Plea DG OE GELATIN OO”
‘]
q
— <a)
\\y
|
AS
i
B.D 55)
"2 Se
* De i Oe
Pp) ry)
2) >».
iy eh
yy > een
ty ) Fe
yp. oP
x > >
» to ~e
y Fy» >>
> >>> >>».
) YD Py S
p) DI ID
> V+ >
37> >
PD PS
F Se? >: > ye
i PE PUD ee FD
D> RES SES NS 2 > D> >>
> ex : 22> >> >>>
> sp SSS >
ery Ky 4 5D >
‘% 2» > IS
So} “ty pk Sy >> > >
5a ae LyY> > Dy >
er. > ee > ee ew
ok 3» >>>» >
=n >> > >
Cg > > ELLE BP PYP FP
*) > in TP ee > >
: > 22>» EYP yy >
Sa =
> » >> PSP
i$ > > >
> > > yD>y >.
>> IP yD}
D4 wo > ye =D
wD" >>> J) “ee
» > >> 3S > Sp
E> ~~ > » SP
> > > PISS
by Yi> > yp ie
> ; SED > >.” >
D> : >) SS
fv PD > >
yp » . = > ~~ a " SS > a »>
‘ 2) Se > > BR > ieek = ] yD _ > 5 p>»
= =f Zy I> > _ Pw r > Ree a tet! > py Se > >
=> oa e, + >on ns b. > 2 Dm
; > > »
>> =~.
> p> ¢
> ¥y
op)
Ea
Hy
J
Ex,
fom
jE
EY
EY
=
aay
‘Tan a har ‘
a P\ 0, ln ‘ARA
ania NaN
A
Dr. Meltloy and.J.C Smith
Stithso.ian Libraries
Mus. Nat. History
selected 1/10/50 By Bequest
“i pa?
‘Va Ly 7 -
NOP Tat
vi ei
i
i . ers
Meu,
en
bas
mies 0: bY
OF
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
Potoen by. 2.0. MORBIS,.. Buk,
MEMBER OF THE ASHMOLEAN SOCIETY.
LIFE MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, ETC., ETC.
WITH SEVENTY-ONE COLOURED PLATES.
Eon DONS
GROOMBRIDGE AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW.
M Dccc LIT.
Lea gare: ny pity
| a (aA
17 *2 my
i an
f i
AJ -)
‘
j
|
un
e
re De
1
‘ ‘ itp *)
Ln |
I I j
be oe
were shaas bad % | 7 Wat ri i
Hane wl a ye ok ‘tee e i err he :
Pigdlhelleyorel | (NM ahh) |. Mieke saw A
v7
wits A, aint van V' ii) i my) ae.
ae dp: Jakae NE aye dio Wy. onan URN RP oe are
bes, ‘i hn si vie whe ahw Be yh Atenhe, pri SG tease ¥ ds 7 as eval
are ree ‘ail I eri very Oe is Y wird CAT aa ae a bikin ng 4
tr me Ayal bs opphion oil hia Ui i nit 90/8
ade: fe fein a fe i gent ph gong a Eye .
Verena
Ante ds sais aes oh lapis et Yad fr \ sy er) a “desist ®
Ribu Tow) (dtd: jeg vee See ayer oy er ye eae “pe A a DHE, tue he
Ras tae ude <ts'vtw, Sutin? awh ck yall i » 4c» f
pay . ues! - * wiht’ a o Tests UReet: > oe u i " ; ill Liat RANE: ‘eek - uh
hte ba SOR ii - Pa ia pans et re
; a emt
‘, bs,
; a ays a Mi bse Bug Lv ald. ome) ih bob bei gD Wi ree hilind a ( :
ah 0) ways » Orr ainlci? hel B5/ times ay i a i ate Ae,
BD « inh) iit Dante ye | saat “pia Te fair
tal ac ably ama Ginny h won ote ar ae ee 0h ee ;
fa . eee ee ee ee | Aue amas
| a Sanibel wi vie Seu sella’ “a4 ha ie tage is bine y
— rr it a4 (ie Aine ed i alton ta Bh ;
a / How a ae rr este’ wht 3 raja | 7
7 feat Peet wdyet iaiiets ‘Geel am RU Pay plies Kult,
_ Wo el) Baltes. cove ileal etmategs
il . : m are ety eee “ike te, ita! ad “Watkl
Le : i ; . i ire i it . 4 writ ;
\. | ae Sy tesa Sli eal me eo .
“ oil! Wyk ites dads te ee
i ivi inn ida j) a 1 Cy if = ds i) see . :
i) ’ a all Ls my he Tue s : ny . - | i at vila: am s, - he
yee ep: ad tia! gt —_ 1 Soar Vn ac Bie vs sia ual weve mA f iX
7 ° we) Dn iy He he. Lt Hetusbiony 1) ¢
i . i: ee 7 te
INTRODUCTION.
Aw instinctive general love of nature, that is, in other words, of the
works of God; has been implanted by Him, the Great Architect .of the
universe—the Great Parent of all—in the mind of every man. There
is no one, whether old or young, or of whatever circumstances or rank
in life, who can look without any feeling or emotion on the handiworks
of Creation which surround him—who can behold a rich sunset, a
storm, the sea, a tree, a mountain, a river, a rainbow, a flower, without
some degree of admiration, and some measure of thought. He may,
indeed, for the time, or for a moment, be engrossed by some worldly
care, or some other subject—some remembrance of the past, or antici-
pation of the future; but this cannot always be the case, and whenever
the mind is relieved from that overpowering feeling, the spontaneous
thoughts which originate in the love of nature, will be sure to arise in
his soul.
Whether indeed in some there is more than a general feeling of this
kind; whether all, if opportunities had been afforded to them, and had
been afforded to them in good time, would have found that especial
delight which others find in the more intimate study of this or that
branch of Natural History; whether it may have been only the pressure
of different and altogether necessary thoughts that has pre-occupied the
mind, and taken away, or, rather, set aside, those which would otherwise
have naturally found favour with it, I will not take upon me to deter-
mine; but thus much I can and do say, because I can say it of and
for myself, that with me, in this sense, the universal includes the
particular—includes every particular that is included under it; for
there is no group of the wide-spread family of nature that I do not
love to study, and to become more and more intimately acquainted
with the members of. They are all the creations of the same wonderful
Being—‘“‘the hand that made them is Divine.”
And if there be one branch of Natural History which is to me
more captivatingly interesting than another, it is Entomology; one which
is moreover so easy of full gratification, so compatible with every pursuit,
so productive of friendly feeling with others, so amalgamative of the
1V INTRODUCTION.
high and low together in perfect amity, so singularly pleasing and delight-
ful in itself. I trust, indeed, that I have not forgotten, do not forget,
and never shall forget, that I have high and holy duties to perform, to
which all else must be subordinate and give way. As a servant of
the Church, a minister of the Gospel of Christ, I willingly sacrifice
natural wishes to the cause of duty. It is but a few brief moments
that I snatch for that which is naturally most pleasing to me.
Knowing, however, that these studies are innocent in themselves; that
they may, with many, prevent other pursuits which, if followed, would
assuredly cause risk of most serious danger; that they add to the amount
of human happiness; and that, if used as they always should be,
they infallibly lead from the works of Nature up to the God of Nature,
in feelings of the holiest adoration and most humble worship; I encourage
others to follow them, so far as it may be right for them to do so,
and JI have undertaken, at the request of another, to write the following
Natural History of British Butterflies, and to supply particulars which
I have felt the want of myself.
There are already other works of a similar kind, which have been
extensively and deservedly patronized, and of them it is no part, either
of my business or my inclination, to speak: neither is it my part to
speak of my own: they have spoken for their authors; let mine, too,
speak for me.
F, O. MORRIS.
Nafferton Vi icarage.
Swallow-Tail
Searce Swallow-Tail
Brimstone
Clouded Yellow
Pale Clouded Yellow
Black Veined
Large White
Small White
Green Veined
Chequered White
Wood White
Orange Tipped
Marbled White
Wood Argus
Wood Ringlet
Gate-Keeper
Rock-eyed Underwing
Small Meadow Brown
Large Meadow Brown
Heath Butterfly
Least Meadow Brown
Arran Argus
Scotch Argus .
Small Ringlet
Silver-bordered Ringlet
White Admiral
Red Admiral
Peacock
Large Tortoise-shell
Small Tortoise-shell
Camberwell Beauty
CONTENTS.
PAGE,
25
26
al CONTENTS.
Comma ; :
Albin’s Hampstead Eye
Painted Lady
Scarce Painted Lady
Purple Emperor
Purple Hairstreak
Green Hairstreak
White-W Hairstreak
Black Hairstreak
Brown Hairstreak
Duke of Burgundy Fritillary
Greasy Fritillary
Glanville Fritillary
Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary
Pearl-bordered Likeness Fritillary
Weaver's Fritillary
High Brown Fritillary
Dark Green Fritillary
Queen of Spain Fritillary
Venus Fritillary
Silver-washed Fritillary
Large Copper
Small Copper
Mazarine Blue
Large Blue
Holly Blue
Little Blue
Silver-studded Blue
Common Blue
Clifden Blue
Chalk Hill Blue
Brown Argus Blue
Grizzled Skipper
Dingy Skipper
Large Skipper
Silver-spotted Skipper
Small Skipper
Lulworth Skipper
Spotted Skipper
se UY
Or
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
SWALLOW-TAIL.
PEATE I.
Papilio Machaon, Linnzzus. Donovan. Harris.
