific men respecting a volumi-
nous work, circulated his manuscript among them.
During its progress the packet was lost. After a
thousand researches, it was at last disinterred from
MEMOIR OF WERNER. 37
under a hundred others in the house of Werner
To carry this matter to the extremity, he did not
even reply to this Academy when it placed him on
the list of its eight foreign associates, which is adorn-
ed with all the great names of which Europe can
boast for more than a century; and perhaps he did
not even know that this honour had been conferred
on him, unless he happened to learn it from some
almanack.
But we may well pardon him, when we learn,
that, about this same period, an express sent to him
by his sister from Dresden, was obliged to wait two
months at an inn, and at his expense, before a simple
signature could be obtained to a paper relating to
some urgent family business.
This insurmountable antipathy to writing seemed
the more unaccountable, as it caused him to infringe
the laws of etiquette, which, next to his studies, was
the subject that affected him most. In every thing
else, he is said to have observed the slightest cour-
tesies of social life with as much punctuality as he
attended to the varieties of minerals. This spirit of
formality, which was preserved in Germany for a
longer time than any where else, and in Saxony
longer than in any other part of Germany, was par-
ticularly remarkable in him, apparently because it
seemed in his eyes a kind of method. He delibe-
rated about the arrangement of a dinner with as
much gravity as about the arrangement of his tibrary
or cabinet.
38 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
There was still one other point, however, to which
his observance of etiquette did not extend. What-
ever might be the rank of any individual, if he
handled his minerals awkwardly, he was put out of
all temper. The least stain on their freshness or
justre, wounded him to the quick, and he long pre-
served a deep recollection of it. Of such indivi-
duals, he was accustomed to say, with his usual
good humour, that such a one was a great minister
or a skilful general, but, he added with a sigh, he
knows not how to handle minerals.
These little eccentricities, at which he was the
first to smile, were no way unpleasant when allied
to whatever is most elevated in genius, and amiable
in disposition. They bad no influence on that affec-
tionate veneration entertained for him by his youth-
ful pupils, who were ever happy to be instructed,
and warmed by his words and attentions. They
studied his peculiarities only to accommodate them-
selves to them—eager to shew their attachment
even by attending to his foibles.
But these peculiarities the public and posterity
will have reason to lament, as they have been there-
by deprived of valuable works, which no other per-
son, for a long time, will be able to execute so well.
{t is said that the first sheet of his great work on
mineralogy was sent to the press, but that he could
not undergo the fatigue of correcting the proofs.
His whole life was thus spent either in the regions
of lofty contemplation, or in the pleasures of philo-
MEMOIR OF WERNER. 39
sophical and friendly conversation — ignorant of all
that was going on at a distance, without reading the
journals of literature, and without even ascertaining
whether envy had occasionally made him the object
of her attack. His life might have been expected
to be prolonged for a considerable time; for, of all
the methods which he had studied, that of taking
care of his own health had not occupied him least.
Among his whims, his anxiety never to be placed
between two currents of air, was one of the most
noticeable. But of all his precautions, the most ef-
fectual was the tranquillity of a peaceful mind, which
sought to avoid every thing that might excite in it
malevolent feelings.
The misfortunes of Saxony were the only cala-
mities that escaped his foresight, and destroyed the
peace which it had procured him. He tenderly
loved that country with which he was identified in
a thousand ways; no offer could ever prevail on him
to leave it. He loved a prince who protected the
sciences, because he had studied them profoundly,
and whom forty years of wise admiristration, and of
affectionate devotion to his people, could not pre-
serve from so many calamities. His courage could
not stand the sight of the sufferings of his master
and of his country, and his anxiety and distress pro-
duced a complication of diseases, to which no care
could administer aremedy. He died in the arms of
his sister, on the 30th of June 1817, at Dresden,
40 MEMOIR OF WERNER.
whither he had gone in the hope of some alleviation
of his sufferings.
It seems as if fortune had brought him to this ca-
pital, that he might there receive the most solemn
honours. The most illustrious persons in the king-
dom assisted at his obsequies. M. Bettiger, a dis-
tinguished philosopher, publicly pronounced his fu-
neral oration. The most celebrated academies of
Germany have already paid him the same tribute
which we this day render to him, and which will be
decreed to him, under one form or other, in every
quarter of the world where any branch of the science
of the Earth is cultivated.
ACCOUNT OF THE WERNERIAN NATURAL HISTORY
SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH.
{From Blackwood’s Magazine for June 1817. ]
To determine the utility of Natural History, it is
scarcely necessary to do more than to enumerate its
various branches by which it will be seen in its most
convincing form. In truth the correctness of this
opinion requires no proof, since the general attention
which has, within a few years, been excited to the
study of every departinent of natural knowledge,
must have rendered every illustration that can be
offered perfectly familiar to our readers. This be-
THE WERNERIAN SOCIETY. Al
ing the admitted fact, the importance of all attempts
to facilitate such studies, to excite ardour, and to sti-
mulate exertion, will be fully appreciated. Under the
influence of this conviction, we make no apology for
submitting to the public the following sketch of the
rise, progress, and present state of the Wernerian
Natural History Society of Edinburgh, as well as a
few general observations on that branch of natural
history, to which some of its most distinguished mem-
bers have hitherto devoted their talents. To this so-
ciety, we, without hesitation, refer not only a large
share of the enthusiasm that has been kindled, but
some of the most interesting observations on the inter-
nal structure of Great Britain that have yet been pre-
sented to the world. In addition to this view, it will
be well to illustrate its truth, and to trace the insen-
sible though progressive influence that has been exer-
cised on the minds of many, by one enlightened, zeal-
ous, and persevering individual.
On the Continent of Europe, the first steps to-
wards improvement in mineralogical knowledge were
made; while, in our own country, though so rich
in its mineral treasures, scarcely a work appeared,
with the exception of Williams’ Mineral Kingdom,
and Price’s Cornwall, that contained accurate ob-
servations. Yet in the midst of this most deplorable
ignorance of the works of nature, her most secret
mysteries were resolved with a boldness and teme-
rity scarcely to be surpassed by the flights of Para-
42 THE WERNERIAN SOCIETY.
celsus, or of Arnoldus de Villa Nova. It would
be a fruitiess and unprofitable task to give even a
sketch of these whimsical, though often ingenious,
fancies. *
The individual to whom mineralogy is most deep-
ly indebted, is the well known WERNER of Frey-
berg. He has taught the vast importance of ac-
curate observation, and patient investigation. He
has shown, that in this science, as in every other,
facts should not be made to bend to hypothesis ; but
that every man who wishes to obtain accurate views,
should begin his career unfettered by theory — and
that the result must be a more accurate and exten-
sive acquaintance with the materials of this globe.
While this illustrious man was silently pursuing
his useful career in Germany, other philosophers in
this country, of high talent, boldly struck out gene-
ral views, which, though not remarkable for accu-
racy, entitled their authors to the character of ge-
nius and of fancy. Dr Iutton of Edinburgh took
a decided lead in this matter; and, had he studied
nature, and then theorized, his genius would, in al!
probability, have illustrated many difficult points :
but it is obvious, from his own works, that he has
frequently reversed this order of proceeding.
While these dazzling speculations allured the vo-
taries of Hutton, the present Professor of Natural
History in the University of Edinburgh first became
known to the world as a scientific man, by his Mi-
neralogy of Arran and Shetland, published in 1798,
THE WERNERIAN SOCIETY. 43
and afterwards in 1801, by his Mineralogy of the
Scottish Isles. In these works, he gave a flattering
earnest of his accurate views in the study of science,
and of his indefatigable zeal in the attainment of it.
About 1804, Mr Playfair’s beautiful and eloquent
Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory were first pub-
lished. In this work, all that eloquence, fine taste,
and infinite ingenuity, could do, were united to vin-
dicate and establish the doctrines of which the
author may be considered the most illustrious cham-
pion. Public attention having been strongly excited
on these topics by the impugning of Dr Hutton’s
creed by Professor Jameson, the contest became
keen; and the result has been, to establish, very
universally, the important fact, that the science of
mineralogy is only to be acquired by patient labour,
and that theory is as useless as contemptible, unless
supported by a “ cloud of facts.”
In this state of general scientific excitement, those
who felt anxious to render it beneficial, naturally
sought for channels through which its influence might
be judiciously directed. The most obvious was the
establishment of societies, which, while protecting
and encouraging every branch of natural history,
would afford due support to mineralogical science
in all its parts, whether regarded as furnishing ma-
terials for the philosophic inquirer, or as directing
the operations of the practical mineralogist. To
rouse a certain interest in the neglected though
highly interesting walks of science, was an object of
44 THE WERNERIAN SOCIETY.
importance to every one who had perceived and felt
the inconveniences resulting from the old system.
Professor Jameson (who may be considered the found-
er of mineralogical sciencesn Great Britain) had con-
templated the object of this sketch soon after his re-
turn from Germany ; and as the public attention had
been strongly solicited, by his valuable works, to
one department of natural history, it was considered
a favourable opportunity to bring together, in an or-
ganized form, such individuals as were desirous of
extending the bounds of our natural knowledge in
general, without limiting the tendencies of its original
founders. Accordingly, on the 12th January 1808,
Professor Jameson, Doctors Wright, Macknight,
Barclay, and Thomson, Colonel Fullerton, Messrs
Anderson, Neill, and Walker (now Sir Patrick
Walker) held their first meeting, and “ resolved to
associate themselves into a society for promoting the
study of natural history; and in honour of the il-
lustrious Werner of Freyberg, to assume the name
of the Wernerian Natural History Society.” Pro-
fessor Jameson was elected the first president ; Doc-
tors Wright, Macknight, Barclay, and Thomson, the
vice-presidents ; Mr Walker, the treasurer; and Mr
(now Dr) Neill, the secretary. Honorary and other
members were elected —and among the first of the
former, the society has the honour of enumerating
the illustrious names of Werner, Sir Joseph Banks,
Kirwan, and many other celebrated individuals. At
the same time, it was resolved that a charter should
THE WERNERIAN SOCIETY. 45
be applied for; and accordingly, this being done, the
Lord Provost and Magistrates of Edinburgh, by virtue
of authority vested in them, granted the charter on the
10th February 1808; thus solemnly incorporating the
Society.
The objects of this Society are simply the general
promotion of every branch of natural science. Some,
who are more disposed to cavil than to reflect, have
objected to the distinctive title assumed by the founders
of the Wernerian Society, as narrowing its scope.
Werner, it is true, is chiefly, if not exclusively, known
in Britain asa distinguished mineralogist. His know-
ledge, however, extended to every branch of natural
science, and is regarded, by those who have possessed
the singular advantage of his instruction, as equally re-
markable for its accuracy as for its extent.
The honourable compliment paid to Werner’s me-
rits, as a man of science, ought to be considered,
what it really is, as analogous to similar distinctions
bestowed on Linneus in this country, and on other
eminent men on the Continent. The name implies
no determination blindly to support Werner’s pe-
euliar views—as may be shown from the published
memoirs, which contain undeniable proofs of free-
dom of discussion.
The Society has now existed upwards of twenty-
seven years, during which period its records have
been graced with the names of all the most distin-
guished philosophers of Europe and America; and
46 THE WERNERIAN SOCIETY.
although unaided by the advantages of wealth, it has
has silently pursued its useful career, and has, both
directly and indirectly, contributed most essentially to
the well-doing of science.. Most of the active mem-
bers of this society are professional men, whose daily
engagements circumscribe the sphere of their scienti-
fic utility; yet, notwithstanding this and other dis-
advantages, they have explored a large portion of
country — have contributed several valuable papers,
which have been published, besides others of equal
importance, which will, in due season, appear at the
bar of the public. While the individual members
are thus co-operating in their efforts, the society, as
a body, has not been negligent of its more imme-
diate duties. Six volumes of memoirs, containing
several very valuable papers, have been already pub-
lished ; and the merits of these volumes are suffi-
ciently known to the scientific world; and as ana-
lyses of these volumes have been formerly given
elsewhere, it is unnecessary for us to enter into such
details.
The course hitherto adopted by the Wernerian
Society has been unquestionably good; and upon
the whole, we are disposed to think that a quiet un-
obtrusive career, in which solid foundations, for fu-
ture distinction and lasting reputation, are laid, is to
be preferred to that rapid course which dazzles for
a while, but leaves no fixed and permanent impres-
sion. When, indeed, we reca!] the circumstances
under which it was first established — when we re-
THE WERNERIAN SOCIETY. 47
collect the odium which was attached to the very
name—we cheerfully offer the tribute so merited by
him, to whose intelligence, liberality, and unwearied
diligence, we owe all that true spirit of mineralogi-
cal inquiry now abroad, and which bids fair to place
our country among the first where such studies have
been successfully cultivated. While we thus bestow
praise where it is due, we cannot refrain from ten-
dering our mite to the Geological Society of Lon-
don, which has done so munch towards elucidating
the internal structure of England. Sincerely must it
be wished, by every true lover of science, that these
two societies may cordially co-operate in their com-
mon objects. Let this be the case, and we shall
anxiously apply to them the spirit of the dying ad-
dress of Father Paul to his country—* Estote per-
petua.”
om a, ee ne re (ae
reat) urgaait. seit iad Sg aid) |
fabs "y Ps dae aE tacky (koe aus: oases
waa ais int. nit seh ods a ths ita, ebay reacts. ei fii Hy:
- ad Sak» » fad hae ms, sf Mua aie: neta SIO Hie fet REDE RteD, |
. pt el Hi sega? ae sabe: eet Pilea aaticwpebe Lace
i ly .. if ~ res Me
yee finn. rat a a lt i citer: eis | :
re,” a Sunhone, tania) ER sat) alam.
by yey aoing! ebiannegs ne Pt 1A dis aby: wash, d sikemgably &
; % ! pete yaaa, obra 7 4 . area de see: a uiniedes, ;
'
Bae att. dnghi ores 10-83 rok pars eat now shindabagat (° :
nx a | bee 7% ~~ >% a “7
a i ae =e Hap OL ptt pad pitas alti Hityn aa a att tiga ae oF Pane
an E "tela luke ety Gly coed” gi tee yd DP> DBD)
a
8,
’
£
$
oe
:
PLATE 2.
ww ((
XXRrw.s— —™ AN
SG
5s il ae
Lizars se.
ee ow |
ot Es)
te
~,
rj
1g
vty
Hee
< ‘
ve
PLATE 3.
Lisars se
PAPILIO. 98
spines at the apex, and the claws undivided: hinder
wings scolloped, and furnished with a long narrow
projecting lobe like a tail; their interior edge con-
cave or grooved, to receive the abdomen. The ca-
terpillars are smooth and naked, and often ornament-
ed with very beautiful colours. They have the power
of protruding from the neck a soft fleshy horn, which
divides near the middle into two branches, like the
letter Y. This appendage might be supposed to
serve the same end as the horns of the snail, to which
it bears much resemblance, but, unlike that animal,
the caterpillars are said to push it forth only when
alarmed, and it has therefore been regarded as a
means of defence, the more especially since it dif-
fuses a penetrating and disagreeable odour. The
caterpillar of P. Machaoz, with the horns exserted,
is represented on Plate III. fig. 1.
The chrysalis is angular, and fixed by a silken
band round the middle.
These insects composed the section which Lin-
nus distinguished by the name of Equites. Nearly
200 species have been described, many of which are
the largest papilionaceous insects known, and re-
markable for the variety and richness of their colours.
They abound in the tropical regions of both hemi-
spheres, but occur very sparingly in temperate cli-
mates. Besides the two which we have figured, only
one other species is known to inhabit Europe, viz.
P. Alexanor, which, though observed of late years
more frequently than formerly, is still extremely rare.
ee re
94
SWALLOW-TAIL BUTTERFLY.
Papilio Machaon.
PLATE IV. Fie. 1.
Linn. Donovan, vi. 75, pl. 211.—Lewin’s Insects of Great
Britain, pl. 34.
Tuis elegant insect is the largest of our indige-
nous butterflies, the female being sometimes found
to measure upwards of three inches and a half be-
tween the tips of the wings. ‘The base of the up-
per wings is black, powdered with yellow; a large
portion of the apex is of the same colour, and adorn-
ed with a row of eight semicircular yellow spots, pa-
rallel with the outer margin, which is narrowly edged
with yellow: the central portion of the wings is yel-
low, spotted with black, the latter colour forming
three large patches towards the anterior margin, and
running in a broad line along the nervures. The
basal half of the under wings is yellow, except the
inner side, which is black, and covered with yellow
hairs, and the curved nervure on the under side of
the discoidal cell, which is defined by a black streak :
the other nervures are dusky. Beyond the yellow
portion there is a broad black band, ornamented with
1.
PLATE
5
i)
~
ke
ty
~
x 2
~ R
S&S
nS NS
te
st SN
Ss
a
2 Lapho Po
SCAT Le
o~
SQ
SN
SiS
SS
SN
ae
Ss =
= ~
Ss
IS
~
SWALLOW-TAIL BUTTERFLY. 95
a series of imperfectly defined blue spots, and a row
of six large yellow crescents externally; the outer
edge is also yellow, interrupted with black at the
nervures. On the hinder angle of each of the un-
der wings there is a large round spot of red, streaked
with light blue anteriorly, and nearly surrounded by
a black ring. The under side resembles the upper,
the most considerable differences being in the yellow
outer border of the upper wings, and the presence of
two or three faint red spots behind the discoidal cell,
and another on the outer edge of the under wings.
The body is black above, and clothed with yellow
hairs, the latter forming a line on each side of the
thorax ; the under parts are chiefly yellow.
The caterpillar is not of large size compared with
the perfect insect. It is smooth, of a greenish co-
lour, with the incisures and a band on each seg-
ment deep black, spotted with red; the retractile
organ on the neck of the latter colour.* (Plate III.
fig. 1.) It is a solitary feeder, and usually fre-
quents umbelliferous plants, preferring fennel, and
the wild carrot. It also feeds on the latter plant in
a cultivated state, and sometimes occasions consi-
derable injury to it in France, where the insect is
very common, and hence known in certain districts
by the name of Grand Carottier. The chrysalis is
green, witli a streak of yellow along each side, and
an irregular row of yellow spots on the back.
* For an accurate and more detailed description, re-
ference may be made to Ray’s Hist. Insect. p. 111. 1.
96 SWALLOW-TAIL BUTTERFLY,
Although somewhat local in Britain, this species
seems to be pretty widely distributed throughout
the southern parts of England, and has been found
as far north as Beverley in Yorkshire. It probably
does not extend beyond that place, as it certainly
has never been observed in Scotland; nor have we
heard of its occurrence in Ireland. The fenny dis-
tricts of Cambridgeshire produce it in considerable
abundance; it has been often found in Norfolk, and
occasionally in Hampshire and Middlesex. Ray ob-
served it both in Sussex and Essex; and in the days
of Wilkes (who has given a good representation of
the caterpillar), it was rather plentiful near Westram
in Kent. It is generally diffused over the continent
of Europe: it occurs plentifully in Egypt and Syria;
and specimens are said to have been brought to this
country from the Himalayan mountains. It appears
in this country about the end of May, and sometimes
continues till the middle of August.
SCARCE SWALLOW-TAIL BUTTERFLY.
Papilio Podalirius.
PLATE IV. Fie. 2.
Linn.—Donovan, iv. 1, Pl. 109.—Lewin, Pl. 35.
THE ground colour in this conspicuous insect is
yellow ; the anterior edge and outer margin of the up-
per wings are black, and there are six transverse
tapering bands of the same colour on each, the third
and fifth from the base scarcely reaching the middle,
and the fourth and sixth not extending to the hinder
margin. The under wings are likewise marked with
several parallel black streaks ; a large portion of the
hinder extremity, as well as the elongated tail, are of
the same colour, and there is a series of large blue
crescents near the margin, which is itself edged with
yellow. The anal angle of each of the hinder wings
is ornamented with a red spot, bounded in front by
a black crescent, and behind by an oval black spot
bearing a curved streak of blue. The markings on
the under side do not differ materially from those of
the surface, the principal difference consisting in a
reddish line between the two largest bars on the
under wings. The body is yellow, black on the
G
98 SCARCE SWALLOW-TAIL BUTTERFLY.
back, and having a row of black spots on each side
of the abdomen.
The caterpillar is widest at the head, and tapers
considerably to the hinder extremity. It is smooth,
of a bright green colour, with three longitudinal
white lines, and indistinct oblique white streaks,
spotted with red on each side of all the segments,
except that next the head and tail. It feeds chiefly
on the various species of the genus Prunus, seeming
to be most partial to the sloe-thorn.*
Numerous notices are on record of this species
having occurred in Britain, but all of them have been
found, on strict investigation, to be of so unsatisfac-
tory a nature, as to leave it in some measure doubtful
whether it is really indigenous. In some instances,
the preceding insect appears to have been mistaken
for it; and in others, examples have been introduced
into collections as British, without that fact having
been fully ascertained. Mention is first made of it
by Ray, who states that he found it during his tour
in Italy ; and also, if he recollected rightly (xz male
memini, is the expression) in England. Berkenhout
has admitted it into his Synopsis; and it is figured
by Donovan, Lewin, and others, among our native
species. In a list of rare British Insects, published
in 1827, there is an announcement of its having been
discovered in the New Forest ; but subsequent in-
* Mr Stephens, following Fabricius, says that its food con-
sists of the different kinds of brassica; but this statement is
at variance with recent and more accurate observation.