$i Fé Curtis. Wesrwoov. Duncan.
Papilio Regina, De Geer.
Jasonides Muchaon, Huesnenr.
Amaryssus Machaon, Daman.
In all our judgments of objects of Natural History, comparison
and relative proportion must guide us to the result. Compared
then with multitudes of the exotic species whose dazzling reful-
gence, splendid hues, and elegant and wonderfully varied and
eccentric markings, adorn the hills and vallies of far distant
and tropical lands, which these by themselves alone furnish an
abundantly exciting wish to visit, the present, our largest British
Butterfly—our finest capture—holds but an humble place—“a
Satyr to Hyperion” almost,—a foil by their side to their beauty.
But we must not, and we do not, despise our own Swallow-
tail.
This fine species is said to be found in various parts of
Europe, Asia, and Africa, namely in the whole of the former
continent, even in Siberia; in Syria, Nepaul, Cachemere, and
B
3 SWALLOW-TAIL.
the Himalayan mountains; Egypt, and the coast of Barbary.
In our own country it has been met within Yorkshire, near
Beverley and Cottingham; in Dorsetshire, by J. C. Dale, Esq.,
in the parish of Glanville’s Wootton: he took twelve specimens
there in three days, about thirty years ago, but has not seen
one since. In Hampshire, Middlesex, Sussex, Essex, and Kent,
in Norfolk at Acle, near Yarmouth, in plenty; and also in
meadows at Orby and ‘Thurme, in some years in great abun-
dance; but most of all in Cambridgeshire and Huntingdon-
shire, where, in the fenny districts, it has been, “and even is
still, very abundant; though, as those parts are fast being
drained, it is to be feared that we may in time lose this most
conspicuous ornament of our cabinets. The perfect insect is
taken from the beginning of May to the end of August.
The caterpillar occurs from June to September. It feeds
on various umbelliferous plants, particularly on the marsh
parsley, (Selinwm palustre,) the wild carrot, (Daucus carota,)
and the fennel, (Anethum feniculum.)
The Swallow-tail measures, in different specimens, from three
inches to three inches and three-quarters in the expanse of the
wings. The ground colour is yellow, with black markings.
The fore wings have a large patch of black, dotted with yellow
at the base, and the front margin is black, with three large
black marks. The nerves are also black, as is likewise the
hind margin, on which are eight yellow marks, and above
is a thick powdering of minute yellow dots. The hind wings
are also yellow; the inner margin, and a broad border on the
outside, black, the latter with six yellow crescents, above which
is a thick sprinkling of blue dots. Near the inside corner is
a red eye, margined with yellow beneath and blue above,
the latter with a black crescent above it.
The under side of the wings is lighter-coloured than the
upper, and the black markings are less extended. A narrow black
bar supersedes the yellow crescents, above which the dotting of
yellow is more thick. The outside black bar of the hind
wings is much lighter-coloured, the black being limited to its
curved margins, and in the middle of the hind wings are three
DSI
SWALLOW-TAIL. a
triangular red spots, and there is another spot of the same
in the yellow spot, next to its front edge.
The caterpillar is green, with velvet black rings, dotted
alternately with yellowish red.
The chrysalis is light green, with yellow on the sides and
the back.
The figure is taken from an unusually fine specimen in my
own collection, bred in 1851, from a chrysalis received with
others from the Rev. George Rudston Read, who had them
from Cambridgeshire by post.
SCARCE SWALLOW-TAIL.
PLATE II.
Papilio Podalirius, Lrynzxvs. Dovyovan. Curtis.
= & Lewry. Westwoop. Duncan.
Podalirius Europeus, Swarnson.
Iphiclides Podalirius, HUBNER.
Some there are who dogmatically deny the claim of this
species to be a British insect, but the following facts will be
sufficient for every unbiassed judgment. Nothing is more
certain, as will abundantly appear in the course of the present
work, than that some species once common in patticular districts,
now are never known there, and, ‘vice versa,’ that new ones,
new to the district, spring up on a sudden, where none had
been ever seen before.
This Swallow-tail is a native of Europe, Asia Minor, and
the northern parts of Africa. It is plentiful near Moscow and
Berlin; in fact throughout the whole of our continent.
The following authorities are extant for its admission to a
place in our native fauna:—
Berkenhout, in his “Outlines of British Natural History,”
says that it is “rare in woods;” and Haworth observes that
Dr. Berkenhout might probably have had it, as he had heard
of his having given a large price for a rare Swallow-tail from
Cambridgeshire.
Mr. Rippon says, in 1778, that twenty-five years previously he
had taken “‘two sorts” of Swallow-tails near Beverley, Yorkshire.
Mr. H. Sims was certain that he saw ‘Podalirius’ on the 24th.
of August, 1810, about twelve o’ clock, on his way from Norwich
to Salhouse. He struck at it with a forceps, but, for want of
a better kind of net, was unable to catch it.
+s,
.~
=. Jt
io
a ys
7,
i
SNe
7
-P ifi= Z | 1. 7 : (fui Vive -
> o 7 > a an ~ ; 7 % a 7 F a
ons , sé -
_ 7 oy Pot Hy) {ius "Spe Pt o >”, aa ¢ ee no, Ried b 7
«| we = f
Ch MAY ul:
ja -
z . <p ait Sy aoe Bee I ee
ms ~ ie
: ; : ea : } ce
: OME = GAS iw igedtesseev Rail) a
4 : : a ek agin rs oe ot = A en
u 7
_ i me 2 : a5 ant ar A. en :
ae ; ar: a fie adn ig 2
\ 2 ; = © Seeks cath ras ain: OR
7 ia =; - ‘ Ls | . As . =
dine Si - o. “i, Ao oe ae
: - - - : Ll : 7 ae
; - t a ae «
ee ee | Live Ae are.
z) f - > 7 we Te r Ny
= = 7 ‘ 4 q
- ro) EPS Sen
_ ; ’ _ evr
; : eAhD:
7 = — - -~ Ls
a iD
a
j » Y © Ly
; ae. _ q :
af 5
* i es
Ys ad 4 7 ’
. =
s *
? cr .*%
a « y .
U -
»
: a Ps » an
® “>> . :
6
ap
? « 6
, % ha
: omy
SCARCE SWALLOW-TAIL. 5
My esteemed friend, J. C. Dale, Esq., the well-known ento-
mologist, is also certain that he saw one settled on some rushes
near Eltisley, Cambridgeshire, in July, 1818. The wings were
half-expanded towards the sun.
Mr. B. Standish was also certain that he saw this butterfly
on or about September 20th., 1829, near Richmond Park.
A friend of his, who was in his company when he saw this
one, saw another in 1820.
Dr. Abbot told Haworth that he had seen ‘Podalirius’ two or
three times, previous to his capture of it, presently to be stated.
Mr. Thomas Allis says as follows in “The Naturalist,’ old
series, vol. i., pages 38-9:—‘“Having noticed a good deal of
dissension respecting the genuineness of ‘Papilio Podalirius’ as a
British insect, I take this opportunity of announcing, through
the medium of your journal, that I myself possess a pair which
I believe to be British. I met with them under the following
circumstances:—Happening to be at Portsmouth the summer
before last, for the first time, I enquired, as is my usual practice
on going to a town before unvisited by me, for collectors of
Natural History specimens: I soon found one, and among the
collection was a pair of the above-named species. The owner
assured me they were British, that they were caught by a
person she employed in the neighbourhood, and that she set
them up herself. As it would not have been worth her while
to have imposed on me in this instance, and especially as she
did not seem aware of the value of the specimens, I feel no
doubt but they were really British. She could not at the time
exactly inform me where they were taken, but on my return
to Portsmouth about a fortnight afterwards, she told me she
had learned, from the captor, that they were obtained in the
New Forest. From what I have said, I feel justified in con-
sidering myself the fortunate possessor of specimens of British
Papilio Podalirius.”
The above relate only to “ocular demonstration;” now then
for those “stubborn things”—‘“facts.” First, I have myself seen,
in the cabinet of my friend, the Rev. George Rudston Read,
Rector of Sutton-upon-Derwent, near Pocklington, the original
6 SCARCE SWALLOW-TAIL.
specimen which was captured by his brother, Willbam Henry
Rudston Read, Esq., of Hayton and York, when at school at
Eton. He took it on the wing between Slough and Datchet,
Berkshire, before the month of July, about the year 1826. It
is a very dark individual.
Again, the late Rev. F. W. Hope captured one in Shropshire
in 1822, and saw another on the wing.
Mr. Plymley found the larva near the spot where the Rev.
F. W. Hope took the perfect insect, but unfortunately the de-
vouring Ichneumon had made a lodgment, so that it came to
nothing. Mr. Plymley had the larva brought to him also more
than once, and the perfect insect in 1807, from the neigh-
bourhood of Netley, Shropshire.
There was a specimen in Mr. Swainson’s cabinet, which he
told Donovan was taken by his brother-in-law, Captain Bray:
he believed in the Isle of Wight.
Dr. Abbot took one in the month of May, in Bedfordshire.
This specimen is now in Mr. Dale’s cabinet, ‘in perpctuam rei
memoriam.’
The butterfly appears in May and June.
The caterpillar feeds on the apple, sloe, plum, peach, and
almond.
The perfect imsect measures, in different specimens, from
three inches to four inches across the wings. ‘The ground
colour is very light cream yellow. ‘The fore wings have two
black alternating streaks near the body, which.mect an apparent
extension of them on the lower wings; next to these is a very
short one, extending only half-way into the wing; this is suc-
ceeded by another long one, which reaches quite across the
wing, met by a sort of shadow of it on the hind wing, and
this again by another short one, extending only one-third across
the wing. Again, there is another long one, reaching nearly
across the wing, and then lastly, another long one, which com-
pletely borders its outside, edged with a narrow yellow line,
of the ground colour of the wing. The hind wings have a
black border following the crescent-shaped undulations of their
outside edge, and divided by four or five streaks of blue of
SCARCE SWALLOW-TAIL. 7
the same shape. At the inside corner of the wing is a black
spot, with a blue patch of irregular shape in its centre, and
bordered above with red, forming an eye. ‘The wings have
long tails; their tips are yellow.
The under side is paler than the upper, and the black
markings less extended. ‘The band on the middle of the hind
wings is composed of two narrow black lines, the outer one
of which is edged on the inner side with orange.
The: caterpillar is short and thick, especially in the middle,
and most so towards the head; narrower towards the tail, It
is of a green colour, darkest on the back, and spotted with
black, varying to light yellowish, with a faint tinge of red
beneath. It has a narrow yellowish stripe along the back, and
another along the side, near the legs. On the sides are oblique
yellowish lines, dotted with reddish. The head is small.
The figure is taken from the original specimen mentioned
above, now in the cabinet of the Rey. George Rudston Read,
of the Rectory, Sutton-upon-Derwent, near Pocklington.
BRIMSTONE.
PLATE III.
Gonepteryx rhamni, Lreacu. Streruens. Curtis. Duncan.
Papilio rhamni, Linnazus. Donovan. Lewin. <A bin.
Goniapterye rhamnt, Westwoop.
Anteos rhamni, Husner.
Ganoris rhamnt, DatMAn.
Ir the imagination chooses so to please itself, it may look
upon our own country as a sort of epitome of the northern
hemisphere of the world, as to its natural productions; and thus
we shall find that on the south coast, from Torquay to Hastings
are our tropics; in the midland counties our temperate zone; in
Scotland our Arctic regions; and John o’ Groat’s House will answer
to the North Pole. Correspondingly hereto are our Butterflies
localized. Excepting in the case of some chance wanderer,
driven by we know not what storm, or tempest, or “favouring
> the races are, for the most part, distinct, and those which
gale,’
flourish in the one district, would perish at once in the other,
through the difference of climate.
This is a most beautifully-coloured Butterfly, whether scen
on the wing, in its zigzag, impetuous, and hurried flight, or
examined at leisure in the cabinet. In the latter case you seem
never to be able to get it in a sufficiently good light, so full
and bright are its colours, to admire it as it ought to be ad-
mired; and when first emerged from the chrysalis, and glittering
before you in the sun, it is indeed a most attractive object.
In Yorkshire, and as far north as Newcastle, in Northum-
berland, and the lake district in Westmoreland, it occurs, but
not by any means so plentifully as in the more southern parts
of the country. It is very rare in the neighbourhood of Fal-
1;
ia ne ar Chad
if
7 7 i]
ne i i
am +
r} - Pans i : 7 rai ae
<=
> ty é 1)
ou e)
eo $ ney we “ia
Hint ia rt
if s
1)
Sar oh
- =
BRIMSTONE. 9
mouth: W. P. Cocks, Esq. has, however, taken it there in 1845,
and also in 1850. In Scotland it appears to be unknown.
There are two broods, one in May, the other in the autumn.
Many of the autumnal brood live through the winter, and are
to be seen in the spring even so early sometimes as February
and March, called forth from their retreats by the heat of the
returning sun.
The Brimstone is a very discursive insect, and is to be found
in gardens, lanes, and fields, especially in those in which clover
is grown.
The caterpillar feeds on the buckthorn, (Rhamnus cathar-
ticus; ) the berry-bearing alder, (Rhamnus frangulus;) and the
Rhamnus alaternus.
The expanse of the wings in this species varies from rather
more than two inches to three inches and a half. In the male
the whole of the upper wings is of a splendid sulphur yellow
colour, with an orange spot above the centre of the fore wings,
and a larger one similarly on the hinder wings. A line of the
same colour, enlarged here and there into a minute dot,
borders the upper corners of the fore wings; underneath the
colour is much fainter, with a cast of green in it: the spot is
replaced by a ferruginous dot, whitish in the centre, between
which and the margin spoken of is a row of brownish dots.
The female is much paler in colour, resembling more that of
the under side of the male.
The caterpillar is green, dotted on the back with black; there
is a pale green or whitish line on each side, shading off on
the upper edge into the ercen of the rest of the body.
The chrysalis is green, with several reddish dots. It is
thickest in the middle, tapering off in front. It is suspended
by the tail in an upright position, and retained by a silken
thread round the middle of the body. ‘The chrysalis state lasts
about a fortnight.
A variety, described as a separate species, by the name of
‘Gonepteryx Cleopatra,’ has the upper wings more or less varie-
gated with orange.
The engraving is from specimens in my own collection.
Cc
10
CLOUDED YELLOW.
PLATE IV.
Colias Edusa, Sreruens. Curtis. Duncan.
Colias Chirysotheme, STEPHENS.
Papilio Kdusa, Fapricits.
Papilio Hyale Esrer. Donovan.
/ Jae,
Papilio Electra, Lewr. Linyavs.
Papilio Helice Husyer. Haworrn.
(} >
Tuts is one of the favourite Butterflies of every Entomologist
in this country. It is always a valued capture, even though
sometimes it is met with in tolerable plenty. It is a fast flyer,
and many a rugged chase, when a boy, have I had after it.
Some have considered that its appearance, at least in any plenty,
is triennial, others quadriennial, and others septennial; but this
is not the case; though, certainly, particular seasons are more
or less favourable to its devclopment.
Clover fields are a much frequented resort of this beautiful
insect, which glitters in the butterfly-collector’s eyes as a golden
meteor. So also are the grassy cliffs of the sea-shore in those
localities where it occurs—these are the “California” of the
entomological speculator, and in these he invests his time and
trouble.
This species occurs in considerable numbers in those seasons in
which it appears, in some of the following,
and doubtless in many
other localities:—Near Swanage, Lyme Regis, and the cliffs near
Charmouth, Dorsetshire, where I have frequently captured
it in plenty, and where it is to be met with every year,
though In some years in greater abundance than in others.
Near Worcester, where my brother, Beverley R. Morris, Esq.,
QOA
captured one in 1825; near Broadway, Charing, Feversham,
ge
; ne
© hy .
aa ‘coal |
a) *
CLOUDED YELLOW. 11
Blackheath, and Canterbury, Kent; Broomsgrove, Worcester-
shire; Dawlish and Exmouth, Devonshire; Briggin, Northamp-
tonshire; and has been taken, as the Hon. T. L. Powys has
informed me, in the Gardens of Holland House, Kensington,
London. Also at Newmarket Heath, Triplow, Cambridge, and
Whittlesea Mere,. Cambridgeshire; Yarmouth, Norfolk; Stoke
by Nayland and Ipswich, Suffolk, as R. B. Postans, Esq. has
informed me; Tiptree, Essex, near the at present celebrated
“Model Farm;”’ Plymouth, a few; Sawbridgeworth, Hertford-
shire; once at Leominster, Herefordshire.
In Yorkshire, in Heslington fields near York, a few in 1833
and 1834, and forty-seven, thirty-seven males and ten females,
in 1842; one at Liverpool; one at New Brighton, Cheshire;
others at Bushmead Priory, Bedfordshire; Lympstone, Teign-
mouth, Budleigh, Salterton, Devonport, and between Sidmouth
and Lyme Regis, in Devonshire, where Sir ‘Thomas Lighton,
Bart. saw them in thousands in September, 1843; Broomfield
and Chelmsford, Essex; Hitchin, Hertfordshire; near Ely, Reach,
and Horseheath, Cambridgeshire; Lavenham, Sudbury, Fox-
earth, Great Cornard, Clare, and Kedington, Suffolk; Cromer
and Roydon in Norfolk; near Lyndhurst, Winchester, Alver-
stoke, Southampton, and in the New Forest, Hampshire; Black
Park and Chenies, Buckinghamshire; Kemp ‘Town, Brighton,
Casham, Chichester, Rottingdean, and Arundel, Sussex; Barham
Downs, Darenth wood, and Victoria Park, Hackney; in
Shropshire; near Leicester, Shardlow, and Market Harborough,
Leicestershire; Headley Lane, Wandsworth, Camberwell, Rid-
dlerdown, Fetcham Downs, Godalming, and Wimbledon, in
Surrey. Higham and Forest Hill, and the Isle of Wight.
In Scotland only one has been recorded; it was taken by
Wyville 'T. C. Thompson, Esq., on a steep bank, near the sea,
in the neighbourhood of Lamlash, in the Isle of Arran.
In Ireland two were seen, and one of them captured by
Mr. Joseph Poole, of Grovetown, near Wexford, in that locality,
on the 9th. of September, 1844.
It will be observed, from the foregoing accounts, that the
southern and south-eastern coasts are by far the most productive
12 CLOUDED YELLOW.
localities for this beautiful insect, very few indeed being else-
where met with.
About the last day of August, or the “First of September,”
the elegant Clouded Yellow usually makes its appearance. It
has however, been frequently noticed in the beginning of the
former month, and even at the end of July. One was observed
by Mr. 8. Stevens on the 29th. of June, 1851, near Higham.