SCARCE SWALLOW TAIL BUTTERFLY. 99
quiry has thrown suspicion on the authenticity of
this account. The Rev. F. W. Hope informs Mr
Stephens (Illus. of Brit. Ent. 145), that he pos-
sesses a specimen of P. Podalirius which was taken
at Netley, Salop. This statement has not, as far
as we know, been controverted, and seems to form
the only unexceptionable authority for regarding the
insect as an inhabitant of this country. It is very
common in some parts of France, where it is named
Le Flambe, from a supposed resemblance in the
pyramidal shape of the black stripes to the form of
flames.
100
BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY.
Gonepteryx Rhamni.
PLATE V, Fie. 1.
Pap. Rhamni, Linn.—Donovan, v. 1, Pl. 145.
TuIs insect, and a few others, were first formed
into a distinct genus by Dr Leach, on account of the
peculiar shape of the wings, which are large and an-
gulated.* The antennz are rather short and robust,
thickening gradually near the summit into an obtuse
club: the palpi project a little beyond the head,
and are compressed, the radical joint longest and
curved, the terminal one minute and conical: all] the
legs are perfect, and alike in both sexes ; the claws
bifid (PI. I. fig. 13.). Under wings grooved to re-
ceive the abdomen.
The male is entirely bright sulphur-yellow above,
and the female greenish-white, both sexes with a
small round orange spot near the middle of each
wing, those on the upper wings being smallest, and
a few minute rust-coloured dots along the outer
edge. The under side is paler than the upper, and
the central spots rust-brown round the margin, and
* Named from yovis an angle, and wregus a wing.
BEATE. S-
a
)
wy
aN
=\))
1. Gonepteryve Rhamni. 2. Colias ediisa
Brimstone B. Clouded yellow B.
BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY. 101
pale in the centre. The body is black above, and
clothed with fine white silky hairs ; the under parts
and the legs yellow. The antenne are reddish,
and the anterior part of the head and thorax are
faintly tinged with rose-colour.
The caterpillar is elongated and naked, of a light
green colour, with numerous black scaly dots on
the back, and a pale line along each side of the belly.
It is said to feed on the buckthorn (RAamnus cath-
articus), and the berry-bearing alder (R. frangula).
It changes into a short angular chrysalis with a single
conical beak, which is attached by the tail, and has
a loose girth round the middle.
This insect is generally distributed over the
southern parts of England ; it likewise occurs pretty
far to the north, as it is abundant at York, and has
been observed by Mr Wailes on the magnesian lime-
stone district near Newcastle, and by Mr Wilson on
the banks of Windermere. It has not, however,
been noticed in Scotland, a circumstance perhaps to
be attributed to the rarity of the plants from which
the larve derive their sustenance. It very often sur-
vives the winter; and its early appearance (some-
times before the middle of February), together with
the gay tint of its colour, and the graceful outline of
its wings, render it one of the most interesting he-
ralds of the “ grata vice veris et Favonii.” ‘ The
very first butterfly,” says Mr Knapp, “that will
aloft repair,
And sport and flutter in the fields of air,
402 BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY.
is the sulphur butterfly, which, in the bright sunny
mornings of March, we so often see under the warm
hedge, or by the side of some sheltered copse, undu-
lating and vibrating like the petals of a primrose in
the breeze.”* There are two broods, the first ap-
pearing in May and June, the last in autumn. It
occurs in great profusion in all the continental coun-
tries of Europe, and often in company with another
species so closely resembling it, that the one might
readily be taken for a variety of the other. The
satter is named G. Cleopatra, and presents scarcely
any other distinctive mark, but a suffusion of bright
orange-red on the middle of the primary wings of
the male. Mr Curtis has figured, with his usual ac-
curacy and elegance, what he regards as a variety of
G. Rhamni, taken many years since in the neigh-
bourhood of London, and possessing characters al-
most intermediate between the two species.
* Journal of a Naturalist, 98,
163
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY.
Colias Edusa.
PLADRERY Ve Bres2:
Colias edusa, Fab.—Donovan, vii. Pl. 238, Fig. 2, female,
and ii. Pl. 43 (C. hyale), male.—Pap. Electra, Lewin, Pl.
32.—Clouded yellow or Saffron B., Harris’ Aur. C. He-
lice, Haworth, Jermyn, var.
In the form of the antennz, oral organs, and most
other parts from which generic characters are usually
drawn, Colias presents no very important difference
from the preceding genus. The wings, however,
are of a different shape, the primary pair being tri-
angular, and the secondary ones rounded. ‘The spe-
cies are not very numerous, and none of them, even
of the exotic kinds, are beyond the middle size.
They are remarkable for the uniformity of their tints,
the ground colour being some shade of yellow, often |
tinged with green, and a portion of the wings more
or less marked with black. This general resemblance
has Jed to some confusion in their synonymy. The
male of C. edusa.is fulvous above, or pale orange-
yellow; the upper wings with a wide black border
at the extremity, which is waved on its inner edge,
and a rounded spot of the same colour in the middle
104 CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY.
of each. The hinder wings are likewise margined
with black, the ground colour slightly mixed with
green, and there is on each a round discoidal spot of
deep yellow. On the under side, the upper wings
are pale tawny on the disk, and greenish at the ex-
tremity, with a central black spot, and an obsolete
series of blackish spots parallel with the outer edge:
the under wings greenish, with a central silvery ocel-
lus, having another small one adjoining, and a curved
row of faint rust-coloured dots posteriorly. ‘The body
is yellowish-green, dusky on the back: the antenne
reddish. The female is distinguished chiefly by hay-
ing a few yellow spots on the black marginal band
of the upper wings. Examples of this sex sometimes
occur, in which the parts, usually yellow, are greenish-
white, a circumstance which has led some authors to
describe it as distinct, under the name of C. helice.
Varieties of both sexes have been found in Britain,
of a considerably smaller size and paler colour than
ordinary specimens, and presenting at the same time
so many other minute points of difference, that they
have been figured and described as examples of the
species named chrysotheme by continental naturalists.*
The caterpillar is deep green, with a white line
along each side of the belly, marked with yellow
spots and minute bluish dots. On the Continent it
is found chiefly on the Cytisus austriacus, but as,
* See Stephen’s Illus. of Entom, Haustellata, vol. i. p. 1],
Pl Ai.* Migs. 1, 2.
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERELY. 105
that plant is not indigenous to Britain, it probably
feeds in this country on some diadelphous herb per-
taming to the same natural order. The butterfly
occurs in the south of England in considerable plenty
in particular years, while in others scarcely an ex-
ample is to be met with. It seems to prefer the vi-
cinity of the sea, having been found more copiously
than elsewhere along the south-east coast, particu-
larly in the neighbourhood of Dover. It is likewise
seen occasionally in the midland counties. Over
foreign lands C. edusa is characterised by a very ex-
tensive range. It is well known in most portions
of the continent of Europe. Mr Burchell found it
in the south of Africa, and Mr Swainson has seen
specimens from the mountains of Nepaul.
106
PALE CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY.
Colias Hyale.
PLATE VI. Fie. I.
Pap. Hyale, Linn. Donovan, vii. 238, Fig. 1.—Curtis, Brit.
Ent. vi. 242.—Pale Clouded Yellow, Harris’ Aurel.—
Lewin, Pi. 33.
Tuis fine species is generally somewhat larger
than the preceding, the male of a fine sulphur-yel-
low (sometimes, however, nearly white) ; the female
white, faintly tinged with sulphur. The upper wings
are greyish at the base, marked with a black spot
near the middle anteriorly, and having at the extre-
mity a broad black border, which is attenuated at the
hinder angle, and almost divided by a series of nearly
continuous spots down the middle. The under
wings have a large orange spot on the disk, with a
small one attached to it; the margin next the upper
wings is dusky, and there are a few dusky spots re-
mote from the outer edge, and nearly parallel with
it. Beneath, the upper wings are whitish-yellow,
suffused with orange at the tip, having a discoidal
black spot with a yellow centre, and a row of small
dusky marks at some distance from the outer mar:
RADE: 'G:
K >
iy /\\)
SS Mii 7 i)
SSN 7 ay
it
ATH
WES x
“NANNY
l. Colas Hyale. 2. Colinas Lurcpome
lale clowied yellow. Scarce Clouded vellow B
PALE CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY. 107
gin: the under wings dull orange, with a large and
small silvery spot in the centre, cinctured with rust-
red, and a curved row of small black spots. The
fringe of the wings and the antenne are rose-red.
The caterpillar is green, with two white lines on
the sides, each segment marked with two irregular
transverse series of black spots. (Plate III. fig. 2.)
Its appropriate food is said to be the Coronilla varia,
but in this country it must often content itself with
other fare, and probably has recourse to different kinds
of diadelphous plants. The butterfly is considerably
rarer than C. edusa ; and, like that species, is found
chiefly on the sea-coast in the south-east corner of
the island, as in Kent, Sussex, and Suffolk. There
is a pale variety, nearly pure white, of which examples
of both sexes have occurred, chiefly in the vicinity
of Dover. Indeed, the insect may almost be said
to be a maritime fly, so rarely has it been noticed at
any distance from the sea-coast.
108
SCARCE CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY.
Colias Ewropome.
PLATE VI. Fie. 2.
Stephen’s Iilus. ii. Pl. 1*, Figs. 1, 2, and 8.—Eurymus Euro.
pome; Clouded Sulphur, Swainson’s Zool. Illus. 2d ser.
No. 15.—Haworth, Lep. Brit. 13. No. 12.
“ Boru sexes of this fine insect are of a fine sul-
phureous-yellow above ; the male has the hinder mar-
gin of both wings deeply edged with black, an ovate
spot of that colour on the disk of the anterior, and
an obsolete fulvous spot on that of the pesterior ; the
border on the latter is irregularly sinuated within:
beneath the anterior wings are paler, with the tips
rather deeper, the discoidal spot is whiter, with a
black or dusky iris, and parallel with the hinder mar-
gin is a very obsolete row of dusky spots ; the pos-
terior wings are of a deeper yellow, minutely irrorated
with black, with a discoidal silvery ocellus, having a ful-
vescent iris, and a secondary silver spot adjacent ; they
have also an obsolete row of dusky spots parallel with
the hinder margin, and forming a continuous series
with those of the anterior wings, and a larger some-
what triangular fulvescent spot on the upper edge.
The female differs in having the black border of the
SCARCE CLUUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY. 109
hinder margin of the anterior wings, irregularly spot-
ted with yellow, and im wanting the border to the
posterior wings, having in its place some obsolete
triangular dusky spots. Both sexes have the extreme
edge, both above and below, and the cilia, rose-co-
lour.”
Having never seen authentic specimens of this in-
sect, we have introduced the description of the au-
thor by whom it was first made known to the public
as British. Many doubts have been expressed as to
its being strictly indigenous, and perhaps the evidence
which at first led to its being regarded in that light,
might not unjustly be considered somewhat incon-
clusive. But since the means of identifying the spe-
cies became accessible to all, several announcements
have been published of its having been found in
England.« It has been observed near Ipswich, in
Suffolk, and also in Sussex. ‘‘ Has been noticed in
the meadows near the confluence of the Avon and
Severn, flying with great swiftness, in August, but
it is a rare insect.”
110
Genus PONTIA.
THIS genus comprehends the white butterflies,
which are so common in gardens, and which are
so well known for the depredations they commit
in their caterpillar state, on cabbages and other ole-
raceous plants. The species are by no means nu-
‘merous, but they are so prolific, that even in those
seasons which are most unfavourable to the increase
of insects, we seldom fail to see them flitting about
in every transient gleam of sunshine. Till lately
our native species were not thought to exceed three,
but an indefatigable naturalist, who has laboured most
successfully in elucidating the entomology of Bri-
tain, has described four others, which he regards as
distinct, and which he names P. Chariclea, Metra,
Napaee, aud Bryonie. “It yet remains to be seen,
however,” says the Rev. W. T. Bree, “ whether, in
the judgment of entomologists in general, these early
whites (as they are termed), will eventually maintain
their place as genuine and distinct species. For my-
self, I may say that I have not been unobservant of
these insects for some years past, and have more par-
ticularly attended to them during the spring end
summer of the present year ; and as far as my obser-
vations go, they lead me to the conclusion, that P.
Chariclea and Metra are mere varieties respectively
GENUS PONTIA. PY
of P. Brassice and Rape. BP. Rape is avowedly
a very variable insect, and being too, as well as P.
Brassice, a most abundant species, there is conse-
quently the more scope,—there are so many more
chances—for variation to take piace in the individuals.
It must be admitted, indeed, that when a small and
perfectly immaculate specimen of P. Metra is com-
pared with a full sized and strongly marked one of
P. Rape, the prima facie difference is so wide, that
any one would at once pronounce them distinct.
But then, on the other hand, we find that interme-
diate specimens occur, which, presenting every pos-
sible shade and gradation of difference, appear natu-
rally to connect and identify the two extremes ; and
it would be next to impossible to decide, in many
instances, to which of the two these intermediate
links should with more propriety be referred. The
same observations apply alsvu to the kindred species P.
Napi, the earliest spring specimens of which are
smaller than those of the summer brood, paler in their
markings above, and sometimes also entirely destitute
of them; and this species too, like P. Brassice and
Rape, is subject to endless variations. No material
difference has yet been observed in the caterpillar or
chrysalis of the early whites, to distinguish them from
P. Brassice and Rape ; and the distinctions in the
markings, &c. pointed out by Mr Stephens in proof
of their being genuine species, seem scarcely sufficient
to outweigh what may be urged on the other side.”*
* Loudon’s Mag. of Nat. History, iii. 242.
112 GENUS PONTIA.
The judiciousness of the above observations, few who
have had an opportunity of examining the insects to
which they refer will, we think, hesitate to acknow-
ledge ; and, taken in connexion with other points of
agreement subsequently pointed out, they seem to
leave little doubt about the propriety of regarding
the reputed new species as mere varieties. Several
competent observers, however, being still inclined
to consider them distinct, it may be as well in the
meanwhile to regard them in that light, till it be seen
whether further investigations tend to confirm or
confute this opinion. With the view of aiding such
inquiries, we have described P. Chariclea, Metra,
and Sabellice, and given figures of them from cha-
racteristic examples procured from the cabinet of the
eminent naturalist by whom they were first named
and described as likely to prove genuine species.
The true Pontia may be known by the following
characters: Antenne long and slender, terminating
in a somewhat abrupt, compressed, obconic club,
consisting of seven or eight joints, and grooved on
one side ; palpi clothed with scales, and fringed with
hairs externally, the terminal joint longer than either
of the preceding; anterior wings nearly three-cor-
nered, the apical angle not very acute ; the posterior
wings rounded and not variegated beneath : legs alike
in both sexes, the claws slightly forked. The chry-
salis terminates anteriorly in a single beak, and is
attached by the tail, and has a loose band round the
middle.
PLATE 7.
nes
— : << SASS
= SORE
oy RIES
Se wh
Lontia Brassice |, Male, 2. Female. Oo. Loentia Rapa .Male.
Common Cabbage B. Small White B.
s
Lixars se.
115
COMMON CABBAGE BUTTERFLY.
Pontia Brassice
PLATE VII. Fics. 1 anp 2.
Pap. Brassice, Linn.—Don. xiii. 29, 446.—Lewin, Pl. 25.—
Large Garden White, Harris.
In this well known insect the wings are white
above, with a large patch of black, somewhat indented
on its inner edge, on the tip of the anterior pair :
the male has no other mark on the upper surface,
except a black spot near the middle of the anterior
edge of the secondary wings ; but the female, besides
the spot just mentioned, has two others on the disk
of the upper wings, and an elongated patch at their
hinder margin. On the under side, both sexes are
nearly alike ; the colour inclines to yellow, especially
on the hinder wings, which appear as if sprinkled
with black, owing to an intermixture of dark-co-
loured scales ; the upper wings bear two conspicuous
black spots on each, and there is an indistinct dusky
mark on the anterior margin of the hinder pair. The
fringe of the wings is yellowish, slightly waved with
black. The body and antenne are white beneath
H
114 COMMON CABBAGE BUTTERFLY.
and black above, the former clothed with hoary pu-
bescence on the thorax. Males sometimes occur
spotted with black on the upper wings, somewhat
in a similar manner to the female.
The caterpillar is green, having a narrow line of
yellow along the back, and another on each side of
the belly ; the body pretty thickly covered with black
tubercular points, each of them with a hair in the
centre. Besides consuming the different varieties of
the common cabbage (brocoli, cauliflower, &c.), this
destructive caterpillar has been often found to attack
the turnip, and its voracity is so great, that these
useful vegetables would often be completely destroy-
ed, were it not for the numerous enemies which
prevent its superabundant increase. Of these, the
most formidable are the parasitical ichneumons, es-
pecially the minute species formerly described,* and
others allied to it. The small birds likewise destroy
great numbers. ‘I once observed a titmouse (Pa-
rus major), says Haworth, “take five or six large
ones to its nest in a very few minutes. In inclosed
gardens, sea-gulls, with their wings cut, are of infi-
nite service. I had one eight years, which was killed
by accident, that lived entirely all the while upon the
insects, slugs, and worms he found in the garden.
Poultry of any sort will soon clear a small piece of
ground ; but unless they are of the web-footed kind
they do much mischief, by scratching the earth.’
But perhaps the most effectual method would be to
* Page 89.
COMMON CABBAGE BUTTERFLY. lls
destroy the parent flies when they first begin to ap-
pear in May, before they have had time to deposit
their eggs.
The butterfly is first seen on the wing about the
middle of Mav. but in the south of England it often
appears much earlier. It occurs abundantly in all
parts of Britain, and seems to be equally plentiful
throughout Europe.
EARLY WHITE CABBAGE BUTTERFLY.
Pontia Chariclea.
PLATE VIII. Fie. 1.—Mate.
Stephen's Illus. Haust. i. Pl. 3, fig. 1. 6, fig. 2. 2
Tuis insect is in general considerably less than the
preceding species ; the anterior wings have a similar
patch on the tip, but it is of a light brown, approach<
ing to ash-colour, clouded with black internally, espe-
cially in the female, and having no strongly marked
indentations on its inner side ; the fringe yellowish-
white. On the underside, the tip of the primary
wings is yellow, and the secondary pair entirely
deep yellow, very thickly sprinkled with minute black
points ; in other respects there is no appreciable dif
ference from P. Brassica.
Said to occur in the beginning of May, and again
in the end of June. It has hitherto been observed
chiefly in Hertford and Derbyshires ; and Mr Wailes
thinks that he has seen it in the neighbourhood of
Newcastle.
—- +)
es,
Wyse,
l. Ponta Charictea, Male
Larly White Cabbage B.
A
2.fontia Metra Male
Howards White.
Liars sc
3 Ponta Sahellicae, Female
Dusky vetned White. ,
117
SMALL WHITE BUTTERFLY.
Poniia Rape.
PLATE VII. Fria. 3.
Pap. Rape, Linn.—Ledin, Pl. 26.—Pap. alba media, Rai,
Hist. Insect.—Small Garden White, Harris.
THE expansion of the wings is from one inch and
eight lines to two inches five lines; it is therefore
considerably smaller than the preceding, to which in
other respects it bears a strong resemblance. The
upper surface is white, slightly inclining to yellow ;
the primary wings have a dusky spot at the tip, ex-
tending a short way along the anterior border ; in the
male there is a single rounded spot on the disk, and
two in the female, with an oblong patch behind, as
in the same sex of P. Brassice ; the hinder wings
with the usual black mark on their anterior border.
Beneath, the anterior wings bear two discoidal black
spots, the tip is yellow, and the base slightly sprinkled
with dusky ; the under wings are rather bright yel-
low, with dark scales intermixed, making them ap-
pear as if powdered with black dust ; on the anterior
edge at the base, there is a narrow streak of orange-
yellow.
Although this butterfly bears so much resemblance
/
118 SMALL WHITE BUTTERFLY.
to the large cabbage species, the complete distinction
of the two 1s well evinced by the appearance of the
respective caterpillars. That of P. Rape is light-
green, with a pale line along the back, and a whitish
streak, somewhat punctured with yellow, on each
side of the belly. It feeds on cabbages, turnips, &c.
and is often found associated with thie larva of P.
Brassic@ in devastating our garden produce. It ge-
nerally insinuates itself between the folded leaves in
the centre of cabbage and cauliflower plants ; hence
it is named in France ver du cur. The butterfly
is very common in all parts of this country, and in
most quarters of Europe. It appears in the end of
April or beginning of May, and asecond flight takes
place in July. But the insect is at all times so
abundant, that there is probably a succession of broods
throughout the summer and autumn. The markings
vary considerably.
ki9
HOWARD'S WAITE BUTTERFLY.
Poniia Metra.
PEAR Vliie Bre2
Stephen’s Illus. Haust. i. 19.
THE wings of this insect expand from 20 to 25
lines. The colour is entirely yellowish-white, the
base of the wings blackish, and the tip of the ante-
rior pair, which is more acute than in the allied spe-
cies, slightly suffused with light brown: in the male
there is a single dusky spot, and in the female two,
which, however, are always very obsolete, and some-
times, as in the variety figured, entirely wanting. The
hinder wings are wholly white, with the usual dusky
spot anteriorly. The tip of the upper wings is yel-
low beneath, and two faint spots are observable on
the disk; the hinder wings beneath rather bright
yellow, especially on the anterior edge at the base,
and sprinkled with black points. The fringe of the
wings is nearly pure white.