It was a fine fresh specimen, and it is the earliest record of its
appearance that I have ever heard of. Alfred Greenwood, Esq.
has taken it on the 10th. of July. William Arnold Bromfield,
Esq. noticed it in the Isle of Wight, in 1845, from July the
drd., to October the 29th. Frederick Bond, Esq. has seen it
on the 14th. of July, and heard of another taken the same day;
and R. C. R. Jordan, Esq. caught one in fine condition on the
4th. of November, 1843.
The caterpillar feeds on the Medicago lupulina, various species
of clover, (trifolium,) ete. |
The male Clouded Yellow measures from two inches to two
inches and a half across the wings. The fore wings are of an
exceedingly rich and lovely orange-colour, with a rounded black
spot near the centre, and a broad black margin irregularly
indented on the inner side, and with several narrow orange
nerve-like lines running across it. ‘There is also an elegant very
narrow pink and light orange border outside the black border,
at the extreme edge. ‘The hind wings are of a deeper orange-
colour, with a large round central spot of a brighter and very
beautiful hue, darkened at the edge.
The female has the broad black border on the fore wings
interspersed with several irregular yellow marks, as if the ground
colour of the wings shewed through. ‘The hind wings are
darker, and of a yellower tint than in the male, with a shade
of green; and thew black margin is singularly interrupted with
yellow. Underneath, the fore wings are of a lighter orange-
colour, with a black central spot; the margins greenish, with a
row of blackish spots at some distance from the lower part of
the outside margin. The hind wings are greenish orange, with
a round dull silvery spot, surrounded with red, and attended,
CLOUDED YELLOW. 1133
in some specimens, by a satellite smaller silvery dot. Between
it and the outside margin is a row of reddish brown dots; one
of them large, in the direction of the middle of the upper side,
the others very faint.
There is a permanent variety of the female of this species
—the ‘Colias Helice’ of some Authors, which is occasionally,
though but rarely, met with. It is a very interesting insect.
The ground colour of the wing is pale yellowish white, as are
the light spots on the outside margins of both wings.
The white varicty has been taken near Charmouth, by my
friend, Henry Arthur Beaumont, Esq., and seen by Sir Thomas
Lighton, Bart. between Sidmouth, Devonshire; Lyme Regis and
Glanville’s Wootton, Dorsetshire; near ‘'eignmouth, Devonshire,
by R. C. R. Jordan, Esq.; Brighton, Sussex; also in the Isle of
Wight.
In a variety in my own cabinet, the only one of the kind
that I have seen, there is a divided black streak connecting the
central black spot on the fore wings with their black side
border.
Another variety in this country is of very small size, and
has been erroneously made a separate species, as ‘Colias Chry-
sothome.’
One was seen by the Rey. J. F. Dawson, in which one of the
four wings was white, and all the other three orange-colour.
One in my collection, captured by my brother, Frederick
Philipse Morris, Esq., near Charmouth, Dorsetshire, is the largest
that I have ever seen. Its wings expand to nearly the width
of two inches, and three-quarters.
The figures are taken from specimens in my own collection.
One of them the unusully large one just referred to.
14
PALE CLOUDED YELLOW.
PAE Ve.
Colias Huyale, Ocusennemmer., Leracu. Sreprens.
= ce Curtis, Duncan.
Papilio Hyale, Donovan.
Papilio Paleno, Esper.
Tuts beautiful Butterfly is proverbial for the uncertainty of
its appearance. One year many will be taken in various parts
of the country: the next, scarce one will be seen. ‘The proper
time of its first appearance is the last week in August, but some-
times it is later than the preceding species.
Clover fields, tre-foil, saint-foin, and lucerne fields, sunny grass
banks, and various other situations, are its resort.
The southern districts are obviously the “locale”’ of this species.
It is plentiful in Africa, in the northern parts of Asia, in
Nepaul, Cachemere, and other countries, and also in Europe.
It has been captured or seen in Heslington fields near York,
in 1842; near Dover, Birch wood, Darenth wood, Charing, and
Headley lane, Kent; Lewes, Sussex; both on the Downs, and the
Ringmer Road, near Shoreham, Kemp Town, and Brighton;
Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire; Wolverton, the Isle of Wight, Arundel,
Sussex; Matlock, Derbyshire; Eton, Buckinghamshire; Lincoln;
near Cambridge and ‘Triplow, Cambridgeshire; near Leicester;
in Northamptonshire; Broomfield, Colchester, and Epping, in
Essex; Stoke by Nayland and Ipswich, Suffolk; and several
other localities.
It, is said to be double-brooded, appearing in May, and in
August or September.
The Pale Clouded Yellow measures from two inches to two
inches and a quarter in the expanse of its wings. In the male
AG
ae Pn
es
weet
ae
ey. at
_ a" - - a ys
et teee RaSh Beeeee
= , ae oe ae
- fa : , we r\ i
- a
: - S wes
i a
.
hw. ¥ a €
@
its
tls
ieee
iL : 7 a ;
,
ts
i@Z 7
- Cs
" —— 7
: 2. ———— _ =
.
‘
‘ ~~
a we ,
i ©
: ba
- t
‘
i:
f
® i
" o
ie
= ta <
‘ -
* ya it.
~ =
&
f
F « 7
; z
mf > = « =
‘
“aa a
>
)
, ‘
: 7
~ i 7 <
. a) -_ i
D x
~- Fi
= igh
5 D
1.) = 7 al ?
PALE CLOUDED YELLOW. 15
the ground-colour is sulphur yellow, with a black central spot,
and an irregular broad band, edged with light pink on the
outside margin, in which is an interrupted series of spots of
the same hue as the ground-colour of the wings. The hind
wings have a light orange-coloured central spot, and the margin
at the corner is partially and irregularly bordered with black,
edged with light pink.
In the female the ground-colour inclines more to very light
cream-colour: underneath, the fore-wings are pale yellow, the
outside corner, orange yellow; a row of blackish transverse
marks runs parallel to, but at some distance from, the outside
margin. The central spot is black, yellow in the centre. The
hind wings are orange yellow, with a large silvery spot, accom-
panied by a small eye-like dot, surrounded with reddish. There
is a row of small blackish spots between these and the hind
corner, round the edge of the wing.
The caterpillar is of a velvet green colour, with two stripes
of yellow on the sides, and black dots on the segments.
The chrysalis is green, with a yellow line on the side.
Varieties of this insect have occurred: one is described as of
a whitish colour; another with the rich sulphur band _ that
divides the broad black margin at the outside corner of the
fore wings, uninterrupted, and the central spot of intense
blackness; the hind wings more than ordinarily rounded at the
margins, very faintly marked with black, and the central spot
or spots scarcely discernible: the size of the insect smaller
than usual, and its whole contour different. Another was seen
which, as well as could be observed, was of a very rich sul-
phur-colour, and the outside corner margins, and central spot
of a rather deep red.
The figure of the female is taken from a specimen in my own
cabinet.
16
BLACK VEINED.
PLATE VI.
Pieris cratcegi, Scurank. Latremie. Borspuvar.
ef a SrepHens. Curtis. Duncan.
Papilio crategi, Linnzus. Lewin. Donovan.
a “se ALBIN. WILKES.
Pontia crategi, Fasrictus.
Luconea crategi, Downzxu.
Aporia crategi, Husner.
Tr remark made in a previous article as to an imaginary
hemisphere, may be carried still farther by confining it to each
one’s separate county; thus, the warm sandy soil in the extreme
south of Yorkshire—in the Doncaster neighbourhood, will be
found to be rich in insect life; the mountains of Craven to have
their Alpine productions; flat Holderness those which are attached
to a low situation; and “The York and Ainsty”’ entomological
hunters will find their game in the covers that protect it there.
On the continent this Butterfly is so very common, and oc-
curs Im some seasons in such prodigious numbers, as to cause
serious damage, in the caterpillar state, to gardens.
The Black-veined White appears the end of June, and
beginning of July.
This species, a very local one, is plentiful near Feversham,
im Kent, where my friend, the Rev. Henry Hilton, has taken
it in former years; on the hill side near Cracombe House,
Kvesham, Worcestershire, where my friend, Hugh Edwin
Strickland, Esq., when he resided there, used to see it in abun-
dance; and Barnwell and Ashton Wold, and the neighbourhood
of Polebrook, Northamptonshire, as the Hon. Thomas Littleton
Powys has mformed me. The New Forest, in Hampshire;
le i yi vie 7 oe i ae
a we ra
i ia) i
BLACK VEINED. sige
and Combe Wood, Surrey; Enborne Copse, near Newbury,
Berkshire, the residence of the famous “Jack of Newbury;”
Chelsea, Middlesex; Muswell Hill and Herne Bay, Kent; and
Glanville’s Wootton, near Sherborne, Dorsetshire, are also given
as localities for it; but I believe it is no longer found in the
last-named situation.
The caterpillar feeds on the whitethorn, ( Crategus oryacantha, )
the cherry pear, the Prunus spinosa, and other fruit trees.
This Butterfly varies in size from about two inches and a
quarter to nearly three inches: all the four wings are of a dull
milk-white colour, elegantly, at least in the eye of the entomo-
logist, streaked over with the black veins from whence the insect
derives its name; they shew through, the wings being semi-
transparent, so that the under side resembles the upper in its
markings and general appearance.
In the female the veins of the fore wings are generally of a
brownish hue; and in one specimen that I have, the outer edge
is bordered with a very deeply indented line of blackish brown,
the indentations running up the veins to a point, but all united
together at the outside.
The caterpillar is at first black, but becomes afterwards
thickly covered with whitish hairs, and on the sides and un-
derneath is of a dark grey colour, with two longitudinal stripes
of red or yellow.