Occurs early in April, and there appears to be a
second brood in June. It has been noticed chiefly
in the south of England, but is probably to be found
120 HOWARD'S WILITE BUTTERFLY.
in most parts of the country. “ Found near New-
castle early in spring, but whether specifically dis-
tinct 1 have been unable to satisfy myself: thus
much I may say, I never took it in the autumn.” —
G. Wailes, Esq.
1. Sonta Nepe 2. Mancipium Daphitice.
Green veined White. Bath Whiie.
LZrxars se
GREEN-VEINED WHITE BUTTERFLY.
Pontia Napi.
PLATE IX. Fie. 1.
Pap. Napi, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 27.—Donovan, viii. 23. pl. 280.
fig. 1.—Green-veined white, Harris.
THE wings of this species expand from 17 to 22
lines ; the colour white, inclining to yellow. The
tip ef the primary wings is dusky, and in the male
there is around black spot near the middle, not very
remote from the outer margin, the female having two
such spots on each wing. The hinder wings are
free from marks, except the ordinary dusky spot on
the anterior margin. On the under side, the tip of
the primary wings, and the whole of the secondary
pair, are sulphur-yellow, the nervures strongly mark-
ed with a dilated line of dusky green ; and there are
two black spots on the upper wings, near the hinder
margin. The body and antenne are nearly as in the
preceding species.
The caterpillar feeds on tetradynamous plants,
patticularly those belonging to the genus Brassica.
It is of a dull green colour, lighter on the sides, with
129 GREEN-VEINED WHITE BUTTERFLY.
yellow stigmata, and covered with white warts, which
are blackish at the tip, and tufted with short hairs.
The chrysalis is greenish-yellow, the angles very
acute and prominent.
This butterfly is one of the most common species
both in this country and throughout Europe. Its
first time of appearance is about the middle of May,
and it is again abundant in the beginning of July.
It presents numerous variations in its size and mark-
ings, of which it is unnecessary to give a particular
account. One of the most remarkable has been re-
garded as a species by Esper and others, and de-
scribed under the name of Nap@e. It is of larger
size than ordinary specimens of P. Napi, the upper
wings with a black spot, the tip and some triangu-
lar patches being of the same colour: the secondary
wings rather pale, and having only the three first
nervures dilated and greenish. This variety seems
to occur not unfrequently.
123
DUSK Y-VEINED WHITE BUTTERFLY.
Pontia Sabellica.
PLATE, VILE Fie...
Stephens, Illust. Haust. i. pl. 111* fig. 3¢; fig. 49.—Pap.
Bryonie, Godart, Ency. Meth. No. 146.
Upper surface of the wings, which are short and
considerably rounded, yellowish-white ; the base, an-
terior margin, and the tip, dusky black, all the ner-
vures with a broad stripe of the same colour, the
male having a single dusky spot towards the tip, and
the female two. On the under side, the hinder
wings, and the tip of the antelior pair, are tinged
with sulphur-yellow, and ail the nervures are broadly
margined with dusky.
The larva of this insect, which may eventually
prove to be a distinct species, is not known. The
fly has been frequently taken in the vicinity of Lon-
don. ‘ Not rare in some seasons near Newcastle.”
—G. Wailes, Esq.
124
Genus MANCIPIUM.
So close a connexion subsists between this and
the preceding genus, that the species have been ge-
nerally grouped together under a common generic
name. But the structural differences of M. Carda-
mines and Daplidice are too considerable to admit
of their being associated with the true Pontia, how-
ever much they may be allied in habit and general
appearance. ‘The principal distinctions consist in
the relative proportion of the joints of the palpi,
which, in Mancipium, have the terminal joint shorter
than either of the two others; in the rounded form
of the tip of the anterior wings; and in having the
under side of the secondary pair variegated —cha-
racters sufficient to constitute a subgenus. The
chrysalis (at least in M. Cardamines), is boat-shapea.
being widest in the middle, and narrowing gradually
to both ends.
125
BATH WHITE BUTTERFLY.
Mancipium Daplidice.
PLATE IX. Fic. 2.
Pap. Daplidice, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 28.—Donov. vi. 47, pl.
200.—Bath White, Lewin, 1. c.—Green chequered White,
Haworth, Curtis, B. E. i. pl. 48.
THE male of this rare British insect is nearly
white above; the superior wings have a large black-
ish patch at the tip, interrupted by large spots of
white, and a dusky spot near the middle, with a
faint white streak across the centre of it. The se-
condary wings are unspotted in this sex, but in the
female they are widely bordered with black, which
is sinuated and divided by large spots of the ground-
colour of the surface: the female has likewise an
additional black spot on the upper wings, near the
hinder angle, and is usually larger than the male.
The markings on the under side of the primary
wings nearly correspond to those on the upper side,
but instead of being black, they are greenish. The
hinder wings are green beneath, sprinkled with mi-
nute black points, with a row of large white spots
on the hinder margin, an irregular cruss band
of white, and three spots of that colour towards
126 BATH WHITE BUTTERFLY.
the base. The antennz are whitish, variegated with
black.
The caterpillar frequents the different species of
Brassica; also wild Mignonette (Reseda lutea),
Thlaspt arvense, and other cruciferous plants. It
is of a dull blue, according to Godart’s description,
bordered with yellow, and covered with black points ;
the head clear green, with yellow spots and black
points. The chrysalis is at first greenish, but af-
terwards becomes grey.
Although recorded from a remote period as a na-
tive of Britain, this insect still continues to be classed
among our rarest kinds. It is noticed by Ray as
having been found near Cambridge: it has likewise
occurred at Hampstead in Middlesex, and in the
neighbourhood of Bristol. More recently it has
been taken, both by Mr Stephens and Mr Le
Piastrier of Ramsgate, in the meadow under Dover
Castle, in the month of August. We are told by
Lewin, that it was named the Bath White, from a
piece of needlework, executed at Bath by a young
lady, from a specimen of this insect. said to be taken
near that place.
PLATE 10,
oa "Yip om
Pann ed
aN Sy
NW = LEUCOPAASTA +
Orange typ. aren yy. ¥ White Woow
EE
ee ee zS§
127
ORANGE-TIP BUTTERFLY.
Pontia Cardamines.
PAE Xe Pires. le deo
Pap. Cardamines, Linn.— Donovan, v. pl. 169.—Lewin,
pl. 30.—Orange-tip, or Lady of the Woods, Harris, Aurel.
pl. 32.—Pontia Cardamines, Steph. Ilus—Mancipium
Cardamines, Hubner.
Tus delicate and warmly tinted species seems te
occur in considerable plenty in all parts of Britain,
and it is not unfrequent in Ireland. Its ordinary
time of appearance is near the end of May, but
when the weather is mild it is on the wing much
sooner, especially in the southern parts of England,
where it has been sometimes seen by the middle of
April. It frequents lanes and open glades in woods,
and sometimes enlivens our gardens by its gay and
fitful flight. The sexes are so dissimilar, that they
were mistaken by Ray and some other authors for
distinct species. The expansion of the wings varies
from an inch and a quarter to nearly two inches.
The primary wings are white, dusky at the base, with
a small black crescent-shaped spot in the middle,
and an interrupted patch of black round the tip: the
128 WOOD WHITE BUTTERFLY.
outer half of the wing is deeply tinged with orange
in the male, but there is no trace of that colour in
the female. The hinder wings are alike in both
sexes ; on the upper side they are dusky at the base,
the outer margin bears a few blackish points, and
the surface presents faint traces of the markings on
the under side; the latter consist of irregular mar-
morated spots of green, powdered as it were with
yellow. The antennz are white, with dark rings.
The caterpillar feeds on several cruciferous plants,
especially those of the genus Cardamines ; also on
Turritis glabra, Brassica campestris, &e. It is of
a green colour, with a whitish line along each side,
just above the insertion of the legs. The chrysalis
is also greenish-yellow.
WOOD WHITE BUTTERFLY.
Leucophasia Sinapis.
PEATE X. Fiess.
Pap. Sinapis, Linn.—Donovan, vii. pl. 280.—Pontia Sina-
pis, Leach, Jermyn.—Wood White, Harris’ Aur. pl. 29.
—Leucophasia Sinapis, Steph.—Leucoph. Loti, Rennie.
Tue present genus (named from Azvxos, white,
and Qzucis, an apparition or appearance), is distin-
guished by the structure of the palpi, which are
WOOD WHITE BUTTEHPLY. 129
short and flat, with the basal joint large and conical,
the second short and quadrate, and the third or ter-
minal one minute, and almost globular ; and by the
shape of the wings, which are very narrow, and al-
most elongate-oval, the surface wholly covered with
scales. The antenne have an abrupt compressed
club, and the legs, which are alike in both sexes,
terminate in bifid claws.
It is much the smallest of our white Butterflies,
and the narrow elongated wings give it, as has been
well remarked, something of the appearance of a
Dragon-fly. The colour is nearly milk-white, the
base of all the wings somewhat dusky, and the tip
of the anterior pair with a large brown spot. On
the under side the latter are faintly tinged with green
at the tip, and the costa is sprinkled with black
points from the middle to the base. The under
side of the hinder wings is tinged with yellowish-
green, and sprinkled with ashy points, which form
indistinct clouds and bands.
The caterpillar is usuaily found on the Bird’s-foot
Trefoil ( Lotus corniculatus,), and Meadow Vetch-
ling (Lathyrus pratensis). It is green, with a deep
yellow line along each side of the body.
There are two broods of the butterfly each season,
one in May, the other in the end of July. Although
an abundant species in most parts of Europe, it is
rather scarce in Britain. In certain localities, how-
ever, it has been found in plenty ;—as in Darenth
I
i30 WOOD WHITE BUTTERELY.
wood, Hartley and Bromley woods, Essex ; also in
Surrey, Kent, Devonshire, &c. We have not heard
of its occurrence in Scotland. It has been taken
by Mr Heysham near Carlisle, the most northern lo-
cality hitherto ascertained.
BLACK-VEINED WHITE, or HAWTHORN
BUTTERFLY.
Pieris Crategi.
PLATE XI. Fie. 2.
Pap. Crategi, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 24.—Donovan, xili. pl,
454.—-Hawthorn Butterfly, Kirby & Spence.
In this genus the antenne are rather slender, and
the club is formed gradually: the palpi have the two
lowest joints robust, the radical one being twice the
length of the second, while the terminal one is about
the length of the second, and very slender; the up-
per wings are nearly diaphanous, being sparingly
clothed with scales; the claws are strong and bifid,
and have a slender appendage on the outside at the
base.
“ The black-veined white is one of the few
butterflies that cannot be mistaken for any other
species, and it is remarkable for having both sides
very similar, which is scarcely the case in any of the
other British Papilionide. In this respect, as weil
as in the semitransparent wings and short cilia, it
approaches Doritis (Parnassius, pl. 11, fig. 1.) The
same characters will distinguish it at once from Pon-
132 HAWTHORN BUTTERFLY.
tia, which it is further separated from by the equal
length of the second and third joints of the palpi,
and the shortness of the former joint compared with
the basal one. The strong nervure that surrounds
each wing has never before been noticed.” *
The English name sufficiently describes this spe
cies, and readily distinguishes it from all its asso-
ciates. It is about the size of the Common Cabbage
Butterfly, the wings somewhat transparent, and of
a uniform white colour, with the nervures black.
There is also a black line round the outer edge of
the wings, and generally a few dusky triangular
marks on the outer margin of the upper pair. The
caterpillars are black for some time after they are
hatched, but soon become partially clothed with
hairs, and striped with reddish-brown on each side
_of the body. (Fig. 3, Pl. III. represents a full-
grown Caterpillar of this species.) They are grega-
rious, and live for a time under a net-work of silk,
which they spin for their protection. ‘Their favou-
rite food is the leaves of the Hawthorn, but they like-
wise attack fruit-trees, and have been known to
commit considerable damage in orchards. This but-
terfly is by no means generally distributed through
England, and is wholly unknown in Scotland; but
it has occurred plentifully in the following places,
and is occasionally observed elsewhere :— New Fo-
rest, Hampshire, Chelsea, Coombewood, Enborne,
Berkshire, Dorsetshire. It is by no means a scarce
* Curtis, British Ent. viii. 360.
HAWTHORN BUTTERFLY. 133
insect on the Continent; and Pailas relates that he
saw such extensive flights of them in the vicinity of
Winof ka, that he at first conceived them to be flakes
of snow. ‘The female, indeed, is very prolific, and
covers her eggs, which she deposits on the extremity
of a hawthorn branch, with a coating of varnish, so
effectually weather-proof, that they remain in secu-
rity (sometimes, it is said, for several years), till cir-
cumstances favour the exclusion of the larve. The
chrysalis is very obtuse anteriorly, and of a yellow
colour, streaked and spotted with black. (PI. II.
fig. 4.)
144
APOLLO BUTTERFLY.
Parnassius Apollo.
PLATE XI. Fie. 1.
Pap. Apollo, Linn.—Haworth.—Donovan, xiii. pl. 433.—
Crimson-ringed Butterfly, Haworth.—Doritis Apollo,
Fab.—Steph.
In this genus the antennz are rather short, with
the club narrow, nearly oval, and not compressed ;
palpi rather long, and rising considerably beyond the
head ; wings nearly free from scales, especially at
the apex, where they are transparent, the hinder pair
concave on their inner edge. The females are pro-
vided with a small corneous bag, at the hinder extre-
mity of the abdomen. The caterpillars have the
power of protruding a retractile tentaculum from the
neck, similar to that found in the larve of the genus
Papilio, formerly described; but, unlike the latter,
they form a kind of cocoon when about to change
into chrysalides, by connecting a few leaves together
by means of silken threads.
The expansion of the wings is nearly three inches ;
the colour white, slightly tinged with yellow, each
SAGHAL PLATE ll.
= . ) ye
Wa
Fi Tw AW ,
a te SN Ni 4 wee
—S A SK. AIS
SS
<< At
SS a <- a eS
1. Parnassius Apollo 2. Pieris Crataeqt
Apollo B. Black veined White.
APOLLO BUTTERFLY, 185
ot the upper wings bearing five pretty large black
spots, and each of the hinder ones two large round
crimson spots, with a white pupil, surrounded exter-
nally by a black circle. The extremity of the wings is
naked and transparent, appearing as if varnished, pretty
thickly sprinkled with minute black dots, which form
a faint flexuose cross band at some distance from
the margin, and parallel with it. The base and an-
terior edge of the primary wings are covered with
black dots ; the abdominal margin of the hinder pair
with similar points and long whitish hairs, as far as
the extremity of the abdomen, beyond which there
is a curved patch of black. The markings on the
under side nearly correspond to those just described :
some of the black spots on the upper wings, how-
ever, have occasionally a red mark in the centre;
and on the hinder pair there are four red spots, bor-
dered with black, forming a kind of cross-band near
the base, while the anal black patch often has a red
streak in the middle. The body is black, with whit-
ish hairs on the abdomen, and reddish ones on the
front of the thorax: the antennz white, with a black
knob.
The caterpillar is of a beautiful velvet-black co-
lour, with two rows of deep orange spots on each
side, one near the back, the other towards the belly:
the incisures are glossed with blue, and the whole
body is clothed with short black hairs. It feeds on
the Orpine ( Sedum telephium), and various kinds
of Saxifrage, particularly Saxzfraga pyramidalis.
136 APOLLO BUTTERFLY.
This insect was first introduced into our British
lists, in consequence of it having been supposed,
through some mistake, that a few continental speci-
mens in the possession of Lord Seaforth, were pro-
cured from the Island of Lewis, one of the Hebrides.
Since that time, it has been oftener than once figured
and described as a British species; but no authentic
instance is on record of its having been observed by
any one—a circumstance which may fairly be as-
sumed, in the case of such a marked and conspicu-
ous object, as a sufficient indication that it is not an
inhabitant of this island. We have been assured,
however, that it was noticed on the wing last sum-
mer in some part of the west coast; and, though in-
clined to think that this must be a mistake, we will-
ingly avail ourselves of the excuse which it affords
for retaining, in the mean while, such an ornamental
insect among our indigenous species. On the Con-
tinent, it inhabits the Alps, Cevennes, the mountains
of Auvergne, and various parts of Norway and Swe-
den, in considerable numbers. Its flight is said to
he slow and heavy.
PACER,
1. Nemeobius Lucina. 2. Uekitaea Athalia
Duke of burgundy Frillary. Learl bordered likeness
r
LLUATS SC.
DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARY.
Nemeobius Lucina.
PEATE IRIE Fiat:
Pap. Lucina, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 15.—Donovan, Viii. 70.
pl. 242. f. 2.—Duke of Burgundy Fritillary, Harris.—
Hamearis Lucina, Hiibner.—Curiis, B. E. vii. 316.—Ne-
meobius Lucina, Stephens.—Horsf.
Turis and several of the following genera may be
readily distinguished from any of the preceding, by hav-
ing the anterior legs more or less imperfect, being very
short, and destitute of tarsal joints, by which they
are rendered unfit for walking. In the present in-
stance, this imperfection is found only in the male,
the fore-leg of the female presenting the ordinary
structure. Nemeobius (from yo, a grove, and Bios,
life), is further characterised by having the club of
the antennz rather Jarge and abruptly formed ; palpi
very short and horizontal, the second joint much the
longest, and the third, or terminal one, minute and
oval. The anterior wings are nearly trigonate, and
the inferior rounded; the posterior tibiae without
spurs, and the claws simple. The species above re-
ferred to, is the only one known to inhabit Britain.
The expansion of the wings seldom much exceeds four-
138 DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARY.
teen or fifteen lines. The surface is dark brown, the
upper Wings with three transverse series of irregular
spots of light yellow or straw colour, the outer or
marginal row having a black mark in the centre of
each spot: the hinder wings have likewise an irregu-
lar transverse series of yellow spots, and the marginis
similar to that of the other pair. The under side
is much paler than the upper, approaching some-
times to orange, the superior wings with several light
spots on the disk, interspersed with black streaks,
and a series of light spots along the margin, with a
small dusky mark in the centre of each; besides
having the margin similar, the hinder wings have
two pale bands, composed of continuous oval spots,
the outer one edged internally with black. The
antennz are white, marked with black above, the
club black, tipped with orange.
According to Hiibner, the caterpillar is long, oval,
and depressed, resembling those of the Lycene,
which, from their resemblance to wood-lice (Onisci),
are named onisciform. It is of a pale olive-brown
colour, with a large black dot on each segment, and
the head and legs rusty-red. It feeds on the Cow-
slip and Primrose. The butterfly appears to be
somewhat local, but it occurs not unfrequently.
Coombe and Darenth woods have occasionally af-
forded it in abundance, and it has been found in
most of the south-eastern counties of England. We
have not heard of its occurrence to the north of Car-
lisle, in the neighbourhood of whieh it has been taken
by Mr Heysham.
Genus MELITACA.
Tue genus Melitea, which approximates pretty
closely to the following one in its characters, has an-
tenn with a very abrupt knob, which is large and
flattish ; palpi long and projecting, rather sJender in
some of the species, with the terminal joint ending
in a point, and nearly half the length of the second ;
somewhat thickened in others, with the terminal
joint ovate and minute; wings of moderate size, the
anterior pair elongate-triangular, and the anterior
legs spurious in both sexes, the claws in the other
legs being either double, or simple, with a short
cushion. The majority are without silver spots be-
neath, M. Szlene and Euphrosyne being the only
kinds possessing that ornament. The caterpillars are
generally spinose, and the chrysalides are suspended
by the tail
140
PEARL-BORDERED LIKENESS,
Melitea Athalia.
PLATE XII. Fie. 2.
Pap. Athalia, Esper.—Pap. Dictynna, Lewin, pl. 14. fig. 5.
and 6.—Pearl-bordered Likeness, Harris.—Melitea Atha-
lia, Stephens.
THE expansion of the wings is from sixteen lines
to two inches: the colour tawny orange, marked
with black, the latter running in several undulating
lines across the surface, the base blackish. Beneath,
the anterior wings are pale brownish-yellow, with a
few transverse streaks of black; the posterior pair with
several pale angular spots near the base, edged with
black ; behind this there is a continuous curved band
of large pale spots, also edged with black ; and near
the margin two series of black crescents. The fringe
is yellowish-white, spotted with black.
The caterpillar is black and spiny, with two rows
of small white dots on each segment, and tubercles
of a similar colour on the sides. It feeds on the
narrow and broad leaved plantain, and also, accord-
ing to Wilkes, on the common heath. The butter-
fly is not uncommon in Devonshire, and many other
PEARL-BORDERED LIKENESS. 14]
parts of the south of England; but it appears to be
very rare in the north. It presents several varieties,
of which the most remarkable is that named P. Py-
ronia by Hiibner, represented on our 13th Plate,
fig. 1. It has the upper wings blackish at the base,
with a few yellow spots, the rest of the surface, as
far as the black border, likewise yellow, the nervures
alone being black. The hinder wings are entirely
dark brown, with a row of small yellow spots towards
the margin, and a few others in the male near the
base. The under side of the upper wings is yellow
at the base, with large spots of black, the middle
also black, and the extremity yellow; of the hinder
pair, black at the base, with yellow spots, and a broad
central band of white intersected by black veins.
This beautiful variety has been found near London.
142
GREASY FRITILLARY.
Melitea Artemis.
PLATE XIII. Fie. 2.
Pap. Artemis, F'abr.—Lewin, p]. 15.—Pap. maturna, Esper.
Greasy Fritillary, Harris,—Melitea Artemis, Stephens
Tilus. Haust. i. p. 32.