The chrysalis is greenish white, with two streaks of yellow
on the sides, a number of black dots, and a few black streaks.
LARGE WHITE.
PLATE VII.
Pontia brassice, Fasricius. OcnskNaeImMEer.
es sé Leaca. Curtis. SrepHeNs. JERMYN.
Catophaga brassicee, Houser.
Papilio brassice, Linnzus. Donovan. Lewin. Haworrn.
Ganoris brassice, DaLMAN,
Pieris brassice, Scurank. Latrrereie. Boispuvau,
ee es ZETTERSTEDT.
THE Large White is very common throughout Europe, and
also, according to some’ authors, in the north-east of Africa, and
even in Eastern Asia and Japan.
It is a very abundant species in this country, and its cater-
pillar causes much damage in gardens in dry seasons, which are
favourable to their production.
The perfect insect occurs about the middle of May or earlier,
if what we may now call the “Queen’s Own” days shine upon
it in its hidden existence. A second brood appears in July.
The eggs of the first brood are laid about. the end of May,
and the caterpillars are hatched the beginning of June. They
turn into the chrysalis state at the end of that month, and the
fly emerges in about a week or a fortnight, according as the
season is less or more favourable to its development. The eggs
of the second brood produce caterpillars which turn into
chrysalides in the course of the autumn, and remain in that
state until the following May.
The caterpillar feeds on the common cabbage, ( Brassica
oleracea. )
‘The expanse of the wings varies ordinarily in different in-
dividuals, from two inches and a half to two and three-quarters
‘
, | Pi va ; ’ we, <
r = ret ur i} : (ei } bush a. yl
SU yea Ser HAY ROTM x,
enti Js
oe -
a
a a a
- feu. Ds i
a - -
: :
no j 7 a
‘ way ri
= . -
a
* u -
— |
2 *
oat
’
a 4
=i ;
De) e i i i |
6 . ‘4 ae ;
. s : -
; a!
ees e: >. ;
— a ba > fe ehh 4
il ‘ ce pace MIN
». > A ; a ea iin
» \ ol a A vay : ne hh ay
F YG oe ee
iy es ui ‘ia yt
‘ f REY) Aaa, ea
és
i *
x
LARGE WHITE. 19
-—a singularly small specimen in my own collection, figured
in the plate, measures under two inches across. The upper
surface of all the wings is white, the fore ones having a broad
black patch following the angles of the outside corner, and
indented on its lower inner edge. ‘There is a pale blackish
grey margin at the front of the wings, extending nearly to the
patch at the corner; and the whole front edge has a line of
black along it. Occasionally, but very rarely, the males have
a black spot on the fore wings: the hind wings have a_ black
spot on the middle of their front edge. Underneath, there are
two black spots on the fore wings, which however are inde-
pendent of any generally apparent corresponding markings on
the upper side. ‘The hind wings are dull yellow, minutely
dotted all over with black specks. There is only a faint trace
of the black mark on the middle of the front edge.
The female has the outside patch larger than in the male,
with its inner edge more or less deeply indented. There are
also two large irregular round black spots on the middle of the
fore wings, and immediately beneath them a streak of the same
running along the lower edge of the wing, and attenuating
towards the body. The hind wings have a triangular-shaped
spot on their front side in a line with the spots on the fore
wings. Underneath, the fore wings shew the black spots plainly
through, and the black patch very faintly. ‘The hind wings are
of a dull greenish colour, dotted all over with very minute black
spots, and shewing the black triangular patch rather obscurely
through.
The eggs are deposited in clusters.
The caterpillar is greenish yellow, the segments being almost
covered with black tubercles of different sizes, from each side
of which arise white hairs, three of the larger ones forming a
triangle. ‘The head, fore legs, and hind segment are also black.
There is a line of green down each side, and one along the
back.
The chrysalis is pale green, spotted with black, and with three
yellow lines.
Varieties occur both in size and markings. A very remark-
20, LARGE WHITE.
able one, figured in the “Zoologist,” page 471, is given in the
plate. It was taken in a garden in Leicester, in the year 1843.
Some have imagined a separate species under the name of
‘Pontia chariclea.’
The engravings are from specimens in my own collection; one
of them the unusually small one before referred to.
Lo)
SMALL WHITE.
PEATE, Vatu.
Pontia rape, OcHSENHEIMER. STEPHENS.
ee oe Curtis. Duncan.
Papilio rape, Linnzus. Haworru.
é¢ wc Lewin. WILEEs.
Pieris rape, Larremue. BorspuvaL. Zerrersrept.
Ganoris rape, Daman,
Catophaga rape, HusNer.
Tuts common species inhabits the whole of Europe from
north to south, and is found also in various parts of Asia, and
the north of Africa.
An extraordinary migration of this Butterfly from France to
Dover was witnessed on the 5th. of July, 1846; and the
“Canterbury Journal’ recorded at the time that such was the
density and extent of the cloud formed by the living mass,
that it completely obscured the sun from the people on board
the continental steamers on their passage, for many hundreds of
yards, while the imsects strewed the deep in all directions.
The flight reached England about twelve o’clock at noon, and
dispersed themselves inland and along shore, darkening the air
as they went. During the sea passage of the Butterflies, the
weather was calm and sunny, with scarce a puff of wind stir-
ring, but an hour or so after they reached ‘terra firma,’ it
came on to blow “great guns” from the 8. W., the direction
whence the insects came. ‘The gardens suffered from the ravages
of their larve, even at the distance of ten miles from Dover.
In this country the Small White is very abundant, and there
are two broods, one appearing towards the end of April, and
the other about the beginning of July.
99 SMALL WHITE.
The caterpillar feeds on the cabbage, (Brassica oleracea.)
The expanse of the wings varies from one inch and three-
quarters, to nearly two inches and a half: a singularly small
one, captured some years since, by my brother Frederick Philipse
Morris, Esq., is figured in the plate. ‘The colour of this imsect
is milk-white; the fore wings have a dusky or black mark,
irregularly defined at the tip, extending along part of the mar-
gin; and there is a black spot near the middle of the wing, and
a second indistinctly visible. The hind wings have a dull dusky
black mark in a line with them, about the middle of the fore
edge. Underneath, the mark at the tip shews through, of a pale
yellowish colour, and there are two black spots near the centre;
in fact the same as those, one of which only is apparently visible
on the upper surface. The hind wings are yellowish, thickly
irrorated, principally near the base, with minute dots.
The female has two black spots near the centre of the upper
side of the fore wings, and in many instances an elongated
patch of dusky black on the lower margm. ‘There is a dull
black mark toward the centre of the fore margin of the hind
wings, in a line with the two on the upper wings. Sometimes
the whole upper surface is of a pale buff or yellowish colour.
The eggs are placed singly.
The caterpillar is pale green, with a narrow line of yellow
along the back, and an interrupted line of yellow on the lower
part of each side. The head, feet, and tail are entirely green.
The body is slightly striated across with the segments.
This is a most variable insect, especially in the size of the
spots on the upper wings; in some, in fact, they are wholly
obliterated, and in others they are very large. I have a whole
row in my cabinet, no two of which are exactly alike.
The figures are taken from some of them—one the singularly
small one already spoken of.
GREEN VEINED.
PLATE IX.
Pontia napi, Fasricius. OcusENHEIMER. Curtis.
“ ce SrepHens. Duncan.
Papilio napi, Linnxvs. Lewin. Donovan.
™ ee ALBIN. WILKEs.
Pieris napi, Scurank. Larrernye.
cE ae BotspuvaL. ZETTERSTEDT.
Ganoris napi, Datman,
Catophaga napi, HUBNER.
CoMPARATIVELY plain as this insect is, yet, looking at it, as
at all others, with the eyes that the entomologist does, he will
always say “Who can paint like nature?’
The Green-veined White is another of our most common
native species. It occurs about the middle of May, and also
in July, and is found in all situations—gardens, woods, lanes,
and fields.
The caterpillar feeds on different species of Brassica, Reseda,
Raphanus, and other plants.
This species varies greatly in size, some being only about
an inch and a half in width, and others as much as two. A
very small one, captured I believe by myself some years since,
and figured in the plate, is only an inch and a quarter across
the wings.
The wings are white, dusky black at the tips and the base;
and there is generally a black spot not far from the outside
edge of the fore wings. Some however have no spot whatever,
or the very faintest indication of one, which is more visible if
held up against the light. There are some small irregularly-
shaped triangular marks at the end of the nerves at the outside
E
D4. GREEN VEINED.
edge of the wing: the hind wings are white. Underneath, the
fore wings have two spots, as in the female on the upper sur-
face, and the nerves obscure black. The hind wings are pale
yellowish, with the nerves broadly margined on each side with
dusky greenish, widest on the inner part, and tapering off
afterwards to the edge.
The female is generally smaller than the male, and the wings
are more rounded. They are of a light greenish white colour,
veined with dusky black; the tips dusky black, and there are two
spots of the same towards the outer margin of the wing; the lower
one, at the lower edge, running into a wide streak, which runs
up to the base of the wing. ‘The hind wings are also streaked
with dusky, but more faintly, and there is one spot on their
upper edge, in a line with the two on the upper wings: under-
neath, the streaked nerves shew through, as also the spots.
The hind wings are pale yellowish, the nerves streaked with
dull greenish on both sides, widest above, and each running
off to a point at the outer edge.
The caterpillar is of a dull green colour on the back, the
sides brighter, with red dots placed on yellow spots on each
segment.
The chrysalis is greyish or yellowish green with black spots.
This is another very variable insect. One has been described
as a separate species, under the name of ‘Papilio nape’ and
‘Pontia nape.’ The male has the whole upper surface of the
fore wings white, with the tip, a spot, and two or three trian-
gular-shaped markings on the hind margin, black; the hind
wines white, with the nerves near the base widened and
greenish. Underneath, the fore wings have the nerves rather
widened into greenish streaks, with two ash-coloured spots
placed transversely, and the tips yellowish; the hind wings pale
yellowish with one deeper streak.
The female has the fore wings, with the tips, and three spots,
one of which is nearly triangular, dusky black; the hind wings
clearer yellow. Underneath, the hind wings have the streaks
on each side of the nerves more or less wide in different
specimens.
GREEN VEINED. 25
Another variety, also erroneously made into a species, under
the name of ‘Pontia sabellice,’ has the veins strongly margined
on each side with brown, and the fore wings of a rounded
shape in some specimens, and in others only so on the lower
part of the margin, which is therefore widened more than
ordinarily.
The male of our present species has been known with the
wings of the rounded shape which usually is characteristic of
the females.
The figures are taken from specimens in my own collection,
one of them the very unusually small one already referred to.
oO
la)
wO
CHEQUERED WHITE.
BATH WHITE. SLIGHT GREENISH HALF-MOURNER.
VERNOUN’S GREENISH HALE-MOURNER.
PLATE X.
Pontia Daplidice, Faprictus. OcHSENHEIMER. CuRTIS.
Papilio Daplidice, Linnzvus. Lewin. Donovan.
Pieris Daplidice, ScHRank. Larreivie.
= < Botspuvan. ZETTERSTEDT.
Mancipium Daplidice, STEPHENS. Duncan.
Synchloe Daplidice, Husner.
Excrrpep though this lovely insect is by many of brighter
colouring, yet it needs not the additional enhancement of its
great rarity to make the collector exclaim, “Can imagination
boast, amid her gay creation, hues like these?’ ‘This is indeed
a prize in his harmless lottery; one which it falls to the lot
of but very few to gain. It must be a singularly fortunate day
in the year that is not a blank one in regard to the capture
of the Chequered White.
‘The Chequered White, or Bath White, is very common in
many of the southern parts of the continent of Europe, as
well as on the opposite coasts of Africa, in Barbary, and also
in Asia Minor, Cashmere, and no doubt in many other parts of
the Asiatic continent. It is mostly found in dry and sandy
situations.
In this country, as before pointed out, it is very rare. Ray
has recorded that it was formerly taken by Vernon, near Cam-
bridge; and Petiver that it was found near Hampstead. Lewin
says that one was taken near Bath—whence one of its names,
and that the fact had been chronicled by a young lady in
needlework, in which the fly was depicted. Haworth states that
10
Ori Be ee
asa) H ig
v
ree irra ted bp
hs
f
CHEQUERED WHITE. Q7
one was taken in June in White Wood, near Gamlingay, Cam-
bridgeshire. Stephens captured one on the 14th. of August,
1818, in the meadow behind the Castle of Dover, where others
have since been taken by Mr. Le Plaistrier, of Dover. My
excellent friend, J. C. Dale, Esq., has also recorded the capture
of one about the same time near Bristol.
Two broods occur in the year, the earlier one in April and
May, and the latter in the end of July and August.
The caterpillar feeds upon wild woad, base rocket, and wild
cabbage, and various species of Reseda and cruciferous plants.
It is described by Boisduyal as being of a bluish ash-colour
above, and on the sides covered with small black raised dots,
and with four white stripes along the sides; beneath, whitish,
as are the legs, each with a yellow spot above it.
The chrysalis is greyish, dotted with black, with several
reddish stripes.
This fly varies in the expansion of its wings, from not quite
an inch and three-quarters to nearly two inches. The wings
are white, with a shade of cream-colour. The fore wings,
which are unusually pointed, the outer margin being slightly
concave, are blackish at the base, and there is a rather large
black spot about the centre of the wing, where the transverse
veins appear of a white colour. ‘The tip is irregularly marked
with black, irrorated with white, which is widest towards the
front margin; the black patch is also marked with four irregular
white spots. The hind wings are white, the markings of the
under side shewing faintly through.
Underneath, the marks of the fore wings are of a greenish
colour, and there is a spot on the inner edge. ‘The hind wings
are yellowish green, with three large white spots, forming a
triangle, towards the outer corner of the wing, succeeded by an
uregular white bar beyond its middle, crossed by yellowish
veins, and with five white club-shaped spots on the outer
margin.
In the female the black patch on the fore wings, which are
of a convex and rounded form, is darker than in the male, and
there is another small black patch near the inner margin. The
28 CHEQUERED WHITE.
w
hind wings are white, but the markings of the under side shew
through rather more distinctly than in the male, especially along
the outer edge. Underneath, they are greenish, and marked as
in the male.
Naly
as
¥
a_i
AL Ay Ay 1. i
REAP ales. rc
reli. Sea
4 b.
7%
1]
Leucophasia loti,
Leucophasia sinapis,
Papilio sinapis,
ee e
Pontia sinapis,
Leptoria candida,
Pieris sinapis,
Ganoris sinapis,
Leptoria sinapis,
Papilio candidus,
29
WOOD WHITE.
PLATE XI.
RENNIE.
SrepHens. Botspuvant. Duncan.
Linnzvus. Lewin.
Donovan. Harris.
Fasnricius. OcHsENHEIMER. L&Eacn.
Westwoop.
Scurank. Latreinte. Gopart.
Daman.
HUBNER.
Rerzivs.
WELL is it for the entomologist that his is “untaxed and
undisputed game.” He wants no “licence” to saunter harmlessly
in quest of the trophies of his skill, through the winding lanes
of his native country, and the green pathways that labyrinth
her woods. Sometimes, indeed, some stupid churl is fain to’
exert, and probably to overstrain, his deputed authority, but
for the most part, the land is as free as the air to the peaceful
insect hunter.
The Wood White is a very pretty object, floating lightly
in the glades of the wood, in a slow and undulating manner.
It appears, according to some accounts, to be double-brooded,
the first appearing at the end of May, and the second in
August.
I have once taken this interesting imsect, in the year 1837,
in Sandal Beat, near Doncaster, Yorkshire, and repeatedly in the
Ran-Dan woods, a most excellent locality for many good species,
near Broomsgrove, Worcestershire. It occurs also in the following
localities: —Barnwell and Ashton Wold, and the neighbourhood
of Polebrook, Northamptonshire; rarely near Great Bedwyn
30 WOOD WHITE.
and Sarum, Wiltshire, as J. W. Lukis, Esq. has informed me;
Raydon woods, near Hadleigh, Essex, as R. M. Postans, Esq.
has informed me; and very abundantly in all the woods in the
neighbourhood of Ardrahan, in the county of Galway, in Ireland,
as I have just learned by an obliging communication from A.
G. More, Esq., of Trinity College, Cambridge.
The caterpillar feeds on the different species of Lathyrus,
Lotus, and Orobus; the Vetch, Victa cracca, and, according to
Fabricius, the Strapis, or wild mustard; but this is now said
not to be the case, so that the specific name thence given to
it has been altered.
This fragile-looking Butterfly measures from one inch and a
half to nearly two inches across the wings. It is of a delicate
white colour, with a rounded dull black spot at the tip of the
fore wings. In some specimens, however, this spot is nearly
obliterated, and in others is entirely wanting.
Underneath, the fore wings have the front margin greyish-
coloured, and the base and tip of these wings very pale yellowish
grecn. ‘The hind wings are tinted very faintly with greenish
yellow, with the nerves, and two irregular, and in many instances
interrupted, transverse bars, of a greyish ash-colour.
The female resembles the male.
The caterpillar is green, darker near the end, and with a
yellow stripe along the sides, above the feet.
The chrysalis is at first of a greenish yellow colour, but
afterwards becomes whitish grey, with red dots on the sides
and upon the wing cascs.
= ee >
Oy ‘ihe
- 7 py i
rf
- '
; #, -
.
P .
. =
*® «A
P \ - be ati) oe
an i : ; .
<> an Sin oe
: 2X, stag’ > ;~ we doe - ;
*
: —
ee
mM.
: --
ee -
cate
, ge
a ee
oe Pt =
. 74 ? .
va
ORANGE TIPPED.
PLATE XII.
Mancipium Cardamines, SterHens. Duncan.
Papilio Cardamines, Linnzus. Lewin. Harris.
gs a Witkes. Donovan.
Anthocharis Cardamines, BotspuvaL. Goparr.
Pieris Cardamines, ScHRANK. LatreEILue.
es Se ZETTERSTEDT.
Ganoris Cardamines, DaLMAN.
Euchloe Cardamines, HUBNER.
THe endless variety of nature is perhaps the most wonderful
feature in it. Varied indeed are the combinations which the
mind of man strikes out, but still there is a something, a ‘je
ne scai quoi,’ which, though the gift that enables him to do even
what he does, is itself a natural gift, yet leaves it always manifest
that his skill in contrivance is but imperfect. The varieties
that he sees in natural objects would never have occurred to
his own imagination, however fertile it may be. There is but
One of whom we can say with truth, “His work is perfect.”
The Orange Tipped is a strikingly handsome insect, whether
seen in its flight, or adorning the cabinet. I have noticed
how very suddenly, from whatever cause, all, or nearly all,
disappear when their “little day” is over.