THE ground-colour of the surface is deep brown-
isb-yellow, the primary wings with black transverse
undulating lines, and light yellow spots: the secon-
dary pair with three bands, the intermediate one
tawny orange, with six small black spots, the others
irregular, and of a light yellow. Beneath, the pri-
mary wings are somewhat glossy, paler than above,
but the markings nearly similar; the hinder pair
fulvous, having three bands of pale yellowish spots,
edged with black, that next the base very irregular,
the central one curved, and the other consisting of
semicircular spots placed along the margin ; between
the central and marginal band, the row of spots for-
merly mentioned is distinctly marked, and each is
surrounded with light ochre-yellow. The fringe of
the wings is yellow, interrupted with black on the
PLATE 15
1. Melitaca Athalia, var: SN
2 Melttaca Artemts, Greasy Fritillary. Lists £6
3, Melitaea Stlene Small Pearl bordered Fritidlary.
GREASY FRITILLARY. 143
anterior wings only. The other parts are nearly as
in the allied species.
The caterpillar feeds on the two common species
of Plantain, and also on the Devil’s-bit Scabious.
The body is black above, armed with spines of the
same colour, and the under side is yellow. A line
of very minute white dots is drawn along the back,
and another on each side. The legs are reddish.
The butterfly first appears on the wing towards the
middle of May, and, like most of the Fritillaries, it
presents a considerable number of varieties. It owes
its English name to the glistening appearance of the
wings, especially on the under side, which look as if
they had been rubbed over with grease. It appears
to occur in most of the southern counties of Eng-
‘and, and is said to be particularly abundant near
Brighton, and at Enborne in Berks. It likewise
occurs pretty far to the north, as we are informed
by Mr Andrews that it has been found near Dur-
ham; and P. J. Selby, Esq. has taken it near Bel-
ford, in the county of Northumberland.
144
GLANVILLE FRITILLARY.
Melitea Cinzia.
PLATE XIV. Fic. 2.
Pap. cinxia, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 14.—Haworth, 36.—Glan-
ville Fritillary, Harris._Melitea cinxia, Steph.
Bears considerable resemblance to the preceding
species, but is usually larger, and the markings are
dissimilar. The colour is orange-tawny above, and
the whole surface is reticulated and spotted with
black, the posterior wings having a series of five or
six black spots, forming a row parallel with the hinder
margin, and at some distance from it. Beneath, the
colour is much paler than above, the primary wings
with a few transverse black streaks, and a series of
black crescents towards the tip ; the hinder pair with
three irregular bands of pale spots, edged with black,
and a row of black spots, with an ochreous iris.
The fringe is whitish-yellow, spotted with black.
The caterpillars are black, with rows of white
dots on the incisures, and along the sides; the head
and prolegs rust-red. They feed on the Narrow-
leaved Plantain (Plantago lanceolata), Mouse-ear
Hawk-weed, and the Common Germander Speed-
GLANVILLE FRITILLARY. 145
well (Veronica chamedrys). They generally issue
from the egg towards the end of the autumn, and
pass the winter before they undergo their final me-
tamorphosis. ‘To protect themselves against the ri-
gour of that season, they assemble in little colonies,
and form a kind of tent, by drawing together a few
of the leaves of the plant on which they feed, and
covering the whole with a web of silk. The butter-
fly appears in June, but in this country it is by no
means of frequent occurrence. It has been found,
however, rather plentifully in the Island of Wight,
also near Dover, and in a few other places in the
southern parts of England. It is abundant on the
Continent.
PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.
Melitga Euphrosyne.
PLATE XV. Fic. 2.
Pap. Euphrosyne, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 13.—Donovan, xi.
pl. 312.
THE expansion of the wings varies from 18 to
22 lines. All the wings are of a reddish-yellow co-
Jour above, blackish near the base, and variegated
with transverse streaks or spots of black; each of
them having a row of black spots towards the apex,
and a band of the same colour along the outer mar-
K
146 PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.
gin, which forms on the inner side a triangular point
in the centre of each areolet, and encloses a row of
pretty large round spots, corresponding to the ground
colour of the surface. The primary wings are ra-
ther bright yellow beneath, the black spots smaller
than the corresponding ones on the surface, and the
tip spotted with light yellow. The hinder wings
bear several large yellowish-white spots at the base,
some of them slightly glossed with silver, the spaces
between being rust-red; the latter colour forms a
large spot in the middle, ornamented with a central
ocellus. Beyond this, there is a long quadrate sil-
very spot, forming part of a very irregular band of
yellowish-white ; the space between which and the
hinder margin is variegated with rust-brown and yel-
low, and a row of dark spots. The hinder margin
is adorned with a row of large triangular silvery
spots, bounded on all sides by a deep black line.
The fringe of the wings is yellowish, spotted with
brown; the antenne mnged with white, and the
knob tipped with reddish-brown. Several varieties
occur, of which the most remarkable are those ha-
ving only one silvery spot on the disk of the inferior
wings; and such as have the basal half of the upper
wings black, spotted with yellow, and their under side
marked with large black spots.
The caterpillar is black and spinose, with macular
lines of orange along the back. It feeds on diffe-
rent kinds of Violet, particularly the Dog’s Violet,
and Viola lutea. The butterfly is apparently dis-
a
PEAKL-BORDERED FRITILLARY. 147
tributed over the whole island, as we have seen uo-
tices of its occurrence in most parts of England ;
and numerous specimens have been received from
Perthshire, Ross-shire, Sutherland, and others of the
more northern counties of Scotland, while it is not
rare throughout the lowlands. It is a double-brood-
ed species, first appearing in the end of May, and
again in autumn,
148
SMALL PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.
Melitea Silene.
PLATE XIII. Fis. 3.
Pap. Silene, Fabr. Haworth. — Melitea Silene, Jermyn,
Steph.—Pap. Euphrasia, Lewin, pl. 13.—Small pearl-bor-
dered Fritillary, Haworth.
RATHER smaller than the preceding, which it
greatly resemb}es on the surface: the characters by
which it is distinguished on the under side, consist
in the ground colour of the secondary wings being
ferruginous, or rust-brown, with the transverse band
at the base and middle not of so light a yellow as in
M. Euphrosyne : in having three silvery spots in the
central band, and five others, three of which are
placed in a line on the anterior border, and the other
two near theinner edge ; in having only six triangular
spots of silver on the border; and, lastly, in having
the ocular spot towards the base black, with a red
pupil.
The caterpillar is described as being black and
spiny, the one-half of the spines yellow, and the
sides of the body marked with a light-coloured stripe.
The butterfly is of frequent occurrence, but seems
SMALL PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY. 149
to be less generally distributed than the preceding.
In Scotland it is much scarcer than M. Euphrosyne.
“‘ Not at all rare near Newcastle, appearing in the
beginning of July, while M. Euphrosyne usually
appears in the beginning of June.”—-G. Wailes, Esq.
‘* Both these species are abundant near Durham.”
—-G. Andrews, Esq.
150
Genus ARGYNNIS.
ALTHOUGH constituted by a very limited number
of species, this genus ranks among the most import-
ant we possess, as comprehending a few of the lar-
gest and most richly ornamented of our native butter-
flies. When viewed from above, however, there is
no appearance of much embellishment, the surface be-
ing rather remarkable for uniformity of tint, consist-
ing of some shade of reddish-brown, streaked and
chequered with black; a mode of colouring which
has probably caused the old name of Fritillary to be
applied to them, from their bearing some resemblance
to the tessellated markings of that flower. But the
under side is decorated with large spots and streaks
of beautiful silver white, which renders them very
conspicuous objects, even when contrasted with
species most richly coloured in other respects, but
destitute of this metallic brilliancy. They are the only
British insects of their kind that exhibit this “ silvery
glitterance,” besides the two last species of the pre-
ceding genus. To the latter, indeed, they approxi-
mate very closely in other particulars, but may be
distinguished from them, as well as from other cog-
nate genera, by the following characters :— Antenne
rather long and slender, with a very abrupt, spoon-
GENUS ARGYNNIs. 15]
shaped club, ridged on the under side: palpi with
the middle joint very long, the basal and terminal
joints short, the latter very slender, acicular: wings
very ample, slightly scolloped, the hinder pair gene-
rally extending beyond the abdomen: anterior legs
imperfect in both sexes ; the four posterior legs with
claws and two appendages at the base. The chry-
salis is suspended by the tail.
152
QUEEN OF SPAIN FRITILLARY.
Argynnis Luthonia.
PLATE XVI. Fie. 2.
Pap. Lathonia, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 12—Donovan, iii.
pl. 73.—Queen of Spain Fritillary, Harvis.
Tue surface is yellowish-brown, with numerous
insulated black spots, most of them of a rounded
form. Beneath, the ground colour of the primary
wings is paler than above, but they are marked with
black in a similar manner, and have a few silvery
spots towards the tip. The under side of the se-
condary wings is ornamented with upwards of |
twenty silvery spots, very unequal in size, seven of
them of a semicircular shape, forming a row near
the hinder margin, before which there is a transverse
series of ocellated spots of a brownish colour with a
silver pupil. The fringe is pale yellow, interrupted
with black. The caterpillar, according to Godart’s
account, is greyish-brown, spinose, with a white line
along the back. It is solitary, and feeds on the
Heart’s ease (Viola tricolor), a kind of Saintfoin
(Hedysarum anobrychis), and Anchusa officinalis.
lL Arov
ras
WVIU
77 “zs
LLigh. brow
re
iS staippe .
a
eLritillaryv
WANER
Aa)
Cuce of Spam Fritillary
QUEEN OF SPAIN FRITILLARY. 153
Although abundant in all the middle and southern
countries of Europe, this butterfly is among the rarest
inhabiting Britain. It is. sometimes not seen for
many successive seasons, while in others specimens
have been procured in several places. This was the
case particularly in 1818, a year which appears to
have been especially favourable to the increase of
many species, which in ordinary seasons are seldom
to be met with. The following localities may be
mentioned :—Gamlingay and Wisbeach, Cambridge-
shire; Castle-meadow, Dover ; Halvergate, Norfolk;
Stoke near Nayland, Suffolk ; Birchwood, Kent.
HIGH BROWN FRITILLARY.
Argynnis Adippe.
PLATE XVI. Fie. 1.
Pap. Adippe, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 10.—Donovan, xiii. pl. 448.
—High Brown Fritillary, Harris.
THE wings generally expand about two inches
and a half, and are of a bright yellow, inclining to
brown on the upper surface, with transverse undu-
lating streaks, and round spots of black, together
with a series of black crescents near the outer mar-
gin, which is itself black. On the under side, the
primary wings are of a lighter hue, without the black
external border, and having a few silvery spots near
154 HIGH BROWN FRITILLARY.
the tip ; the secondary pair are brownish-yellow, with
about twenty-four silvery spots, six or seven of them
placed irregularly near the base, the others forming
two transverse bands, one near the centre, somewhat
interrupted in the middle, the other lying along the
outer margin, and composed of triangular spots edged
internally with rust-red ; between the central and ex-
ternal band there is a series of small round rusty-
brown spots, most of them having a silver pupil.
The body is blackish above, with reddish hairs, and
pale yellow beneath ; the antennz brownish, with the
extremity of the club brownish-yellow.
The caterpillar is reddish, becoming olive-green
with age, having a white dorsal line and white dots
on the sides. It feeds on the pansy and sweet smell-
ing violet (Vola odorata).
Not so plentiful as either of the following species,
but found occasionally in many places in the southern
parts of England. It is observed on the wing in the
end of June and in July, and generally frequents
heaths and the borders of woods. Many varieties
have been described, some of them having the upper
wings almost wholly black.
PLATE 15.
] LAO VIUILS 4 Wa es Nelitae 41 ot 4 OSV Tie
Dark qreen fritillary. Pearl bordered Fritillaryv
DARK GREEN FRITILLARY,
Argynnis Aglaia.
PLATE XV. Fig. 1.
Pap. Aglaia, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 11.—Donovan, ix. pl. 302.
—Dark Green Fritillary, Harris.
Very like the preceding on the upper side, but
usually rather paler, the individual figured being a
dark coloured example of the female. The principal
marks of distinction are to be found on the under
side of the wings, which are of a fine yellowish-green,
especially the hinder pair; the anterior with several
silver spots on the hinder margin ; the posterior with
six or seven scattered silvery spots near the base, a
curved band near the middle, and another consisting
of seven spots of equal size parallel with the hinder
margin, without any intervening row of ocellated
spots. The anterior margin of the costal areolet, a
portion of the abdominal one, and that lying next to
it, are also glossed with silver.
The caterpillar feeds on the dog’s violet. It is
brownish-black, yellowish on the back, and having a
row of quadrate red spots along the sides, one on
each segment, excepting the two next the head.
156 DARK GREEN FRITILLARY.
The chrysalis is reddish, with waved streaks of
brown.
This is rather a plentiful species in most parts of
the country. It is said to be abundant throughout
the south of England, and we have often procured
specimens from the middle and northern districts of
Scotland. It is rather rare, however, in the neigh-
bourhood of Newcastle ; but occurs abundantly near
Durham, in the beginning of July. It has been oc-
casicnally observed in the vicinity of Edinburgh, but
it must be regarded as somewhat scarce in that neigh-
bourhood, as well as throughout the south of Scot-
land.
PLATE 1.
SHAK
Na
ie
=f ‘ = > 7 ¥
1. Argynnus Paphia. 2.Mektaea Cinxin.
Silver Washed fritillary. Glanville Frifllary
157
SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY.
Argynnis Paphia.
PLATE XIV. Fie. 1.
Pap, Paphia, Linn.—Donovan, vii. pl. 247, 5.—Lewin, pl. 9.
THIs species is usually of a larger size than either
of the two preceding, but it bears considerable re-
semblance to them in the colour and markings of the
surface. The upper side is a bright yellowish-brown
(tinged with green in the female), variously streaked
and spotted with black. Beyond the middle of all
the wings, there are three series of black spots, which
are of a rounded form in the two innermost rows,
and angular in the marginal one. The primary
wings are paler on the under side, many of the black
spots indistinctly marked, and the tip slightly tinged
in certain places with green. ‘The secondary wings
are green, with a brassy lustre, and ornamented with
four transverse streaks or irregular bands of silver-
white, the two next the base abbreviated, and the
fourth occupying the hinder margin; the space be-
tween the two hinder bands is tinged with yellow,
and bears traces of the two superficial rows of spots.
The body is covered with hairs the colour of the
158 SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY.
wings, changing into yellowish-green in certain
lights. The under side of the antenne, and the
apex of the club, are ochre-yellow.
The caterpillar is light brown, yellowish on the
back, with two dark lines along the sides ; the spines
are long and hairy, and two placed on the first seg-
ment just behind the head, are considerably longer
than the rest. (See Plate III. Fig. 5.) It feeds on
the dog’s violet and raspberry. The perfect insect is
not uncommon in nearly all parts of England, and
is found also in Scotland, but much less frequently:
7 .
BR i
159
Genus VANESSA.
In this genus the antenne terminate in an oval
club; the palpi approximate at the extremity, and
project obliquely, forming a kind of beak in front of
the head : the basal joint is short and curved, the se-
cond very long and tapering, and the terminal one
slender and conical: the wings angular, or having
projecting points on the hinder margin; legs alike in
both sexes ; the anterior pair not formed for walking,
the tarsus being composed of a single compressed
spatulate piece, and densely clothed with long hairs ;
the four posterior tarsi terminating in double claws,
with a minute heart-shaped appendage between them.
The caterpillars are armed with long spines, but
have the segment next the head naked. The chry-
salis is angular, with two projecting points on the
head, and is suspended by the tail. Several of the
Vanesse are among our most common insects, and
they are surpassed by few in the beauty and variety
of their colours. The wings are thick and of a rigid
texture, and the body so much more robust than in
the generality of their tribe, that they frequently pass
the winter in a kind of dormant state, and again take
wing on the returning warmth of spring. They pre-
sent some differences in the structure of their oral
organs, and ought perhaps, in strict propriety, to
form two or three subgenera.
160
COMMA BUTTERFLY.
Vanessa C-album.
PLATE XVII. Fre. 1.
Papilio C-album, Linn.—Donovan, vi. 45, pl. 199.
Tuts is the smallest species of the genus inhabit-
ing Britain, and differs considerably from the others
in the form of the wings. The colour of the upper
side is reddish-yellow, generally darker in the male
than in the female, irregularly spotted with black,
and having the hinder margin dark brown ; two of
the largest spots on the upper wings are placed on
the anterior border, the others, four or five in num-
ber, occupy the disk ; on the under wingss there are
usually three irregular black spots or patches. The
colour of the under side is dark brown, often inclin-
ing to yellow, the basal half of the wings and the
apex being darkest; on the paler portion of the an-
terior pair there is an obscure band of green, and
two indistines rows of greenish ocelli may be traced
across both wings, not very far from the outer mar-
gin: the hinder wings have a short curved line of
pure white near the middle, resembling the letter C
reversed, from which the species derives its name.
PLATE li
ty
\ BN Bain .
Se, S -
r : 7 ,
l Varvessa ( alhurn 2 i WWESS/T pole Alores
+ FI , , >
Comma B. Larae Tortoi se-shell £&.
COMMA BUTTERFLY. 161
The antennz are black above, and brown with white
rings beneath ; the club tipped with yellow.
The colour of the caterpillar is brownish-red,
with a broad dorsal band of white extending from
before the middle to the hinder extremity. The
head is nearly heart-shaped, and bears two large
hairy tubercles, one on each side, resembling ears.
It consumes the foliage of various trees, shrubs, and
herbaceous plants, such as the elm and willow, the
currant, hazel, honeysuckle, and the common nettle.
The fly is by no means of frequent occurrence in
Britain, at least in certain years, and does not ap-
pear to extend far north, although we have heard of
its having been seen in Fifeshire in Scotland. It
has been found abundantly near Hertford, in Suffolk,
in the neighbourhood of York, and occasionally in
most of the midland counties of England. The first
brood appears in the end of June or beginning of
July, and the second in September. Such as are
produced late in the year, are usually of a much
paler colour than those of the early summer. The
insect is very common in most parts of the Conti-
nent, and is known in the French provinces, and has
been described by Geoffroy, under the name of Ro-
bert le diable !
162
GREAT TORTOISE-SHELL.
Vanessa polychloros.
PLATE XVII. Fie.-2.
Pap. polychloros, Linn.—Donovan, viii. 69, pl. 278.
Tuts species bears considerable resemblance to
V. Urtice in its colour and markings, but it is usual-
ly much larger, the expansion of the wings some-
times exceeding two inches and a half. The upper
side is dark orange, inclining to ochre-yellow towards
the anterior margin, and at the sides of some of the
spots. The upper wings have two large quadrate
black spots, like abbreviated bands, on the anterior
margin ; two smaller spots, placed obliquely, towards
the base ; two small rounded ones on the disk, and
another near the hinder angle. The hinder wings
are marked with a single black spot of considerable
size near the middle of the anterior margin. Both
wings have a deep border of black externally, orna-
mented with a series of crescents, which are pale in
the anterior pair, but blue in the others, and bounded
by two parallel lines of pale yellow. On the under
side, the basal half of all the wings is dark brown, -
the remainder yellowish-grey, finely marked with
GREAT TORTOISE-SHELL. 163
undulating lines of brown, and an obscure row of
bluish crescents towards the tip. Three pale spots
are observable on the anterior part of the upper
wings, and one near the middle of the hinder pair.
* The caterpillar is bluish or brownish, with a
lateral stripe of orange; the spines are slightly
branched and yellowish. While young, these larve
live together under a silken web, which they spin
for their protection; but they disperse after they
have changed their first skin. They feed on the
willow and elm, and also on some kinds of fruit-
trees, particularly the cherry. The chrysalis is
flesh-coloured, with golden spots near the neck.”*
Although abundant in most parts of the conti-
nent of Europe, the Great Tortoise-Shell (or Elm
Butterfly, as it is sometimes called), cannot be rank-
ed among the most common of our day-flying Le-
pidoptera; at least, it is scarce in many districts,
and appears in plenty in others only in certain years.
It occurs in all the southern counties of [ngland,
and in the Isle of Wight; we have traced it as far
north as Dunkeld, and have seen notices of its ha-
ving been frequently observed in many of the inter-
mediate counties. There seems to be but one flight
in the season, which usually takes place about the
middle of July. On the Continent, it appears both
in spring and towards the close of summer. |
* Encyclop. Methodique: Papillon, p. 305.
164
SMALL TORTOISE-SHELL.
Vanessa Urnee.
PLATE XIX, Fre. T.
Pap. Urtice, Linn. &e.
THE prevailing colour of the upper side is orange-
red, inclining to yellow, especially on the anterior
margin ; the latter is marked with three large quad-
rate black spots, placed obliquely, beyond which
there is a small white mark; towards the middle of
the hinder margin there is another large black spot,
and two small round ones on the disk; the hinder
margin is widely bordered with black, and ornament-
ed with a series of blue crescents, and two undulat-
ing lines of pale yellow : the basal half of the under
wings is black, the rest orange red, except the hin-
der margin, which resembles that of the anterior
wings. On the under side the anterior wings are
pale yellowish, with three large patches of dark
srown towards the base; the tip mottled with brown
and marked with an indistinct row of dusky cres-
cents: the basal portion of the under wings is dark-
brown beneath, with a small white dot in the middle,
the rest light-grey, mottled with brown, and marked
with an indistinct row of bluish-black triangular
PLATE 19,
Me We Pilg. ei 4
iit bl
aN y i a
awl NW) yr ath Www.
17 5
Ll. Varu a Uhien A. Ccunthin
Small Tortotwse-sheliB. P
—_ =
(Cal Fy
Ltsii le CELALY 4
SMALL TORTOISE-SHELL. 165
spots. The body and base of the wings are clothed
with long brownish hairs, and the antennz are va-
riegated with white.