It is a very abundant species in all parts of England, and
I have seen it in great plenty in Ireland, in the grounds of
Rostellan Castle, the most beautiful seat of the Marquis of
Thomond.
The Butterfly appears at the end of May; and Mr. Stephens
says that he has had some come out of chrysalis in the middle
of June, and others in the middle of July.
It is found in all sorts of situations, in the green lane,
e
B00. ORANGE TIPPED.
and the open pathway or riding in the wood; in the sunny
meadow and the cultivated garden.
The caterpillar feeds on the Cardamine impatiens, Turritis
glabra, Brassica campestris, and other plants.
The wings expand to the width of from one inch and three-
quarters to two inches. ‘Their ground colour is white; the
upper wings are black at the base, and have a black mark,
varying in shape, near the centre. The whole of the space
between this, and indeed from a little inside it to the tip, is
a lovely orange colour, -bordered on the outside corner with
brownish black, irrorated with very minute orange specks, and
indented on the inner side. The hind wings are also black at
the base. Underneath, the fore wings resemble the upper, except
that there is a little dash of very pale yellow near the base,
and the dark mark at the tip is exchanged for dull white, barred
with dull green. The fore edge has a few small black dots.
The hind wings are most elegantly varied with green marks,
and yellowish green; ‘the ground colour being white, and some
of the veins yellowish.
The female is without the orange tip; in other respects she
resembles the male, but the green underneath is darker.
The caterpillar is green, finely dotted with black, and with
a white stripe along the side.
The chrysalis is at first green, which in a few days changes
to dull light yellowish grey; the stripes being brighter.
This insect varies very much in the extent of the wings,
and also in the size and shape of the black spot on the fore
wings. Stephens describes one with the black mark on the
fore wings almost obliterated, and with a black spot on the
upper surface of the hind wings. Haworth mentions one as
having the orange mark on the upper surface of the fore wings
almost invisible; and Boisduval another, a female, which had
an orange spot on the under surface of the fore wings. Mr.
Robert Calvert, of Bishop-Auckland, has written me word of
one he has, which measures only one inch and a quarter
across the wings.
ae
wl
Ag,
©9
eS)
MARBLED WHITE.
HALF-MOURNER. MARMORESS.
PLATE XIII.
ITipparchia Galathea, Leacn. Sreruens.
cs eS Curtis. Duncan.
Papilio Galathea, Linnzvs. Lewin. WItkgs.
es ? Donovan. Harrts.
Arge Galathea, Botspuvat. Huvpner.
Satyrus Galathea, Larreinie. DvuroncHet.
THe entomologist may, or may not be, an aristocat, but
whether or no, politics he eschews. ‘The peer or the plebcian
‘equo pulsat pede’ the wood side, or the green lane, the
mountain top, or the sheltered valley. The Butterfly-collector’s
pride of race in centred in one which is alien to his own.
“There is my friend the weaver” says the excellent poet
Crabbe, speaking of an entomological one; and the honest
artizan or mechanic will be “hail fellow well met” with the
“Proud Duke of Somerset” himself, if both should meet together
on common ground, in the kindred pursuit of a rare species.
Thus, the term a “good neighbourhood” may be understood
in another sense than that which is commonly meant by it; and
I, for one, prefer the retired glade of the forest to “Belgrave
Square” or “the Dukeries,” and the air of the mountain to
that of the Court:—
“Give me but these; I ask no more;
With, etc.”
We do indeed lament the loss of many of the “old families,”
and I must say, speaking entomologically, that we treat with
considerable contempt many of our modern new ones.
34 MARBLED WHITE.
There is hardly a more strikingly beautiful species of Butterfly
in our country than the Marbled White; the contrast of its
black and white markings is exceedingly pleasing.
It is a very locally, though widely-distributed insect, in our
country; in Scotland, however, it is not known.
I have taken this insect in plenty at Pinhay cliff, Devonshire,
near Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire, also at Marr, near Doncaster,
and on Buttercrambe moor, near Stamford-Bridge, Yorkshire.
It is taken in abundance in Hartley wood, near St. Osyth,
Essex, and occurs also at Manningtree, in the same county;
near Great Bedwyn and Sarum, Wiltshire, in isolated spots
near woods, as J. W. Lukis, Esq. informs me.
The perfect insect appears in June and July.
The caterpillar feeds on the cat’s-tail grass.
The Marbled White varies in the expanse of its wings from
two inches to nearly two and a quarter. Its colours are a
fine yellowish white and black, with which the whole surface
of the wings is chequered over, so that one can hardly say
whether the white or the black is the ground-colour. .'There
is a large whitish oval spot near the base of each wing, suc-
ceeded by four long whitish patches, the two middle ones
being nearest to the outside of the wings, and smaller than
the others. Between these and the tip are two smaller white
spots, and there is a row of white spots near the margin,
divided by a black line, which is again succeeded by the white,
forming a margin, interrupted by the continuation of the black
which had formed the sides of the white spots before their
intersection by the black line. The hind wings have a large
oval whitish spot near the base, then an irregular black mark,
succeeded by a very broad bar of the former colour, then
black again, and then a row of white crescents, varying im size,
near the outside margin, divided by a black line, as in the
fore wings.
Underneath the markings correspond, but the black colour
is much more faint and indistinct. The fore wings have a
small black eye, with a white centre, near the tip. ‘The hind
wings have five eyes just above the white crescents near the
MARBLED WHITE. 35
margins, the third from the outer corner not having an eye,
and the eye near the inner corner being a double one. The
black markings are irrorated with buff.
The female is of considerably larger size than the male, and
the under surface of the wings is of a yellower hue.
Varieties occur, both accidental ones, and others that seem
to be permanent; some are quite of a cream yellow on the upper
side; others milk white.
One taken near Dover, recorded by the Rev. W. T. Bree, in
the ‘Magazine of Natural History,” vol. 5, page 335, and which
is figured in the plate, is described as having the upper wings
nearly black, except a large white spot near the base, and
another divided into three by the veins at the lower edge of
the middle part of the fore wings. Underneath, all the wings
are clouded with black, and almost entirely without the usual
tesselated markings.
In some the black is much suffused over the greater portion
of the wings.
In others the black colour is changed into yellowish brown.
Another local variety has the black markings on the under
side of the hind wings exchanged for a very light buff, so
that the wings appear nearly white, and without the eyes.
The caterpillar is yellowish green, with a darker lne down
the back and on each side.
The figures, excepting the one of the variety, are from speci-
mens in my own collection.
WOOD ARGUS.
WOOD LADY. SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY.
PLATE XIV.
Hipparchia Atgeria, Fapricius. OcHsENHEIMER. Le&acu.
ee ee Curtis. Duncan. STEPHENS.
Satyrus Algeria, Latreitir. Botspuvat. DuroncHeEt.
Papilio Adgeria, Linnzvus. Hawortn. Donovan.
a ee Lewin. Witxes. Harris. Sepp.
Pyrarge Aigeria, HusBNer.
“Wen Flora with her fragrant flowers
Bedeekt the earth so trim and gaye,
And Neptune with his damtye showers
Came to present the monthe of May,
King Henry rode to take the ayre,”
and, at that season, he who cannot ride will walk, and if he
have a love for entomology, will turn his steps to the lane
or the wood. There he will see the Wood Argus, which
delights in such situations, and is a common species in all parts
of the country, from the extreme north to the extreme south.
The perfect imsect appears in April,. June, and August,
there being several broods in the course of the year.
The caterpillar is found in March, May, and June.
It feeds on various grasses, giving a preference to the
common couch grass.
The wings expand to the width of from one inch and a
half to two inches; their ground-colour is greenish brown.
The fore wings are marked with a number of pale buff patches,
of variable size and of irregular shape, ten or eleven in the
strongest-marked individuals, the one nearest the outside corner
of the wing having a black eye, with a white dot in the
14
¥
an) Pais @. had
- » a re Ay Ait
, Agere yee em
: Pes ee A een
a 7 ‘al :
abe f ‘¢ i I
f a
, ~ a
: wis 3 : Ae ! : : |
mn i a Rie) phan ea adie
: 2 i ae ae. i 4 hs ‘ Ma "i, lets: hice
ET I utvwnh fn po act ae
oe A 2 cheat of ae on 7
f LA ) Leecath
ay
hs 1 Wa a al ve y
WOOD ARGUS. 37
centre. The hind wings have a pale buff patch near the
centre of the wing, but rather outside it, and a still smaller
and faint one on their fore edge: towards the margin they
have four buff patches, the fore one with a very small dot,
or none at all, the next with a larger one, and the two hinder
ones with still larger ones, each with a dot of white in its
centre. In some specimens the black prevails over the buff
more than in others, leaving only a narrow border of the
latter colour.
Underneath, the brown colour of the fore wings is more
clouded, the outer corners being much paler, with the eye
near the tip shewing through. The hind wings are more
varied with waved shades and lines of a darker and a lighter
colour, the upper outer corner being paler; and there is a
row of five or six white dots, varying in size, near the outer
margin, which is darker, and not unfrequently has a tinge of
purple, the larger dots being in fact those of the upper side
shewing through.
This is a very variable insect, though preserving on the
whole a similarity of appearance. ‘The males are generally
smaller and darker in colour than the females, the pale spots
on the latter being at the same time larger and more numerous
than in the former.
The figures are from specimens in my own collection.
WOOD RINGLET.
LENO MAYS
THipparchia Typeranthus, OcusENHEIMER. Leacn.
ss oe Srepuens. Curtis. Duncan.
Papilio Hyperanthus, Linnzus. Lewin. Donovan.
rs ee Haworrn. Harris.