The caterpillars of this species feed on the nettle,
and for some time after they are excluded from the
egg, live together in little family associations, but
disperse as soon as their increasing size renders a
larger supply of food necessary. They are of a
blackish colour, with four yellowish stripes, two
along the back, and one on each side ; the body be- ©
set with strong branched spines.
This is by far the most common insect of the
genus, occurring abundantly in all parts of England,
and extending to the northern extremity of Scotland.
Considerable numbers pass the winter in a torpid
state, and issue from their retreats on the first warm
days of March. In the south of Scotland, where
it is known by the name of the Devil’s Butterfly,
and Witch's Butterfly, we have occasionally observed
it on the wing even before that period, and it has
been noticed in the Isle of Wight on the 8th of Ja-
nuary.* There appear to be at least two broods
annually, one in June, and another in September.
In the south of Europe it is likewise a prevalent
species, and in Italy it continues on the wing in
fine weather the whole winter. Its metamorphoses
are admirably delineated by Swammerdam under
the name of the Common Dutch Day Butterfly.t
* Loudon’s Mag. of Nat. Hist. v. p. 595.
+ Book of Nature, pl. xxxiv. and xxxv.
i66
PEACOCK’S EYE.
Vanessa To.
PLATE XVIII. Fic. 1.
Pap. Io, Linn.—Donovan, vi. 67, pl. 206.
Tue colour of this elegant insect is deep brown-
ish-red, inclining to purple, with a large eye-like
spot on each wing. On the anterior wings, this spot
is placed near the apex, and is composed of a yellow
crescent on the inner side, a semicircular patch of
blue externally, and a large reddish-brown pupil,
which becomes darker anteriorly, where it unites
with the black margin. On the outer side of the
pupil, there are three small spots of a whitish-blue
colour, forming an irregular line with two others
placed in the red portion of the wing. The ocellus
is bounded internally by a triangular patch of black,
next to this is a yellow spot, succeeded by a black
triangular one, which does not reach the anterior
margin; the latter towards the base is yellowish,
with transverse lines of black. The ocellus of the
hinder wings consists of a large black central patch,
spotted with blue, and encircled by a zone of pale
silky-brown, which is bounded anteriorly by a large
PLATE
Peat sock B.
1&8.
2a Vanessié Ante Vile
Camberwell beauty
Ee fer Ltzarxse
PEACOCK’S EYE. 167
black crescent. The under side of the wings is
shining dark-brown, with transverse undulating lines
of deep black, the five bluish-white spots of the up-
per wings appearing as pale points, and another si-
milar spot is observable in the middle of the hin-
der wings. The body is blackish, and clothed with
rust-coloured hairs : the legs dull yellow.
The caterpillar feeds on the two common species
of stinging nettle. It is of a shining black colour,
with numerous white points somewhat disposed in
transverse lines, and having the hinder legs rust-red.
This highly beautiful insect, which the earliest of
our British naturalists styles “ omnium regina,” is
much less extensively distributed than the preceding
species. Although abundant in most parts of Eng-
land, there appear to be certain districts even in the
south where it is not common, and it gradually be-
comes scarce as we advance northwards. The most
northern place where it has occurred in plenty, is
the vicinity of York, and it probably does not extend
beyond the Frith of Forth. Throughout the south
of Scotland, indeed, it is seldom seen, although it
nas been stated, through some mistake, to be a com-
mon species in that quarter. We know it to have
occurred sparingly near Edinburgh, and also in Rox-
burghshire and Dumfriesshire.
168
SAMBERWELL BEAUTY.
Vanessa Antiopa.
PLATE XVIII. Fic. 2.
Papilio Antiopa, Linn.—Donovan, iii. 45, pl. 89.—Lewin,
pl. 1.—The Willow Butterfly, Wilke’s English Butter-
Juies, pl. 113.—Curtis, B. E. ii. 96.
Tus is one of the largest of our indigenous but-
terflies, the expansion of the wings sometimes ex-
ceeding three inches. The upper side of both wings
is a uniform deep purplish-brown, having the ap-
pearance of velvet, bounded externally by a broad
band of velvet-black, in which are placed a series of
pretty large violet-blue spots, of an oblong shape on
the hinder wings, but usually with a tendency to a
crescent form in the anterior pair: beyond this there
is a broad cream-coloured border, slightly waved on
the inner side, and sprinkled with minute black
points, especially on the salient angles. ‘The ante-
rior border has two cream-coloured spots beyond
the middle, and is mottled with yellow towards the
base. The under side is shining dark brown, with
transverse waved lines of deep black, and a small yel-
lowish spot near the middle of each wing, and two
larger ones on the anterior border.
CAMBERWELL BEAUTY. 169
The caterpillar, like most of those belonging to
this genus, is gregarious, and consumes the foliage
of various trees, particularly the birch, willow, and
poplar. The colour of its body is black, with a se-
ries of spots along the back, and the eight interme
diate legs red. ,
“‘ This fine species,” says Mr Curtis, “is render-
ed rare and remarkable in this country by its pe-
riodical appearance, the cause of which has never
hitherto been ascertained. The most probable con-
jecture is (as Mr Haworth has observed), that ‘ their
eggs in this climate, like the seeds of some vege-
tables, may occasionally lie dormant for several sea-
sons, and not hatch until some extraordinary but
undiscovered coincidence awake them into active
life.’ Until four or five years since, V. Antiopa
had not been seen for nearly forty years, when it
was exceedingly abundant in different parts of the
kingdom. In the year 1819, a few were taken in
Suffolk, and Mr Samouelle captured one the follow-
ing spring that had lived through the winter, since
which period it has not been seen. It has received
its English name from having been first observed at
Camberwell, whither it might have been attracted
by willows, upon which the larve feed. The but«
terfly is found in the beginning of August. It. fre-
quents woods, and is strong and rapid in flight.”*
‘** This species has been once taken in Scotland,
near Beith in Ayrshire.” James Wilson, Esq.
* British Entom. ii. 96,
170
ADMIRAL RED.
Vanessa Atalanta.
PLATE 2X. Fre. 7:
Pap. Atalanta, Linn.— Donovan, viii. pl. 260.—Lewin, pl. 7.
—Pap. major nigricans, &c. The Admiral, Ray’s Ins.
126.—The Admirable, 4/bin, p. 3—Admiralis Atalanta,
the Alderman, Rennie.
THE upper side of this beautiful insect is deep
black, with a fine silky gloss: the upper wings
have a broad band of red running from the anterior
margin obliquely across the surface nearly to the
hinder angle, where it is considerably incurved, be-
yond which are six white spots, small and rounded,
except the two at the anterior margin, of which the
inner one is large and quadrate, and the other some-
what crescent-shaped ; beyond these there is a faint
bluish streak parallel with the apical margin: the
under wings have a broad border of red behind, in
which there is a series of small angular black spots,
and two semicircular patches of blue at the inner
angles. On the under side of the anterior wings the
oblique band is ochreous-red, becoming paler at the
hinder extremity ; towards the base of the wing there
is a narrow waved streak of blue, and two others of
1 Vanessa Atalanta 2 Limentts Camilla
Red Admiral WAzte A TAT Ae
ADMIRAL RED. 17%
red, one of which is united to the central band ; be-
yond the latter are two irregular blue streaks, and
the extreme tip of the wing is of a tawny colour, in
which are two of the smaller white spots surrounded
with a dusky ring: the hinder wings are finely
marbled with undulating lines and spots of black,
brown, and yellowish-grey, the latter forming a large
patch near the middle of the anterior edge. The
fringe of the wings is white, interrupted with black.
The caterpillar is solitary, and feeds on the nettle.
It prefers the seed of that plant to the leaves, and
usually protects itself from the weather by drawing
a few leaves around it, which it secures by silken
threads. It is greenish, or nearly black, with a ma-
cular line of yeliow along each side.
It is common in England, and occurs in some
plenty apparently in all parts of Scotland. Itis most
frequently seen towards the end of autumn, and de-
lights to alight on the flower of the dahlia, or some
late flowering aster. It is found in all parts of Eu-
rope, in the United States of America, and the coun-
tries of Africa skirting the Mediterranean. In the
East Indies, and in the island of Teneriffe, it is re
placed by a very closely allied insect, which beau-
tifully exemplifies the nice and occasionally almost
imperceptible gradations by which nature sometimes
passes from one species to another. The latter is
named V. vulcania, and the distinctive marks which
it presents are so slight, that they might seem rather
between those few days that intervene from the end
172 ADMIRAL RED.
a casual modification of the characters of V. atalanta,
than the indication of any specific difference ; yet the
two have a totally different range of geographical
distribution.* “ This insect very rarely appears,”
says a popular writer, speaking of V. atalanta, “ un-
til late in September, and then so perfect and fresh
in its plumage, as to manifest its recent production
from the chrysalis. In some years they abound, and
we may see twenty of these beautiful creatures ex-
panding and closing their brilliant wings under the
fruit trees on our walls, or basking upon the disc of
some autumnal flower; and at another, perhaps,
hardly a specimen is to be obtained; nor do they
seem, like the wasp, to be scarce or abundant ac-
cording to the deficiency or plenty of the season, but
influenced by other causes. Many of our butter-
flies are produced by successive hatches, supplying
the places of those which have been destroyed, and
here it is difficult to mark the duration of an indivi-
dual; and others, as the nettle, peacock, and wood
tortoise, in many instances survive the winter, hidden
in some recess or sheltered apartment, appearing in
the spring time-worn and shabby. But V. atalanta
appears only in the autumn, not as a preserved crea-
ture, but as a recent production ; and hence we can
ascertain the duration of its life to be comprised only
* A figure of V. Vulcania will be found in Loudon’s Mag.
of Nat. Hist., v. p. 752, where it is described by’an intelli-
gent observer as intermediate between V. Atalanta and C.
Cardui. Both Cramer and Herbst have figured it as a va-
riety of V. atalanta.
ADMIRAL RED. | 173
of September to the end of October, by which time
its food in our gardens has pretty well disappeared.
Some sheltered wall, garnished with the bloom of the
ivy, may prolong its being a little longer, but the
cold and the dampness of the season soon destroy it,
rendering the life of this creature, the most beautiful
of our lepidopterous tribes, of very brief duration.”*
* Journa: or a Naturalist, p. 290.
174
PAINTED LADY.
Cunthia Cardui.
PLATE XIX. Fie. 2.
Pap. Cardui, Linn.—Donovan, ix. pl. 292.—Lewin, pl. 6.—
Vanessa Cardui, Samou.—Curtis.—The Painted Lady,
Wilkes, pl. 107.—Harrts, Aur. pl. 11.
THE genus Cynthia approaches so closely to the
foregoing, that if it is held to be distinct, it can only
be regarded with propriety as a subgenus. The
chief difference is in the form of the wings, which
in Cynthia are scarcely angular, and the hinder pair
are rounded and simply scolloped without any pro-
jecting lobe. The club of the antenne is very
short and abrupt, and the palpi are long, gradually
nalrowing toapoint. The upper wings of the only
species found in Britain are tawny-brown at the
base, the middle ochre-red, inclining to carmine,
with a very irregular transverse patch of black, and
a large portion at the apex black, adorned with five
white spots, the inner one largest, and placed
obliquely, the others somewhat rounded, and the
two in the middle rather minute. Near the margin
PAINTED LADY. 175
there is an indistinct series of white crescents, be-
yond this a row of faint yellow spots, and the fringe
is white, interrupted with black. The secondary
wings are tawny brown at the base and inner side,
and black anteriorly, the remaining portion ochrey-
red, spotted with black, the latter forming three rows
behind ; the first consisting of five round spots, some
of them indistinctly ocelliform ; the second of a se-
ries of crescents, and the third of pretty large patches
placed on the projecting points of the hinder border.
The anal angle is ornamented with a pretty large
black spot, with a streak of blue behind. On the
under side, the primary wings are whitish at the Lase,
and have a large spot of that colour anteriorly, in
addition to those that correspond to the upper side ;
the tip is light brown, the two smallest spots en-
circled with black, which makes them resemble
ocelli; and the whole disk is tinged with a beautiful
tint of carmine, deepest towards the base, and inter-
mixed with ochre-yellow externally. The under
side of the hinder wings is delicately variegated with
light-brown, greyish-white, and yellow; the darker
portions intersected with white ramifications, in such
a manner as to produce in some places the appear-
ance of leaves springing from a stem. ‘Towards the
hinder extremity there is a row of five ocelli, the
outer one small and obsolete, that next to it and the
innermost one being largest, and powdered with blue
in the middle, the intermediate two powdered with
green: a row of purplish-blue crescents is placed be-
176 PAINTED LADY.
hind these, and the extreme mergin is brownish-yel-
low. The body is clothed with reddish-brown hairs
above, and with white beneath.
The caterpillar is very spiny, of a brownish-grey
colour, with interrupted yellow lines along the sides.
It is solitary, in this respect differing from all those
of the genus Vanessa except V. atalanta, and feeds
on different species of thistle, also on the nettle, mal-
low, artichoke, and several other plants. The chry-
salis is nearly of the same hue as the larve, and
thickly spotted with gold.
This species is generally scarce, but appears in
certain indefinite periods in considerable numbers.
[It was very abundant near London in 1826, but has
been less frequently met with since. ‘‘ Near Dur-
aam, but not common,” G. Andrews, Esq. In Scot-
land it is seen occasionally throughout the southern
division of the country ; and we once saw several
individuals in the Edinburgh Botanical Garden, in
the end of March, which had evidently just issued
from their winter retreat. It is very widely spread,
being found in America, the two extremities of
Africa, and in Java.
PLATE
; ipaliy a Iris.
Purple Emperor.
177
PURPLE EMPEROR.
Apatura Iris.
PLATE XXI.
Pap. Iris, Linn.—Donovan, pl. 37. ¢—Lewin, pl. 16.—The
Purple Emperor, Harris.—Purple Highflyer, Wilkes.
ANTENN2 long, the club elongate-ovate and con-
cave: palpi long, and projecting beyond the head,
where they meet and form a kind of beak ; the basal
and terminal joints nearly of equal length, the latter
conical, the intermediate one very long, slender, and
curved: wings somewhat triangular, the edge of the
primary pair nearly entire, the others slightly scol-
loped: eyes not pubescent; the anterior legs small
and imperfect in both sexes. The caterpillar has
the head divided behind into two long horns (PI. II.
fig. 6). The chrysalis has the head piece bifid, and
is suspended by the tail.
The surface of the wings, in the species above
named, is dark brown, changing when seen in
certain lights into purplish-blue of a very rich
tint. This brilliant reflection is not visible in the
female, and that sex is also distinguished by the
wings being of a paler brown, and having two ad
M
178 PURPLE EMPEROR.
ditional white spots towards the outer extremity
of the upper wings. In both sexes there are four
macular patches of white on the upper wings, the
two outermost consisting of two small spots each,
the two innermost more continuous, but somewhat
curved and interrupted at the nervures. The largest
of these patches is placed in a line with a bar of
white, which traverses the under wings in an oblique
direction, emitting a salient angle near the middle of
its outer edge. Midway between this band and a
pale tawny streak which circumscribes the wings not
far from the margin, there is a round black spot sur-
rounded by a ring of ochre-red : a streak of the lat-
ter colour is also observable at the anal angle, and on
the extremity of the adjoining nervure. On the under
side, the upper wings are rust-brown, inclining to
black in the middle, with a large ocellus towards the -
hinder angle, and two black spots not far from the
base, in addition to the white marks corresponding
to those on the upper side; the under wings have
the transverse white band rather broader than above,
and the ocellus appears smaller ; the base and hinder
portion are greyish, with something of a pearly lustre,
and a faint undulating brown line runs along the
margin. The body is black above, the under side
and legs greyish-white.
Both the caterpillar and chrysalis are pale green ;
the horns of the former reddish at the tip, and hav-
ing a yellow stripe down the outer side. It feeds
on the common salluw and oak.
PURPLE EMPEROR. 179
This fine insect, which is highly prized by collec-
tors both for its beauty, and the difficulty with which
it is obtained, has been occasionally found in many
of the southern counties of England, but it does not
extend far to the north. It has been found in some
plenty in Coombe-wood, Great and Little Stour
Woods, in Essex, Dodnash and Raydon Woods, in
Suffolk, &c. Owing to the strength and thickness
of its wings it is enabled to fly with greater velocity
than any other British butterfly, and to maintain a
lofty and continuous flight almost like the soaring of
a bird of prey. Its habits have been so well de-
scribed by Haworth in his Lepidoptera Britannica,
that we cannot refrain from extracting the passage.
“The Purple Emperor of the British Oaks is not
undeservedly the greatest favourite of our English
Aurelians. In his manners likewise, as well as in the
varying lustre of his purple plumes, he possesses the
strongest claims te their particular attention. Jn the
month of July he makes his appearance in the winged
state, and invariably fixes his throne upon the sum-
mit of a lofty oak, from the utmost sprigs of which,
on sunny days,. he performs his aerial excursions ;
when the sun is at the meridian, his loftiest flights
take place, and about four in the afternoon he re-
sumes his station of repose. He ascends to a much
greater elevation than any other insect, sometimes
mounting higher than the eye can follow ; especially
if he happens to quarrel with another Emperor, the
monarch of some neighbouring oak: they never meet
180 PURPLE EMPEROR.
without a battle, flying upwards all the while, and
combating with each other as much as possible, after
which they will frequently return again to the iden-
tical sprigs from whence they ascended. The wings
of this fine species are of a stronger texture than
those of any other in Britain, and more calculated
for that gay and powerful flight which is so much
admired by entomologists. The females, like those
of many other species, are very rarely seer on the
wing; in three days I captured twenty-three (nine of
them in one day), and never took a female at all.
The males fly very high, and are only to be taken
by a bag-net, fixed to the end of a rod twenty or
thirty feet long. There have been instances, though
very rare, of their settling on the ground near puddles
of water, and being taken there. When the Purple
Emperor is within reach, no fly is more easily taken ;
for he is so very bold and fearless, that he will not
move from his settling-place until you quite push
him off; you may even tip the ends of his wings,
and be suffered to strike him again.”
181
WHITE ADMIRAL.
Limenitis Camilla.
PLATE XX. Fic. 2.
Pap. Camilla, Linn.—Curtis, Brit. Ent. iii, pl. 124.—Dono-
van, Viii. pl. 244.—Lewin, pl. 8.—_ White Admiral, Petiver
and Curtis.—The White Admirable, Harris’ Aurelian,
pl. 30.
ANTENN thickening gradually from near the
middle almost to the apex, the club being slender
and elongated ; palpi not approximating at the tip,
the basal joint shortest and nearly oval, the second
one very long, and the terminal one elongate-ovate,
ending suddenly in a point ; wings not much longer
than broad, rounded and entire ; eyes pubescent ; legs
alike in both sexes, the anterior pair short and
slender, the tarsus formed of a single joint ending in
a small claw, the other claws nearly resembling those
of Vanessa. Caterpillar with obtuse fleshy projec-
tions on the back, fringed with hair (PI. III. fig. 7).
Chrysalis bifid at the head, and suspended by the
tail.
This elegant insect is about the size of larger spe-
cimens of the Small Tortoise-shell Butterfly, the ex-
pansion of the wings being nearly two inches. The
182 WHITE ADMIRAL.
colour is dull black above, variegated with obscure
dark spots. Both wings are traversed by a broad
oblique white band, which is very irregular on the up-
per pair, being widely interrupted in the middle, and
divided by the nervures into separate spots, the ante-
rior portion directed inwards ; where the band is in-
terrupted, there is a minute white spot, and a larger
one on a line with it externally; two others are
placed near the tip, and a fourth midway between the
white band and the base of the wing. On the hinder
wings the band is attenuated towards the anal angle ;
on the latter is a patch of rust-red surrounding two
black spots, and two rows of obscure dark spots oc-
cupy the space between the band and the hinder ex-
tremity. The prevailing colour on the under side
is brownish-yellow ; all the white spots of the upper
side are visible, with the addition of a few others,
and most of them have a faint pearly lustre. The
base of the hinder wings, and under side of the body,
are pale blue, and the yellowish-brown portions are
streaked and spotted with black. The fringe is
white, spotted with black ; the antenne rust-brown
on the tip and under side.
The caterpillar, which does not appear to have
been observed in England, is described by the con-
tinental naturalists as green, with the head, dorsal
appendages, and sides of the belly reddish. The
honeysuckle is its favourite food.
Like the preceding species, this msect must be
placed among our rarer British Butterflies. Some
WHITE ADMIRAL. : 183
of the south-eastern counties of England formerly
produced it in tolerable plenty, but of late years it has
been nowhere abundant, although it has been noticed
in a considerable number of places. The following
localities may be cited :—Woods near Rye, Sussex,
New Forest, Coombe-wood, Hartley-wood, Essex,
Berkshire, and Suffolk. It does not appear to inha-
bit the north of England nor Scotland. Few butter-
flies are greater favourites with aurelians than this,
and none have been more highly eulogized for the
gracefulness of their flight. ‘ The graceful elegance
displayed by this charming species,” says Mr Ha-
worth, ‘“ when sailing on the wing, is greater perhaps
than can be found in any other we have in Britain.”
“ In its beautiful flight,” says another writer, “ when
it skims aloft, it rivals the Purple Emperor, which it
strongly resembles in appearance. It seems, how-
ever (unlike the latter), to avoid the sunbeams, for
it frequents the glades of woods, where it rapidly in-
sinuates itself by the most beautiful evolutions and
placid flight through the tall underwood on each
side of the glades, appearing and disappearing like
so many little fairies.”* The insect is not rare on
the Continent, where there likewise occur four others
pertaining to the genus, some of them very closely
resembling the present species,
* Rey. Revett Sheppard, in Miss Jermyn’s Butterfly Cal-
lectors’ Vade Mecum, 2d edit. p. 121.
184
Genus HIPPARCHIA.
Wir the exception of Polyommatus, which ap-
proaches it in the number of species, this is by far
the most extensive genus among the British Butter-
flies. As at present constituted, however, it is not
of a very homogeneous nature, several of the insects
which it includes not only differing considerably from
each other in habit, but also in the form of the
wings, the proportions of the joints of the palpi, and
other essential parts of structure. None of the in-
digenous kinds are remarkable for the brightness of
their colours, the prevailing tints being deep brown,
relieved and variegated with ochre-yellow and brown-
ish-red ; and the under side is often ornamented with
eye-like spots. The caterpillars are almost inva-
riably of some shade of green, and are thus assimi-
lated, no doubt with a view to their safety, to the
colour of the plants on which they feed, viz. the dif-
ferent kinds of grasses. Their bodies are nearly
naked, or covered only with short hairs, and there
are two projecting points behind, which make the
anal extremity appear bifid. ‘The antenne are va-
riable in length, the club generally spindle-shaped,
or tapering at both ends, and curved; in H. semele,
\
GENUS HIPPARCHIA. 185
however, it is short and abrupt. The palpi are
longer than the head, rather remote from each other,
and not converging, the point curving downwards ;
the radical joint short, the terminal one, in certain
species, not half the length of the second, and ob-
tuse, while in others it is more than one half longer
than the second, and acute at the apex. The ante-
rior wings are sometimes angular, at other times
rounded, the hinder pair denticulated in most, but
entire in H. Cassiope, Davus, Hero, and Pamphilus ;
the basal areolet of the secondary wings closed.
The fore-legs are very short in both sexes, the others
with bifid claws. The chrysalis is double-beaked,
and is suspended perpendicularly.
186
SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERELY.
Hipparchia Aigeria.
PLATE XXIII. Fig. 4.
Pap. 4geria, Linn.—Donovan, xiv. 77, pl. 498.—Lewin, pl.
19.—Wood Argus, Wilkes——Speckled Wood Butterfly,
Harvis.
THE upper side is brown, the anterior wings with
ten or eleven pale yellow spots on each, placed irre-
gularly, and having a black ocellus with a white pupil
towards the apical angle. The hinder wings have
one or two yellow spots anteriorly, and a row of eyes
parallel with the hinder margin. These are four in
number, and consist of a round black spot, with a
white pupil, surrounded by a yellow ring; the ante-
rior one being much smaller than the others, and
without a pupil. The fringe of both wings is pale
yellow, the dark colour of the wing interrupting it
at the nervures, and making it appear like a series
of crescents. The under side of the wings is pale
yellow, clouded and streaked with brown ; the hinder
pair with undulating transverse lines, and a row of
five pale dots, encircled with brown, the space be-
tween which and the outer margin is sometimes
SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY. 187
glossed with violet. The upper and under sides of
the body are concolorous with the corresponding
faces of the wings.
The caterpillar is covered with a matted pubes-
cence of a green colour, and marked on the sides
with yellow or whitish lines. It feeds on various
grasses, but prefers the common couch-grass.
The Speckled Wood Hipparchia is a vernal spe-
cies, the first flight taking place in the beginning
ef April. This is succeeded by two others, one in
June, the other in August. It appears to extend
over all Britain. It is included in a list of Papilio-
nid@ found near Dover ;* we have received it from
the north of Scotland, and have often seen it in the
neighbourhood of Edinburgh, in Roxburghshire, and
other southern counties, and it is far from scarce in
most parts of England. From the notices we have
received, however, it appears to be rather scarce in
the vicinity of Newcastle and Durham.
* Loudon’s Mag. Nat. Hist. vol. 3.
188
WALL BUTTERFLY.
Hipparchia Megera.
PLATE XXII. Fie. 3.
Pap. Megera, Linn. Donovan, viii. p|. 279.—Orange Argus,
Lewin, pl. 21.—Great Argus, Wilkes.—Wall Butterfly,
Harris.
THE greater part of the anterior wings is orange-
yellow inclining to brown, with the hinder margin,
and several transverse irregular bands on the disk,
dark-brown ; each wing with a large ocellus towards
the tip, with a black iris and white pupil, sometimes
having a smaller one adjoining. The hinder wings are
dark-brown, with two transverse patches or bands
posteriorly, that next the margin broadest, and bear-
ing a row of ocelli, varying from three to five in num-
ber, the lateral ones frequently without a pupil. Be-
neath, the upper wings are pale, with the brown
bands faintly marked ; the ocellus, however, is large,
and surrounded with a brown ring; the under pair
nearly ash-grey, sprinkled -with black points, and
traversed by two narrow undulating brown lines, be-
tween which and the hinder margin there is a curved
series of six ocelli, that next the anal angle being
WALL BUTTERFLY. 189
double; behind this there is a waved band of pale
yellow. The fringe of the wings is whitish and
brown alternately.
The caterpillar is pubescent, of alight green, with
a whitish line on each side.
Far from being a scarce species, and apparently
found in all parts of tke country. It occurs in
April, July, and August.
190
THE GRAYLING.
Hipparchia Semele.
PLATE XXII. Fies. 1. & 2.
Pap. Semele. Linn.—Donovan, viii. pl. 259 9.—Lewin,
pl. 17.~The Gravling Butterfly, Harvis.
One of the larger species, the expansion of the
wing sometimes reaching two inches and six lines.
The greater part of the surface is brown, varying
greatly in the intensity of the shade. ‘Towards the
hinder edge of the anterior wings, the female has a
wide and irregular band or patch of pale yellow, ex-
tending nearly across the surface, in which are placed
two remote ocelli, with a white pupil and black
iris; the male has merely a yellowish patch roand
each ocellus. The basal half of the hinder wings,
as wel] as the posterior border, is brown in both
sexes, the intermediate portion being pale or reddish-
yellow, more or less obscured with dusky, and hav-
ing a small ocellus with a white pupil towards the
anal angle. On the under side, the anterior wings
are tawny at the base, the anterior and posterior
margins brownish, the latter marked with white ; the
disk is pale-yellow, and the two ocelli are conspi-
oOo
PLATE
THE GRAYLING. 191
cuous: the posterior wings are clouded with white
and dark brown, the basal half darkest, and the dark
part terminating near the middle, in an irregular
sinuated line ; there is likewise a small ocellus cor-
responding to that on the opposite surface.
The caterpillar and chrysalis are both light-green,
the former with brownish legs.
The butterfly frequents rocky and stony places,
and occurs rather plentifully in such situations in
most parts of the country. The rocky sides of Ar-
thur’s Seat, and similar localities throughout the
south of Scotland, afford it in considerable plenty in
certain years, and we have seen several examples
from Sutherland and other northern counties. Among
the numerous localities cited by English entomolo-
gists, we may mention Newmarket, Dartmoor, Nac-
ton Heath in Suffolk, and Lexden Heath in Essex.
In the neighbourhood of Newcastle, Mr Wailes in-
forms us that it is almost confined to the magnesian
limestone, and another correspondent states that
it is not unfrequent in stony places near Durham,
and in Castle Eden Dean, during the month of
July.
192
MARBLED WHITE BUTTERFLY.
Hipparchia Galathea.
PLATE XXIII. Fig. 1.
Pap. Galathea, Linn.—Donovan, viii. 15, pl. 258. ¢
Lewin, pl. 28.— Wilkes’ English Butterflies, pl. 100.
THE colours of this handsome species are black
and greenish-yellow, each of them occupying almost
equal portions of the surface. The upper wings
have a large somewhat oval yellow spot at the base,
three large patches of the same colour near the
middle, divided into spots by the black nervures, two
small ones near the anterior angle, and a row of
small points parallel with the margin; the fringe of
the latter with alternating spots of black and yellow.
There is likewise a large yellow spot at the base of
the under wings, a broad irregular band of the same
colour in the middle, traversed by the black ner-
vures, and a row of small yellow spots near the
hinder extremity. The under side is paler than the
upper, the greenish-yellow colour greatly predomi-
nating, all the wings having a row of large triangular
marks on the hinder margin. There is a small ocellus
near the tip of the upper pair, and five others on the
hinder wings, forming an irregular row, interrupted
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MARBLED WHITE BUTTERFLY. 193
a little beyond the middle ; that next the anal angle
is double. The body is black above, and densely
clothed, as well as the base of the wings, with yel-
lowish hairs. Varieties occur in which one of the
colours occupies greater part of the wing: that in
which the black predominates has been taken near
Dover ;* in the other, which has been named Leu-
comelas, the secondary wings are entirely white be-
neath.
The caterpillar is yellowish-green, with a dark
Ime along the back, and another on eachside. The
head is reddish-brown, and there are two small spines -
of the same colour on the hinder extremity. It is
found in May on the Timothy grass (Phleum pra-
tense).
This pretty butterfly is regarded as very local,
but its localities are pretty widely scattered over
the south of England. It is usually found in moist
glades, or in bogs and marshy ground, but some-
times frequents places of a very different description.
The following are a few of the stations in which it
has been observed in greatest plenty. Near Dover,
Teignmouth, woods at Baylham Hall, Ipswich, Da-
renth Wood, &c. It is likewise abundant near
York, which is probably its most northern residence,
as it is not known to occur in Scotland.
* This variety is figured by Esper (die Schmetterlinge,
tab. iij, fig. 4), and a.similar one is represented in Loudon’s
Mag. Nat. Hist. v. 335.
N
a4
LARGE HEATH.
Hipparchia Tithonus.
PLATE XXIII. Figs. 2. & 3.
Pap. Tithonus, Linn.—Pap. Piloselle, Fa/r—Donovan
xii, pl. 405.—_The Gate Keeper, Harris’ Aurel., pl. 44.
Upper wings ochre-red, or reddish-yellow, with
the base brown, and the anterior and onter sides
widely margined with dark brown. On the outer
anterior angle of the reddish-yellow portion o* the
wing there is a pretty large round ocellated spot of
black, with two minute white points in the centre.
The hinder wings are likewise brown, with a large
reddish-yellow mark in the centre, which bears a
minute ocellus on the side nearest the anal angle.
On the under side, the upper wings are coloured as
above, but the hinder pair are greyish-brown, with
a very irregular cross band of light grey behind the
middle, in which there are usually four minute white
points approximating in pairs, aud surrounded by a
brown cloud. The male is considerably smaller
than the female, more deeply coloured, and has a
brown cloud in the middle of the coloured portion
of the fore wings.
LARGE HEATH. 195
The caterpillar, which feeds on the annual meadow
~ grass (Poa annua), is of a green colour, with a red-
dish line on each side, and a brown head. The but-
terfly appears in June, and is of frequent occur-
rence in England, and many places in the south of
Scotland.
196
MEADOW-BROWN BUTTERFLY.
Hipparchia Janira.
PLATE XXIV. Fies. 1. & 2.
Pap. Janira, Linn. 6.—Pap. Jurtina 9, Linn.—P. Jurtina,
Donovan, ix. 69. pl. 320.—Lewin, pl. 18.
TuHIs species is considerably larger than the pre-
ceding, the wings of the female sometimes expand-
ing nearly two inches. The ground colour is brown,
varying considerably in shade, but usually darkest
in the male. In that sex, the upper wings are in
general entirely brown, with a small ocellus towards
the apex encircled with reddish-yellow ; but in the
female, there is a large transverse patch of ochre-
yellow beyond the middle of the wing, in which is
placed a large black ocellus, with a white pupil, and
the space between this patch and the base is very
obscurely tinged with reddish-yellow. The hinder
wings are usually unspotted in the male, but those
of the female have frequently an obscure yellowish
mark in the middle. The under side of the primary
wings is tawny-orange, with a paler band not far
from the hinder margin, in which is placed an ocel-
lus, as on the upper surface, sometimes having a
EVATRE 24,
Meadow Lrown Lutter 17, y.
5 Lap. Casstope-Mountin 7 wiglee 4 Hipp Hyperanthuas
|. Lepparchia Janira, male. 2 Female,
Lie-717 ruplet
LA XO S FC
. 5
t
the latter streaked with brown. It feeds on several
common grasses, particularly the Smooth-stalked
Meadow-grass (Poa pratensis). The butterfly is
first seen on the wing in the beginning of June, and,
next to the White Cabbage species, may perhaps be
regarded as the most common insect of its tribe in-
habiting Britain. ‘ Amid the tribes of insects,”
says Mr Kapp, “ particularly influenced by sea-
sons, there are a few which appear little affected by
common events: the Brown Meadow Butterfly, so
well known to every one, I have never missed in
any year ; and in those damp and cheerless summers
when even the White Cabbage Butterfly is scarcely
to be found, this creature may be seen in every tran-
sient gleam, drying its wings, and tripping from flower
to flower, with animation and life, nearly the sole
possessor of the field and its sweets. Dry and ex-
hausting as the summer may be, yet this dusky but-
terfly is uninjured by it, and we see it in profusion
hovering about the sapless foliage. In that arid
summer of 1826, the abundance of these creatures
198 RINGLE1 BUTTERFLY.
was so obvious as to be remarked by very indiffe-
rent persons.” *
THE RINGLET BUTTERFLY.
Hyparchia Hyperanthus.
PLATE XXIV. Fic. 4.
Pap. Hyperanthus, Linn.—Donovan, viii. pl. 271.—The
Ringlet, Harris’ Aurel. pl. 35.
Tue whole upper surface is of a uniform brown
colour, generally without eye-like spots, but not un-
frequently having two or three on each wing not very
distinctly formed. The under side is pale brown,
the anterior wings with two or three ocelli towards
the tip, which are sometimes large and conspicuous,
especially in the females, and occasionally almost ob-
literated: the hinder wings have usually five ocelli,
variable in size, two of them placed close together
towards the anterior margin, and three others in a
line behind, the inner one being usually smallest.
The body and base of the wings are clothed with
dark-brown hairs; the fringe is light grey ; and the
antenne variegated with white, and having the club
of a rust-red colour.
The caterpillar feeds chiefly on the Annual Mea-
dow-grass in this country: on the Continent it is
* Journal of a Naturalist. pn. 288.
MOUNTAIN RINGLET. 199
also found on the Millium effusum. It is greyish-
white, with a narrow brown line on the back; some-
times, however, it is entirely blackish.
This sombre-coloured, but not inelegant butterfly,
is pretty abundant in all parts of Britain, frequent-
ing meadows, the open parts of woods, and the sides
of corn-fields. The variations which it presents in
the magnitude and number of the ocelli are very nu-
merous.
MOUNTAIN RINGLET.
Hipparchia Cassiope.
PLATE XXIV. Fic. 3.
Fabricius.—Pap. Mnemon, Haworth, Entom. Trans.—Ste-
phens’s Il/us. Haust. vol.i. pl. 8—P. melampus, Herbst.
—P. Alcyone, Borkh.
Mucu less than the preceding species, the wings
expanding about 16 lines. The colour is dark brown,
with a silky gloss, the upper wings having a red
band towards the apex, somewhat interrupted at the
nervures, and marked with a row of from three to
five black spots: the short band of the hinder wings
consists of a few continuous red marks, each bearing
a small black spot. The under side of the anterior
wings differs from the upper only in having the disk
200 MOUNTAIN RINGLET.
more or less tinged with rust-red: the hinder wings
are ash-brown beneath, at least in one of the sexes,
having three black spots behind, surrounded by 4
reddish iris. The fringe of the wings is brown; the
antennz black above and white below.
This species is readily distinguished from any of
its associates by its inferior size. The red band on
the wings varies greatly, and in some instances it is
without black dots in the upper pair. ‘The insect is
very local in this country, almost the only localities
being in the mountainous districts of Cumberland
and Westmoreland. On the continent, it inhabits
Switzerland, and the mountainous countries of the
south of France, in considerable pienty.
PLATE 25.
1 Hippar Sua Ligea.
Arran brown
2 Hipparchia Blendina
a ee 1 vir
\COLClL_ AT Gus
¥
201
ARRAN BROWN BUTTERFLY.
Hipparchia Ligea.
PLATE XXYV. Fic. 1.
Pap. Ligea, Linn.—Stephens’ Illust. of Brit. Ent. Haust.
vol. i. pl. 6.
In this species, the expansion of the wings is
from eighteen to twenty-two lines. ‘The colour of
the upper side is brown, and there is an abbreviated
reddish band towards the extremity of each wing
On the upper pair, this band bears four black ocelli,
with white pupils; the latter, however, are wanting
in the male. The hinder band likewise bears three
ocelli, presenting the same sexual difference. The un-
der side is somewhat paler than the upper, the mark-
ings on the anterior wings not differing materially from
those on the surface: the most striking peculiarity
of the hinder pair is an irregular white band, widest
near the anterior edge, wlfich-extends nearly across
the wing; behind this are three round spots, com-
posed of a red ring enclosing a black ocellus, with
a white pupil. All the wings are surrounded with
a white fringe, spotted with brown. The antennxw
are white beneath.
902 SCOTCH ARGUS BUTTERFLY-
The caterpillar is green, blackish ou the back,
and having longitudinal white stripes on the sides.
The butterfly is very rare in this country. We
nave not heard of any other locality than the Isle of
Arran, where it was first found by Sir Patrick
Walker and A. MacLeay, Esq. It is not an un-
common species in several northern countries of Eu-
rope, frequenting meadows and woods.
SCOTCH ARGUS BUTTERFLY.
Hipparchia Blandina.
PLATE XXV. Fic. 2.
Pap. Blandina, Fabricius.—Donovan, xii. 87. pl. 426.
‘THE colour is brown, generally of avery deep shade,
sometimes approaching to black. Each of the upper
wings has a red band externally, which usually bears
four ocelli, with bluish-white pupils, the two fore-
most being united; one of them is occasionally ob-
solete, and they likewise vary in number. The red
band on the hinder wings is short and indistinct: it
is somewhat interrupted at the nervures, and has
usually three small black ocelli, with white pupils.
The markings of the upper wings nearly correspond
on both sides; but the hinder pair, beneath, are
crossed behind the middle by a broad irregular band
SCOTCH ARGUS BUTTERFLY. 203
of grey, inclining to blue, in which one or two minute
ocelli are visible. In addition to this band, the fe-
maie has the base of the wings and the hinder mar-
gin greyish. ‘The fringe is light brown in the male,
but inclining to white in the female, and interrupted
with brown.
The caterpillar is light green, with brown and
white longitudinal stripes; head reddish. The egg
is ribbed, and of a whitish colour, speckled with
brown.
This insect was first discovered in the Island of
Arran many years ago, and has been found abun-
dantly since in many parts of the country. It oc-
curs in some plenty over a district of considerable
extent in Dumfriesshire—near Minto in Roxburgh-
shire —occasionally near Edinburgh, ard probably
in most of the southern counties of Scotland. In
England, it has been found abundantly in Castle Eden
Dean; and Mr Wailes informs us that it exists in
profusion in one or two places in the magnesian lime-
stone district not far from Newcastle.
204
SCARCE SMALL RINGLET BUTTERFLY.
Hipparchia Davus.
PLATE XXVI. Fic. 1.
Pap. Davus, £ab.—Pap. Hero, Donovan, vi. pl. 186.—
Lewin, pl. 28, figs. 5. & 6.
Tue expansion of the wings is from 15 to 2C
lines ; the colour of the surface obscure ochrey-yel-
low, inclining to brown, the fringe and interior edge
of the hinder wings dull white: towards the hinder
margin of the upper wings, there are usually two
ocelli without pupils, and a curved row of three or
four others, likewise without any central dot, not far
from. the hinder margin of the secondary pair. LBe-
neath, the upper wings are brighter yellow than
above, the apex greyish-white, each with a cross band
of white beyond the middle, and exterior to it two
remote ocelli, having a black iris and a white pupil,
and occasionally a small imperfect one between them.
The secondary wings underneath are very pubes-
cent, greenish-brown from the base nearly to the
middle, where that colour terminates in an irregular
line, and is succeeded by a narrow and very unequal
white band, usually interrupted; the space behind
this is light brown, inclining te yellow, and orna-
PLATE 2
o
1. Hipparchia Ditvus. Small Ringlet
2. Polydama, Marsh Ringlet
—— eS anphilus. Stall Heath B
3
l fzahe $4
MARSH RINGLET BUTTERFLY. 2035
mented with six ocelli, consisting of a black iris with
a small silver-white pupil, and surrounded externally
by a yellowish-white ring. In number and size the
ocellated spots vary considerably, and the anal one
on the secondary wings is sometimes double.
This scarce insect frequents marshes and moist
heaths, and has occurred more frequently than else-
where in the vicinity of Manchester, and on Shorn
Moor in Yorkshire. Ashdown Forest has also been
cited as a locality.
MARSH RINGLET BUTTERFLY.
Hipparchia Polydama.
PLATE XXVI. Fic. 2.
Hip. Iphis & Polydama, Steph. Jermyn.—Pap. Typhon ;
Scarce Heath, Haworth.—Pap. Polydama, Haworth, Jer-
myn.—Pap. Tiphon, Esper.
THIS species is about the size of the preceding, to
which it is very closely related. The colour of the
surface is rusty ochre-yellow, obscured with brown,
the anterior wings frequently with one or two blind
ocelli towards the hinder margin ; the secondary
wings greyish-white on the abdominal edges and
round the outer margin, and fringed with rather long
whitish hairs, usually bearing a blind ocellus near
the anal angle, and occasionally one or two others
206 MARSH RINGLET BUTTERFLY.
on a line withit. Underneath, the primary wings ara
greenish-brown at the base, rather bright yellowish«
brown in the middle, and greyish at the apex, mark-
ed at some distance from the hinder margin with an
abbreviated white bar, beyond which are generally
two remote ocelli, with a minute silver-white pupil
and black iris, encircled by a whitish ring; one of
these ocelli sometimes obsolete. The basal half of
the hinder wings is brown, with long greenish hairs ;
beyond this there is a very irregular whitish band,
sometimes interrupted, the space beyond which is
greyish-brown (often with a fulvous cloud in the fe-
male near the middle), and five or six ocelli, some of
them usually small and indistinct, and the anterior
one sometimes placed in the white band. The an-
tenn are brown above, ringed with white, the club
tawny.
Caterpillar and chrysalis dark green, the former
with a dark line along the back.
This insect, which may ultimately prove to be
only a variety of the preceding one, occurs not un-
frequently on marshy heaths in the months of July
and August. Mr Wailes finds it frequently in such
situations near Newcastle: it also occurs near York,
in North Wales, &. It was seen in great abun-
dance Jast summer in Sutherlandshire, as well as in
others of the more northern counties of Scotland ,
and we have received it from Argyll and Perth-
shire.
SMALL HEATH BUTTERFLY.
Hipparchia Pamphilus.
PLATE XXVL. Fic. 3.
Pap. Pamphilus, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 23.—The Small Heath
or Gate Keeper, Harris, Aurel. pl. 21.—Golden Heath
Kye, Petiver.
Tuis pretty little butterfly is very common in all
parts of the country, on heaths and upland pastures.
It appears first in the beginning of June, and there
is a second flight in September. The expansion of
the wings is usually about 13 or 14 lines: the co-
lour of the upper side light ochre-yellow, the outer
margin of the wings slightly dusky, and surrounded
with a fringe of rather long whitish hairs. The pri-
mary wings on the under side are ash-coloured on
the anterior edge and at the tip, the latter ornament-
ed with a conspicuous black ocellus, with a white
pupil, and a pale ring externally: the situation of
this ocellus is indicated on the upper side by a dusky
spot. The secondary wings are pubescent, green-
ish-brown at the base, the centre ash-coloured, and
the hinder part brownish-grey, with a few whitish
points encircled by a yellow ring, which, however,
are always indistinct, and often obliterated. ‘The
antennee are brownish, with white rings.
208 SILVER RINGLET BUTTERFLY.
Both the caterpillar and chrysalis are greenish ;
the former somewhat dusky on the back, and ha-
ving a white line on each side. It feeds on the
Crested Dog’s-tail Grass (Cynosurus cristatus).
Besides the above species of Hipparchia, the
names of two others have been inserted in our indi-
genous lists, viz. H. Hero and H. Arcanius, on the
doubtful authority of a single specimen of each, said
to have been found many years ago by Mr Palstead.
As both species are abundant on the continent, ex«
tending even to the more northern parts of Sweden,
it is not improbable that they may likewise inhabit
this country, and we have therefore subjoined their
distinctive characters.
SILVER RINGLET BUTTERFLY.
Lipparchia Hero.
Pap. Hero, Linn.—Pap. Sabacus, Fab.—Hipp. Hero, Cur-
tis, B. E. v. pl. 205.
Browy, inclining to yellow. Upper wings pale
anteriorly, with an orange stripe close to the posterior
margin, near which are two small remote ocelli;
the hinder wings with an orange stripe posterior-
ly, and four large ocelli, with black irides. On
the under side, the primary wings are orange at the
posterior margin, which is adorned with a silvery
line, and two small remote ocelli; the secondary
wings with a broad orange posterior band, enclosing
HIPPARCHIA ARCANIUS. 209
five large and two small ocelli, forming a curved
line, behind which there is a narrow stripe of silver.
Taken near Wythyham, on the borders of Ash-
down Forest, Sussex.
Hipparchia Arcanius.
Pap. Arcanius, Linn.—Hipp. Arcanius, Jermyn.—Curiis,
B. Ey. 205. *
“ THE superior wings are fulvous on both sides,
with the terminal border of a dark brown above,
but lighter beneath, and having opposite the apex
a small ocellus with a white pupil and yellow iris.
The surface of the inferior wings is obscure brown,
with asmall yellow spot placed at the anal angle, and
surmounting a yellowcrescent. Their under side is
reddish, tinged with green at the base; the middle
traversed obliquely by a white angular band, which
bears at its commencement on its inner side a black
ocellus, having a pupil of bright white, and on its
outer side four or five similar ocelli, the two anterior of
which, and the anal one, when present, are smaller
than the others. There is, besides, a curved silvery
line along the posterior border.
‘* The caterpillar is green, with dark dorsal lines
and yellow lateral rays. It lives on the Melica ci-
liata.” *
The only British example that has occurved was
found in the same place as H. Hero.
* Godart, Pap. de France. i. 174.
O
210
The three following genera compose the family
Lycenide of Dr Leach, and the Polyommatide of
Swainson. Most of them are insects below the middle
size, but all are distinguished by delicate markings,
and many by great brilliancy of colour. The ca-
terpillars are oval and depressed, and termed onisci-
form, from their resemblance to the small Myria-
pode of the genus Oniscus. The genus THECLA
has antenne gradually thickening to the apex, palpi
with the terminal joint short, slender, and oval, eyes
pubescent, and the claws undivided and very mi-
nute. The upper wings are triangular and entire,
but the secondary pair produce one or two caudal
appendages near the anal angle. All the species
are brown above, and usually have the under side
adorned with narrow undulating lines of pale yellow
or white. The larve are never found on herbace-
ous plants, but confine themselves to trees and
shrubs.
PLATE 27,
WA,
° [Nal
SAAN LR
SNA ay +
Via ~e ‘tg p
A ( Sue
LS sca
1. LThecla Betiilae male 2. tim. 3.Thecla Quercus tem. 4.maie,
brown Har streak, Purple Haw streak
211
BROWN HAIR-STREAK.
Thecla Betule.
PLATE XXVII. Fics. 1 & 2.
Pap. Betule, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 42.—Donovan, viii. pl.
250.9—Brown Hair-Streak, Harris.
Tuis is the largest British species of the present
group, the expansion of the wings sometimes reachi-
ing eighteen lines. The colour of the upper side is
dark brown, with a silky gloss, the fringe whitish ;
towards the middle of the anterior wings there is a
blackish ill-defined mark, usually with a faint yellow
cloud beyond it in the male, and a large kidney-shaped
orange patch in the female. The secondary wings
in both sexes are covered with fine silky hairs inter-
nally, and the two projecting lobes at the anal angle
are marked with reddish-yellow. The under side is
entirely tawny yellow, inclining to red at the hinder
extremity, particularly of the posterior wings, with
two narrow transverse undulating white lines, edged
with black, the anterior one abbreviated, and form-
ing only a dusky streak on the upper wings, edged,
with white. The antenne are ringed with white
and the apex of the club is rust-red.
213 BROWN HAIR=STREAK.
The caterpillar is green, with yellow streaks along
the back, and transverse rays of the same colour on
the sides. It feeds on the common birch, blackthorn,
plum, &c. The fly appears about the beginning of
August, but it is not often met with in this country,
although abundant in most other parts of Europe.
The following English localities may be mentioned,
a few of which have afforded it in some plenty.
Coombe-wood, woods near Ipswich, Reydon wood,
Andover, Dartmoor, Devonshire.
PURPLE HAIR-STREAK.
Thecla Quercus.
PLATE XXVII. Fics. 3 & 4,
Pap. Quercus, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 43.—Donovan, xiii. pl.
460.—The Purple Hair-Streak, Harris—Thecla Quercus,
Steph., Jermyn, &ce.
RatuHer a smaller species than the preceding, the
extent of the wings being generally from thirteen
to fifteen lines. The colour of the upper side is dark
brown, the entire surface, in one of the sexes, faintly
glossed with purple, and in the other there is a large
oblong patch of deep glossy blue at the base of the
upper wings, divided posteriorly into two branches,
the hinder one being prolonged towards the anal
angle. On the under side the wings are pubescent,
of an ash-grey colour with a silky lustre, and tra-
PURPLE HAIR-STREAK. 213
versed by a continuous undulating white streak,
edged with brown anteriorly ; beyond this there is a
double series of faint whitish crescents, with a few
dusky dots on the primary wings, and the secondary
pair are ornamented with two fulvous spots, one on
the anal angle, and the other forming an ocellus with
a yellow iris and a black pupil.
The caterpillar, which invariably feeds on the oak,
is of a greyish-brown colour, with a dark brown head ;
the incisures and a row of dots along the back yellow.
The most common species of Thecla in this island,
especially in the southern districts of England, where
it may be found abundantly in every oak wood. It
extends northwards in considerable plenty as far as
Newcastle, in the neighbourhood of which, Mr Wailes
informs us that it is far from uncommon. Beyond
that locality, however, it seems to become scarce,
and in Scotland it may be regarded as a rare species.
The only Scotch examples that we have seen were
from Roxburghshire, and the oak woods in the vi-
cinity of Inverary in Argyllshire.
214
BLACK HAIR STREAK.
Thecla Pruni.
PLATE XXVIII. Fig. 1.
Pap. Pruni, Linn.—Ochsenheimer, Pap. Eur., tom. i.—Po«
lyommatus Pruni, Godart, Lepid. de France.—Thecla
Pruni, Curtts, Brit. Ent. vi. pl. 264,
Expansion of the wings somewhat more than an
inch, the surface brownish-black, the upper wings
with a small oblong spot near the middle anteriorly,
and the hinder pair with a series of three or four
crescent-shaped red marks near the posterior border,
The under side is yellowish-brown; the primary
wings with a transverse silvery line towards the hin-
der margin, beyond which, and parallel with it, there
is a series of reddish spots, each of them bounded
by a small black streak; the secondary wings have
an irregular silvery line nearly across the middle,
behind this a row of black spots, edged with white
anteriorly, and a marginal series of black cres-
cents.
The caterpillar is green, with longitudinal whitish
rays, and numerous short transverse lines. The
head, as in all the larvee of this group, is small, and
PLATE 28.
|. TheclaPruni. Black hatr-strease. 2. Thecii WAlbum -Whicze Letter hairstreak
3.LDhecla Rubie- Green hawr-streak.
LALZGAS SC.
BLACK HAIR STREAK. 215
ofa yellow colour, with two black points in the form
of eyes. (Plate III. Fig. 8.)
This species has been very often confounded with
the following, which is of much more frequent oc-
currence in this country, and has been generally. re-
garded as the true 7’. Prunz. Authentic indigenous
examples of the latter were, we believe, first figured
and described by Mr Curtis, who states that tie in-
sect was found by Mr Seaman, in Yorkshire, in such
abundance, that it is now to be seen in almost every
cabinet. It is well known on the Continent, in some
parts of which it is rather common.
WHITE LETTER HAIR STREAK.
Thecla W-album.
PLATE XXVIII. Fie. 2.
Pap. Pruni, Lewin. pl. 44.— Donovan, xiii. pl. 437.—Thecla
Pruni, Jermyn,—Stephen’s Illus. Haus. i. 77.—Dark or
Black Hair Streak, Harris.—Polyommate W-blanc, Go-
dart, Hist. des Pap. de France.—Pap. W-album, Hubner.
Upper side dark brown, with a silky gloss, the
upper wings of the male having a greyish spot near
the middle, towards the anterior border. The un-
der side is light brown, with a narrow transverse
slightly interrupted white line, placed towards the
hinder margin in the primary wings, but near the
216 WHITE LETTER HAIR STREAK.
middle in the secondary pair, and forming two acute
angles posteriorly, in such a manner as to resemble
the letter W ; bebind this there is an irregular band
of orange-red, widest towards the anal angle, and
bounded on the inner side by a black line, which is
sometimes edged internally with white; the margin
itself, as well as the projecting tailed point, is black,
sometimes tipped with white.
The caterpillar is green, with three spots of deep
red on each of the posterior segments of the belly,
and a double series of small dots along the back.
When about to undergo its metamorphoses it be-
comes brown. According to some authors it feeds
on the elm, while others mention the black thorn as
its appropriate food.
This insect, as already mentioned, has been de-
scribed by most British Entomologists as the P.
Pruni of Linnzeus, who does not appear to have been
acquainted with it. Of late years it has occurred
in great plenty in some districts, but in general it
may be accounted scarce, particularly in the northern
parts of the kingdom. “ The boundless profusion,”
says Mr Stephens, “ with which the hedges, for
miles, in the vicinity of Ripley, were enlivened by
the myriads that hovered over every flower and
bramble blossom, last July (1828), exceeded any
thing of the kind I ever witnessed. Some notion
of their numbers may be formed, when I mention
that I captured, without moving from the spot,
nearly 200 specimens in less than half an hour, as
GREEN HAIR-STREAK. Zit
they successively approached the bramble. bush,
where I had taken up my position, How to account
for their prodigious numbers I am perfectly unable,
_ as the same fields and hedges had been carefully ex-
plored by me at the same and different periods of
the year for several preceding seasons, without the
occurrence of a single specimen in either of its
stages ; and it is worthy of remark, that the hedges to
the north and north-west of the village, were perfect-
ly free, although the brambles, &c. were in plenty.”*
GREEN HAIR-STREAK.
Theela Rubi.
PLATE XXVIII. Fie. 3.
Pap. Rubi, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 44.—Donovan, xiii. pl. 443.
—The Green Butterfly, Wilkes, pl. 118.—The Green Fly,
er Bramble Fly, Harris.
ExPANSION of the wings about an inch, the
surface of a uniform brown tint in both sexes, with
the nervures somewhat darker, the female sometimes
having a faint whitish oval dot near the middle of
the upper wings, not far from the anterior border.
The under side is “ fine green, with a transverse
row of white dots, often more or less obliterated, be-
hind the middle of the secondary wings.”
* Stephen’s Illus., Haust. i. 77.
218 GREEN HAIR-STREAK.
The caterpillar is pubescent, light green or green-
ish-yellow, with a row of triangular yellow spots on
each side, and a white line just above the feet. It
feeds on brambles, broom, and many other plants.
The fly appears in the end of May, and beginning
of June; a second brood takes flight in August.
It is not a very common species, but its ascertained
localities indicate that it is pretty generally distri-
buted throughout England and the southern division
of Scotkand. Itoccurs in Darenth Wood, Bromley
Thickets in Essex, in Devonshire, &c. We have
seen many specimens from the neighbourhood of
Raehills, and other parts of Dumfriesshire, and have
observed the butterfly occasionally in some of the
central districts of Roxburghshire, “ Keswick, and
some of the Yorkshire Wolds,” G. Wailes, Esq.
219
Genus LYCAENA.
THE species of this beautiful group are readily
distinguished by the following characters. Antennz
with a slender stalk, the club rather thick, abrupt,
and ovate, sometimes a little compressed at the
apex; palpi longer than the head, the two lower
joints scaly, the apical one, which is slender, point-
ed, and about half the length of the second, ap-
pearing naked ; legs all formed for walking, and alike
in both sexes ; eyes naked. The secondary wings
are nearly straight on the abdominal edge, and some-
what divergent, the anal angle slightly toothed, but
not projecting like a tail as in the Thecle. All the
species are remarkable for the brilliant coppery hue
of their wings, whence they are known in this country
by the name of Copper Butterflies. Most of them
frequent marshy places, and the caterpillars feed on
herbaceous plants.
220
LARGE COPPER,
Lycena dispar.
PLATE XXIX. Fies.1 & 2.
Curtis, Brit. Ent. i. pl. 12.—Pap. dispar, Haw.—Pap. Hip-
pothoé, Donovan, vii. pl. 217.—Lewin, pl. 40.—Lycena
Hippothoé, Jermyn.—L. dispar, Swainson’s Zool. Illus.
pl. 132.
THE male of this fine insect is bright shining cop-
per colour above, with a black margin round all the
wings, which is crenated in the hinder pair ; the base
of the primary, and the abdominal margin of the se-
condary wings is likewise blackish, and on the disk
of the former are two small black spots, and near the
middle of the latter a narrow curved black streak.
The female has the upper wings broadly margined
behind with black, two or three spots of the same
colour arranged longitudinally on the disk, and a
transverse row of six or seven black spots a little be-
yond the middle ; the hinder wings are almost en-
tirely black, except the nervures, and a broad band
near the apex, which are coppery red. Beneath,
both sexes are similar; the upper wings coppery, but
with less lustre than the surface, having three black
spots placed longitudinally, and a transverse row be-
yond the middle, all of them surrounded with a yel-
low ring; near the posterior margin there is anothe1
PLATE 29.
4
af*
LARGE COPPER. 22)
transverse series of simple black spots, beyond which
the colour is ash-grey, inclining to blue; the under
wings are ash-coloured, slightly tinged with light blue,
and having a bright coppery band at the hinder mar-
gin, with a row of black spots on each side of it ; be-
fore this there is an irregular row of black spots,
cinctured with bluish-white, then a transverse black
streak, and five remote black spots near the base.
The fringe round the external margin and abdominal
edge of the wings is white.
The caterpillar is described to be of a green colour,
with white dots, and is said to feed on a kind of
dock.
“ This splendid species,” says Mr Curtis, “ was
first discovered in Wales by the celebrated botanist
Hudson. It has subsequently been captured in
considerable abundance by Messrs Standish, who
went to Wittlesea Meer, Huntingdonshire, in expec-
tation of finding it. They inform me that the end
of July is undoubtedly the right season for this in-
sect, although they met with it the beginning of
August, flying among reeds, about the centre of the
Meer near Yaxley; that it is very active, and in
windy weather conceals itself amongst the highest
reeds. Upon these the caterpillar probably feeds, as
they found the butterfly upon that plant iust emerged
from the chrysalis, drying its wings.’ * Donovan
states that the specimens from which his figures were
drawn, were obtained from Scotland.
* British Entom vol.i. fol, 12.
222
SCARCE COPPER.
Lycena Virgauree.
PLATE XXIX. Fie. 3.
Pap. Virgauree, Linn.—Donovan. v. 173, ¢.—Lewin, pl.
4l, fig. 1 and 2, ¢.—StepA. Illus. Haust. i. pl. 9, fig. ] and
aS. fe 29.
THis species is rather less than the preceding, the
male brilliant copper colour above, inclining to yel-
low, the wings margined externally with black, and
the hinder pair having a few black spots near the
posterior edge. On the under side, the primary
wings are pale yellow, with three simple black spots
before the middle, placed longitudinally ; behind this,
there is a very irregular transverse row of black dots,
and the hinder margin is clouded with dusky ; the
secondary wings are dusky towards the base, with
about twelve or fourteen small black spots, five of
them remote from each other placed before the
middle, the rest forming an irregular cross band,
behind which there is a series of white marks. The
wings of the female are thickly spotted and clouded
with black above.
The caterpillar is pubescent, and of a dull green,
with a yellow dorsal line, and pale green streaks on
SCARCE COPPER. pS
the sides. It lives on the golden rod (Solidago vir-
gaurea), and some other similar plants. The in-
sect is very rare in this country, and does not ap-
pear to have been found for many years. Donovan
says that a specimen was once taken in Cambridge ;
the Isle of Ely, and Huntingdonshire, are likewise
said to have afforded it; and Lewin states that he
once caught two individuals in marshes, but without
mentioning the precise locality.
224
PURPLE-EDGED COPPER.
Lycena Chryseis.
PLATE XXX. Fie. 1.
Hesperia Chryseis, Fabr.—Pap. Chryseis; Purple-edged
Copper, Haworth.—Sowerby, B. M. lst. pl. 13.—Lycena
Chryseis, Jermyn, Steph.
Fuuerp copper colour above, the base and outer
margin of all the wings brown, glossed with purple,
and the centre of each wing marked transversely with
a short, slender, black streak. The disk of the ante-
rior wings beneath is orange, the anterior margin ash-
grey; and over the surface there are numerous ocel-
lated spots, with a black pupil and white iris, three
of them towards the base placed longitudinally, and
the rest forming two irregular bands, of which the
marginal one is somewhat obsolete: the posterior
wings on the under side are glossed with blue at the
base, and bear numerous scattered ocellated dots,
forming irregular transverse rows towards the apex ;
the latter ornamented with an orange band. The
fringe is brown at the base, and white externally.
This is also a very rare insect in Britain. The
only localities which we have heard of, are those
PEATE 30
2 Lycaena Huppothoé 3. Lycaena Phix
Lark ander wing Copper. Common ¢ OPDG
ye ~ 7. 7 a) =
LUGS THE CAQCU CODPCG
DARK UNDER-WING COPPER. 225
cited by Miss Jermyn, viz. Epping Forest, Essex,
and Ashdownham in Sussex.
DARK UNDER-WING COPPER
Lycena Hippothoé.
PLATE XXX. Fie. 2.
Pap. Hippothoé, Linn.—Lycena Hippothoé, Stephens.—
Dark Under-winged Copper, Haworth.
EXPANSION of the wings from 15 to 17 lines,
the colour of the surface bright fulvous, with a nar-
row external black border, which is entire in the
primary wings, but crenated internally in the secon-
dary: besides this, there is a minute transverse
black mark in the middle of each wing. The su-
perior wings are yellowish beneath, inclining to ash
colour, with numerous black spots cinctured with
white; the inferior pair ash-coloured, with many
ocellated dots, and a fulvous band posteriorly, spotted
on each side with black. In the markings on the
upper side, the female resembles the same sex of
the preceding species ; but the hinder wings are en-
tirely black, except a posterior band of yellow, cre-
nated on its outer side.
Only one or two specimens of this insect have
been found in Britain, and they seem to have been
a
2°26 COMMON COPPER.
procured from the county of Kent. In France it is
not very scarce, and frequents meadows and marshy
places.
COMMON COPPER.
Lycena Phileas.
PLATE XXX. Fie. 3.
Pap. Phleas, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 41.—Donovan, xiii. pl. 466.
—The Copper Butterfly, Harris.—Lycena Phlezas, Jer-
myn, Stephens.
Upper wings fulgid copper colour, the posterior
margin black, and the disk of each wing bearing
from 8 to 10 black spots, two of them arranged lon-
gitudinally towards the base, the rest transversely
in a zig-zag band, some of them confluent. The
hinder wings are brownish-black, with a coppery
band posteriorly, dotted with black on its outer
edge. The under side of the primary wings is
spotted in a similar manner to the upper side, but
the colour is paler, and the hinder margin greyish,
with three black crescents internally: the secondary
wings drab coloured beneath, with many indistinct-
ly marked dots, and a posterior tawny band.
This is the smallest species of the genus, the ex-
‘pansion of the wings seldom exceeding 12 or 14
lines, and differs from the others in both sexes be-
~~
COMMON COPPER. 227
ing nearly alike. It is liabie to considerable varia-
tion in its markings, and specimens have been found
in which those parts of the surface usually copper
colour were nearly pure white. It is rather com-
m0n in all parts of Britain, and seems to breed se-
veral times in the year. It likewise occurs in Asia
and in North America. The caterpillar is said to
be clear green, with a yellow dorsal stripe, and to
feed on the Sorrel.
Genus POLYOMMATUS.
DIsTINGUISHED from the two preceding genera
by having the wings entire, without any tail-like ap-
pendages, and without any distinct teeth near the
anal angle. The antenne are rather short, and ter-
minate in an abrupt compressed club, ending in a
natrow point rising from one side. The palpi pro-
ject a little beyond the head, are nearly parallel, and
have the basal and terminal joints almost of equal
length, the latter acute, and somewhat naked, or co-
vered with scales only, the otheis being clothed
with seales and hairs. The tarsi terminate in
simple claws. This genus includes all the small blue
butterflies, which are seen in such numbers during
the summer months in pastures and grassy glades.
They are adorned on the surface with the most de-
licate and varied shades of blue and azure, and be-
ueath with a multitude of eye-like spots. It is this
latter circumstance that has suggested the generic
name, it being formed from the Greek words zoaus,
many, and Grewcre, eyes. In most of them the sexes
are dissimilar in colour; but in P. aslus, agestis,
and Artaxerxes, the sexual differences are not so
strongly marked. The larvz of several of the species
are not known, but most of those with which we are
acquainted feed on grasses and herbaceous plants, on
which also they undergo their metamorpheses.
PLATE 31.
VW) -
M r~ WI dat
L. Polyommatus Argiolus,. Yale 2 Female. Acure blue,
2 i Se eee Frere Ledtord blue.
ae As, 2S Mararine blue
229
AZURE BLUE BUTTERFLY.
Polyommatus Argiolus.
PLATE XXXI. Figs. 1. ann 2.
Pap. Argiolus, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 36. figs. 4, 5, 6.—Donovan.
xiv. pl. 481.—The Azure Blue Butterfly, Harris.
EXPANSION of the wings about 13 or 16 lines;
the surface of the male delicate light blue, slightly
tinged with lilac, the wings narrowly edged be-
hind with black; the female lighter blue above,
with a broad dusky border in the primary wings,
and a transverse series of spots of the same colour
near the hinder edge of the secondary pair. Be-
neath, the colour is grey, faintly tinged with blue,
the upper wings with a slender curved spot or stréak
in the middle, and a posterior band of five or six
narrow black streaks, that next the anterior margin
placed by itself: the hinder wings marked in a simi-
lar manner, with the addition of several scattered
spots towards the base. The fringe on the superior
wings is white, interrupted with black when seen
from above, but on the hinder pair, and on the un-
der side of all, it is nearly white. The number of
spots varies greatly in different individuals ; at times
230 BEDFORD BLUE BUTTERFLY
they are very distinctly marked, and frequently many
of them are obsolete, or entirely obliterated.
The caterpillar is pubescent, of a greenish-yellow,
deepest on the back; the head and legs black. It
is found on the Buckthorn and Holly.
The butterfly, which appears twice in the year,
viz. in May, and near the end of July or in August,
is plentiful in many parts of England. It is of fre-
quent occurrence in Kent, Somersetshire, Hamp-
shire, and Devonshire; also near London, and in
Norfolk and Suffolk. It is rather scarce in the
north, although it is found not unfrequently near
Newcastle, in places where hollies abound ; and also
in Castle Eden Dean.
BEDFORD BLUE BUTTERFLY.
Polyommatus Alsus.
PLATE XXXI. Fic. 3
Pap. Alsus, Donovan, ix. pl. 322. fig. ]1.—Lewin, pl. 39. f.3, 4.
—Bedford Blue, Leach.—Small Blue Butterfly, Haworth.
Tus is the smallest of British Butterflies, the
wings sometimes not exceeding 10 lines between
the tips, and seldom surpassing an inch. ‘The sur-
face is brown, with a silky gloss, one of the sexes
slightly tinged with blue, especially at the base of
MAZARINE BLUE BUTTERFLY. 231}
the wings. The under side is ash coloured, with a
discoidal black crescent, edged with white, on each
wing, and a transverse series of ocellated dots to-
wards the hinder margin; on the hinder wings this
series is very irregular, and there are several scat-
tered spots towards the base. Fringe of the wings
white.
This delicate little butterfly, the smallest of the
European Polyommati, seems to occur, but not in
great abundance, in most parts of the kingdom. Nu-
merous localities, scattered over the southern parts of
England, have been cited for it. Mr Wailes informs
us that it is common on the magnesian limestone
aistrict near Newcastle: it is also found in woods
near Durham; and we have seen specimens from
most of the southern counties of Scotland.
MAZARINE BLUE BUTTERFLY.
Polyommatus Acis.
PLATE XXXI. Fic. 4.
Polyommatus Acis, Stephens.—Pap. Cymon, Lewin, pl. 33.
f. 6. & 7.—Polyom. Cymon, Jermyn.—Lycena Cymon,
Leach—Pap. Argiolus, Hiibner.
Expanps about 13 or 1+ lines, the male deep blue
above, glossed with violet, having a narrow black
border to all the wings, and a white fringe. The
a
232 MAZARINE BLUE BUTTERFLY.
female is dark brown above, with the base of the
wings faintly tinged with blue, and the fringe grey-
ish. The under side is ash-grey, inclining to blue
at the base of the wings, the anterior pair of the lat-
ter with an oblong spot, cinctured with white, near
‘the middle, and a band of ocelli behind it, usually
most numerous in the male. On the disk of the
posterior wings there is also a streak of black, two
or three spots anteriorly towards the base, and a very
irregular band of ocelli, having a black pupil and
white iris, behind the middle.
Rather a scarce species, and usually found to fre-
quent chalky districts. It has occurred in Norfolk,
Dorset, and Yorkshire; also in Surrey, Cambridge,
&ce.
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LARGE BLUE BUTTERFLY.
Polyommatus Arion.
PLATE XXXII. Fic.
Linn.—Lewin, pl. 37.— Don.
ConsIDERABLY larger than any of the preceding,
sometimes measuring an inch and a half across the
wings. The upper side is pale violet-blue, with a
broad dusky border round the hinder margin of all
the wings, the male having a group of black spots
en the disk of the upper pair, of which the interior
one is transverse and somewhat curved, and the fe-
male has a similar group on the disk of all the wings.
The under side is ash-coloured, inclining to brown;
the anterior wings with two ocelli towards the
base, an irregular band of 6 or 7 others behind the
middle, and a row of lunules, with a small white
mark adjoining each: the posterior wings bluish at
the base, where there are four scattered spots, the disk
bearing a black lunule, behind which there is an in-
terrupted band of eight large ocelli; the posterior
margin ornamented with a row of triangular or cres-
cent-shaped black spots ; fringe white spotted with
brown beneath.
934 ALCON BLUE BUTTERELY.
This beautiful insect, which is extremely rare in
Britain, and not of frequent occurrence on the Con-
tinent, is said by Lewin to have been taken on Do-
ver Cliffs, Marlborough Downs, and on the hills near
Bath. Miss Jermyn mentions the commons at
Broomham in Bedfordshire, and certain places in
North Wales, as having afforded it. More recently
it was found by Mr Dale in the neighbourhood of
Bedford.
ALCON BLUE BUTTERFLY.
Polyommatus Alcon.
PLATE XXXII. Fic. 2.
Polyommatus Alcon, Latrei/le.—Hesperia Alcon, Fabr.—
Pap. Alcon, Hubner.
SurFacE of the male violet-blue, with a rather wide
brown border to all the wings, and a dark crescent
on the disk of the upper pair; of the female dusky
brown, tinged with blue towards the body. Under
side greyish in both sexes, with a central crescent-
shaped spot, bordered with white, on each wing;
behind this there is a curved row of rather large
rounded black spots, and two exterior rows of tri-
angular marks, all of them encircled with white ; the
basal half of the hinder wings is tinged with blue, and
bears a few scattered spots in addition to those cor-
CHALK-HILL BLUE BUTTERFLY. 955
responding to the markings of the superior wings:
fringe white, spotted with brown.
As this insect appears to have been found only
once in this country, and is not figured by any Bri-
tish author, we have been obliged in this instance to
deviate from our usual practice, and introduce a fi-
gure taken from a foreign specimen. It does not
entirely correspond to Mr Stephens’s description of
the supposed indigenous example discovered by Mr
Jones in Buckinghamshire ; and should the latter be
found, as has been conjectured, to be only a variety
of P. Arion, we must exclude the present species
from our native catalogues.
CHALK-HILL BLUE BUTTERFLY.
Polyommatus Corydon.
PLATE XXXII. Fie. 3.
Pap. Corydon, Donovan, vii. pl. 131. f. 1. ¢.—Stephens
Illus. i. 88.—Lewin, pl. 36.—The Chalk-Hill Blue But-
terfly, Harris.
One of the larger species, generally measuring
17 or 18 lines across the wings. The surface of
the male is avery light silvery blue, with a fine silky
lustre, the hinder margin of all the wings having a
blackish band, surmounted in the hinder pair by a
series of dusky, somewhat ocellated spots: the sur-
236 CHALK-HILL BLUE BUTTERFLY.
face of the female brown, each wing with a pale
central spot, having a black pupil in the primary
wings. The under side of both sexes is similar
but the secondary wings in the female are more
deeply coloured, and the spots larger and more dis-
tinctly marked: the anterior wings whitish, marked
nearly as in P. Arion: the hinder ones of a similar
colour, greenish at the base, the ocellated spots ar-
ranged in two curved bands, that next the base con-
sisting of four, the second, which is placed rather
behind the middle, of eight; in the centre, between
these bands, there is an angular white spot; and on
the hinder margin a series of black spots, with a
white iris surmounted by a streak of orange, and a
triangular black spot, with its apex directed inwards;
an oblong white patch connects this series with the
central band. Fringe white, spotted at regular in-
tervals with brown; on the under side of the secon-
dary wings entirely white.
Somewhat restricted in its distribution, but occur-
ring in certain localities in great profusion. It chief-
ly frequents districts where chalk abounds, and from
having been long found in plenty on a range of hil-
locks between Dartford and Darenth Wood, it has
received the name of “ Chalk-Hill Blue.” It inha-
bits the vicinity of Dover, the Isle of Wight, “ Little
Blakenham, Moulton, and Eriswell in Suffolk ;”
stone-quarries near Peterborough, &c. &c. The
caterpillar, of which we have never seen any de-
scription, has been stated to feed on Wild Thyme.
PLATE 33.
Ll. Lolyommatus Adonis, Male. ? Female
Aitden blue.
~ ' *
. P .
‘ ; ;
* . +‘
. . ~
. co ]
. Die
- * ad
237
CLIFDEN BLUE BUTTERFLY.
Polyommatus Adonis.
PLATE XXXIII. Fries. 1. & 2.
Hesperia Adonis Fad.—Pap. Adonis, Lewin, pl. 38. fig. 1-3.
—Pap. Argus, 9. Donovan, iv. pl. 143. f. 1.—Polyomma-
tus Adonis, Steph. Jermyn.—Clifden Blue, Harris.
Expansion of the wings 14 or 15 lines, the sur-
face of the male of the purest and most beautiful
azure, or silvery blue, changing with the light into
lilac, the hinder margin of all the wings edged with
a black line, beyond which there is a white fringe,
distinctly spotted with brown both above and below.
The female is brown above, slightly glossed with
blue at the base, having a small discoidal black spot
on the primary wings, and on the others a posterior
fulvous streak, with slightly ocellated spots, some-
times continued acruss we wargin of the upper
wings. On the under side, the colour is brownish-
grey, with the base of the wings greenish-blue, the
markings disposed nearly as in P. Corydon, but the
discoidal white spot is small, forming only a trans-
verse streak.
Of frequent occurrence in many parts of England,
especially in the southern counties. It occurs in
938 CLIFDEN BLUE BUTTERFLY.
most of the localities cited for the preceding spe-
cies, and, like it, appears to be partial to districts in
which chalk is found. The downs near Brighton,
Moulton and Dalham in Suffolk, Newport, Coombe
Wood, &c. afford it in considerable numbers.
239
COMMON BLUE BUTTERFLY.
Polyommatus Alexis.
(See VIGNETTE. )
Pap. Alexis, Hubner.—Pap. Icarus, Lewin, pl. 38.—Pap.
Argus, Donovan, iv. pl. 143. ¢ (two upper figs. )—Blue
Butterfly, Harris.—Pap. Hyacinthus, Lewin, pl. 37. f. 4-6,
var.—Polyom. Thestylis, Jermyn, var.
ApoutT the size of the preceding, which it very
much resembles, but is readily distinguished by the
colour of the surface, which is bright lilac-blue in
the male, and by the fringe of the wings being white
and unspotted. The hinder border is narrowly mar-
gined with black; the anterior edge of the upper
wings is white, and the hairs on the body and base
of the wings incline to that colour. The female is
generally brown above, powdered with blue towards
the base of the wings (sometimes, however, the sur-
face is entirely purplish-blue), and ornamented with
a posterior fulyous band, somewhat ocellated on the
hinder pair, each Junule having a central black spot.
Beneath, brownish-ash colour, with the base in-
elining to green, the upper wings usually having two
ocelli near the body, a slender central streak lying
transversely, and a curved row of ocelli near the
240 COMMON BLUE BUTTERELY.
middle, succeeded by a continuous row of dusky
crescents, edged with reddish-yellow externally ; anc
beyond this there is a row of small dusky spots on
a whitish ground, the margin itself being black.
The posterior wings generally with four ocelli near
the base, an angular white spot near the middle, fre-
quently having a black streak in its centre, a curved
band of 8 or 9 ocelli, succeeded bya series of mark-
ings similar to those on the superior wings, but the
crescents and fulvous patches larger and more con-
spicuous ; a white blotch near the middle unites the
band of ocelli with the fulvous crescents.
This species is so variable in its markings, and
even in the form of the wings, that some entomolo-
gists are of opinion that more than one distinct spe-
cies may be included under the name. It is a very
abundant insect, and, unlike the rest of its associates,
is distributed over the whole country. It frequents
pasture-lands and grassy meadows, first appearing
in England about the end of May, but not generally
in Scotland till the middle or end of June. There
isa second brood in August. The caterpillar is pu-
bescent, and of a green colour. It appears to be
polyphagous, but probably subsists chiefly ou grasses.
24]
SILVER-STUDDED BLUE BUTTERFLY.
Polyommatus Argus.
PLATE XXXIII. Fie. 3.
Pap. Argus, Linn.—Lewin, pl. 39. fig. 5-7.—Silver-studded
Blue, Harris.—Q Pap. Idas, Linn.—Polyom. Argus, Jer-
mya, Steph.
MALE deep blue above, inclining to lilac, with a
broad black band round the hinder margin of all the
wings, the nervures likewise more or less of that co-
lour; the costa and fringe white, the latter occa-
sionally obscured with brown at the base. The un-
der side is bluish-grey, the blue becoming more in-
tense at the base, adorned with numerous ocellated
spots; on the hinder margin of the posterior wings
there is an interrupted orange-tawny band, contain-
ing six bright silvery-blue spots, crowned with a
series of black crescents. The female is entirely
brown above, with a tawny marginal band, which is
obsolete on the interior wings.
The caterpillar is dull green, with the head and
legs blackish, a ferruginous line along the back, and
oblique ones of the same colour, bordered with
white, on the sides. It feeds on broom, sainfoin
and various kinds of trefoil, The butterfly is rather
Q
249 SILVER-STUDDED BLUE BUTTERELY.
common in many parts of the south of England,
and is found as far north as York, where it is not
rare. It must be very scarce, however, northwards
of that city, and it probably does not occur at all in
Scotland.
PLATE 34.
SN
‘ rf SS DH
es Polyommatus
2. Salmacis Male
4. Artaxerxes —_The.
LSS
SPIN TL via
drdus’
Fem. The Dairies We
Mia. TED: Ul
~y
243
BROWN ARGUS BUTTERFLY.
Polyommatus Agestis.
PLATE XXXIV. Fie. 1.
Pap. Agestis, Hubner.—Pap. Idas, Lewin, pl. 39. f. 1-2.—
Donovan, x. pl. 322. f. 2.—Polyom. Idas, Jermyn.—Po-
lyom. agestis, Stephens.
EXPANDS about an inch, the colour in both sexes
dark-brown, with a fine silky gloss, all the wings
having a posterior band of deep red spots, and the
primary pair a small black spot in the centre: the
fringe varied with white and brown. The under
side is greyish-brown, with numerous ocellated spots,
and a rufous band corresponding to that on the sur-
face; the hinder wings with a white blotch on the
disk.
Readily distinguished from the females of any of
the preceding species, by the wings being without
any tinge of blue, either above or below, and from
either of the following, by wanting the white spot
on the disk of the interior pair. It occurs in some
plenty in Sussex, Kent, Dorset, Somerset, and many
other parts of England, appearing first in June, and
again in August.
DURHAM ARGUS.
Polyommatus Salmacis.
PLATE XXXIV. Fics. 2. anp 3.
Polyommatus Salmacis, Stephens.
SILKY brown above, with a macular posterior
band of orange-red on all the wings, somewhat ob-
solete in the male, and a white spot on the disk of
the primary wings, which, however, is occasionally
wanting in both sexes, but especially in the female.
The fringe is white, slightly variegated with brown
at the base. The colour of the under side is grey-
ish-brown, the anterior wings with a discoidal white
spot, beyond this a curved band of similar spots,
with a minute dusky pupil, succeeded by a band of
orange spots, bounded on both sides by-a dusky
crescent, surmounted with white, the outer margin
defined by a dusky line: the hinder wings have a
similar marginal band, several scattered white spots
towards the base, a larger one near the centre, and
a very liregular row behind the middle, with a broad
white central patch connecting it with the yellow
band. Most of these spots have a minute dusky
pupil in the male, but greatly more conspicuous in
the female.
ARTAXERXES BUTTERFLY. 245
Found in some plenty at Castle Eden Dean, near
Durham, and also on the magnesian limestone dis-
trict near Newcastle, where it occurs in considerable
numbers in July.
ARTAXERXES BUTTERFLY.
Polyommaius Artaxerxes.
PLATE XXXIV. Fie. 4.
Hesperia Artaxerxes, Fabr.—Pap. Artaxerxes, Lewin, pl. 38.
f. 8, 9.—Donovan, xvi. pl. 541.—Polyom. Artaxerxes,
Jermyn, Steph.
Dark brown above, glossy, each of the anterior
wings with a discoidal white spot, and all of them
with an orange-red band posteriorly, but very indis-
tinct on the upper wings. On the under side, the
markings of the wings do not differ materially from
those of P. Salmacis, excepting in this, that the
spots are nearly all without a black pupil. In some
specimens, a minute white spot is observable on the
disk of the posterior wings on the upper side.
The history of this little butterfly is somewhat
curious. The only locality known, for a long pe-
riod, was Arthur's Seat, near Edinburgh, and it
is only of late that it has been found elsewhere.
Fabricius appears never to have seen a specimen,
the description in his System being taken from a
246 ARTAXERXES BUTTERFLY.
drawing by Mr Jones of Chelsea. It was long
much valued by the English collectors, some of
whom, we are informed by Donovan, were in the
habit of placing a drawing of the insect in an ob-
scure corner of their drawers, that their cabinet
might obtain credit for possessing an object of such
rarity! Others undertook a journey to Edinburgh,
chiefly with the view of procuring specimens. It
occurs in such plenty on Arthur’s Seat, that all the
English cabinets, and the principal foreign ones, are
now abundantly supplied from that locality. It has
likewise been taken among the Pentland Hills, at
Flisk in Fifeshire, near Queensferry, and in the vi-
cinity of Jardine Hall, Dumfriesshire. It appears in
July. The examination of an extensive series of
specimens of the two preceding insects, will pro-
bably lead most people to the belief, that the marks
which have caused them to be regarded as specifi-
cally different, are far from being stable or satisfac-
tory. The appearance of the caterpillars, both of
which are unknown, will afford the most likely
means of determining the point.
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nhent_QL555.G7D91 1855
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British butterflies,
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