Papilio Polymeda, Scoport. Husnmr.
Satyrus Ilyperanthus, Boispuvat.
Enodia I[yperanthus, Husyer.
Many of the praises which good old Izaak Walton bestowed
on the art of angling, and especially those which refer to the
“higher branch” of it, namely to fly-fishing, apply equally
well and_ suitably to the entomologist’s peaceful and gentle
art. ‘The murmur of the mountain bee” is a good substitute,
at least ‘pro tempore,’ for the murmur of the purling brook;
to catch a rare Butterfly 1s, in its way, as great a pleasure
as to catch a trout of three pounds weight, or a fresh-run
salmon of a dozen, and in each case alike you have the enjoy-
ment of the fragrant “scent of hawthorn flowers,” and of all the
other charming scents and sights with which the beneficent
Creator has strewed and surrounded the path of those who
will seek them in the country, where His hand has placed
them.
This insect is plentiful throughout the country generally,
but in the neighbourhood of Falmouth it is scarce.
It is found in woods and lanes, and places more immediately
adjacent to them.
It appears about the end of June.
The caterpillar feeds on the Poa annua and other grasses,
about the roots of which it conceals itself during the day.
The wings expand to the width of from one mch and a
1 16s
ae
a
i)
t
.
14 Oe
‘tT nip tle
"
ta COE f
—y} gaat st
oo
i
7
a ibe ha ait)
i ~ », : = «- ) 7
7 Awe
> / +
- * a 1) =
> «
P : a : , 1, wt ;
7 i =|
, Lom : oak
> —
7 : a 4 f
: 3 ah 7
; A . .
0 aa
a — :
-
i
ty
- »
_*
WOOD RINGLET. 39
half to nearly two inches. The whole of the upper surface
is very dark rich brown. The fore wings have one or two
small eyes, dark brown, edged with lhght brown, more or less
distinct in different specimens, near their hind margin. The
hind wings have two or more similar eyes near their margins,
one or two of them with white specks in the centre. '
Underneath, the ground-colour is a much lighter brown.
The eyes on both the fore and hind wings are much larger
than above, there being generally three near the outer angle
of the upper wings, the rim, eye, and dot being more or less
indistinct, and five much more distinct ones on the hind wings,
two and three, the latter side, but following the lower outer
margin, and the former, between the base of the wing and
its outside corner, near the fore edge.
The caterpillar is of a greyish white colour, with a slender
black line along the back, and sometimes, Mr. Westwood says,
it is entirely blackish.
This Butterfly is an exceedingly variable one. In some
specimens the eyes are very large, and connected together,
accompanied by smaller satellite ones. In some the eyes are
wholly obliterated on the fore wings, and indeed, strictly
speaking, on the hind wings too, there being im their place
three minute white specks. A very extensive series of varieties
may easily be procured. J.C. Dale, Esq., has one with un-
equal spots on the opposite wings, and Mr. Wailes, of Newcastle,
one with no spot whatever, cither above or below.
The figures are taken from specimens in my own collection.
40
GATE-KEEPER.
SPECKLED WALL. WALL BUTTERFLY.
PLATE XVI.
Hipparchia megera, OcHSENHEIMER. LrEacu.
s eS SrePpHENS. CvuRTIS.
Papilio megera, Linnzvus. Lewis. Donovan.
as «s Sepp. WILKES.
Papilio megera, Hawortn.
Satyrus megera, LatreinLeE. Bortspuvat.
e ce DuponcHEL.
Dira megera, Husner.
Papilio mera, Berkennout. Harris.
THost who study what may with truth be called the “Gay
Science” of entomology, derive a pleasure, which those who
devote themselves to mere amusement form and can form no
conception of, and that, even from the inspection of those species
which present no striking attraction from the beauty of their
colours. Such is the fact with respect to the plain insect
before us.
This Butterfly is to be seen flitting im its zigzag manner
along the banks which for the most part it frequents, in July
and August. It is fond of settling on walls, whence one of
its English names, seeming to take delight in those situations
which are the most sheltered, and from which the most heat
is reflected. The shadow of your approach disturbs it, and
you see it flit off, and settle again at some little distance, or
continue its irregular flight along the bank.
The caterpillar is found in the beginning of May, and also
in August.
It feeds on different grasses.
16
GATE-KEEPER. 4]
The expanse of the wings in this species varies from one
inch and a half to nearly two inches. ‘The ground-colour is
pale yellowish brown, marked irregularly across with several
waved brown bars, and the margins of the same colour; near
the tip is a large blackish brown eye, with a white dot, and
there is a broad oblique brown bar extending across the middle
of the hind part of these wings, which is absent in the female.
The base of the hind wings is brown, and they have, fol-
lowing the outer margin, a row of three or four eyes, varying
in size; the middle ones with a white dot in their centre.
Underneath, the markings of the fore wings are nearly corres-
ponding to those of the upper side, but the brown bars are
not so wide, and the oblique one is wanting. The eye is
surrounded by a brown ring, and is accompanied by a smaller
Do?
satellite.
The hind wings are neatly freckled with brown and _ ash-
colour, with many waved marks of a darker shade, two of
them forming a rather broad waved bar across the middle of
these wings, beyond which is a row of six or seven eyes, two,
three, and two, that at the inner corner being a double one,
and these succeeded by a row of darker waves: the eyes are
formed of a brown spot, in which is a black dot, and this
again has a white spot, more or less distinct, in its centre.
The figures are from specimens in my own cabinet.
ROCK-EYED UNDERWING.
GRAYLING.
PLATE XVII.
Hipparchia Semele, OcHSENHEIMER. L@racn.
v2 « StepHens. Duncan.
Papilio Semele, Lewin. Donovan.
a os Haworth. Harris.
Satyrus Semele, Latreitir. Botspuvat. Duroncuet.
Humenis Semele, HusNer.
I HAVE seen this interesting insect in the parish of Nafferton,
Yorkshire, on the scanty remains of heath on the road to the
hamlet of Pockthorpe. The whole of the Yorkshire Wolds,
now all enclosed, were, fifty years ago, open downs, with
heath and gorse scattered here and there: it is but very little
that is left. Then you could ride over the Wolds, so I am
told, from Driffield to Malton, twenty miles, without meeting
with a hedge or a gate—all was turf—fine old downs: now,
‘quantum mutatus,’ it is one of the principal corn-growing
districts of England. The naturalist must sigh for ‘il tempo
passa,’ with which has flown the Great Bustard, and doubtless
many other species of birds once common, or which were at
all events far more numerous than they are now; but he must
console himself with the absolutely true adage that “whatever
is, 1s best.”
The following are also localities, among others, for this
species:—the Isle of Bute and the Isle of Arran; near Durham,
South Shields, Castle Eden Dene, in the county of Durham;
the Gog Magoe Hills, the neighbourhood of Newmarket and
Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire; Salisbury Plain, in Wiltshire;
17
f
: ,
ae
£
:
nfl ba 5 oh)
fe ahs eS
Agi
e
Seppe
%
oo
ROCK-EYED UNDERWING. 43
Arthur’s Seat, near Edinburgh; the Cheddar Cliffs, Somerset-
shire; Walmer Forest and Languard Forest. I have also
taken this Fly in plenty on the top of the hill between
Charmouth and Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire. It is not uncommon
near Falmouth, Cornwall, and is plentiful on Newmarket
Heath, in Cambridgeshire, and in various other parts of the
country. It occurs sparingly near Great Bedwyn and Sarum,
Wiltshire, as J. W. Lukis, Esq. has informed me.
The Rock-eyed Underwing is fond of barren spots, where
heath abounds, about stone-pits and rocky places.
The perfect insect appears in the middle of July, and has
been known to continue till the 12th. of September.
This Butterfly measures from about two inches to two and
a half in the expanse of the wings. The fore wings are of a
dull brown colour, tinged with bronze, with a broad interrupted
bar of various dark patches near the principal vein. Towards
the outer margin are two eyes.
The female is smaller than the male, and the hind wings
are brown to the base, with a brighter-coloured wave near
the margin, having a single black eye, with a white centre
near the inner lower corner. Underneath, the fore wings are
darker at the base, with the whole outer part yellowish or pale
buff, ended by a narrow dusky margin. ‘There are two eyes,
the front one being the larger. The hind wings are marked
with numerous narrow white and brown streaks across. The
part next the base is the darkest, and is met by a very irreg-
ular broad bar of a paler colour, which again becomes darker
towards the outside, and near the inner lower corner is a
nearly obsolete eyelet, the same indeed that appears also on
the upper side.
The caterpillar is green or grey, except on the lower part,
which is brownish. ‘There are five longitudinal lines along it,
one on the back being darker than the rest.
ro)
The figures are from specimens in my own collection.
di
44.
SMALL MEADOW BROWN.
LARGE HEATH, (GATE-KEEPER.)
PLATE XVIII.
Hipparchia Tithonas, OcHSENHEIMER. STEPHENS.
ss Re Curtis. Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio Tithonus, Linnzvs. Lrwin. Harris.
Pyronia Tithonus, HUBNER.
Papilio Tithonius, VILLARS.
Papilio Herse, HuBNER.
Papilio Phedra, Esper.
Papilio Pilosella, . Fasricius. Hawortn. Donovan.
OnE great advantage in the pursuit of entomology is, that
no day in the year is, at least no day need be, a ‘dies non;’
there is always something to be met with, even in the depth
of winter, “something to please, and something to instruct.”
The summer, however, is the hey-day of the butterflies exis-
tence; for even though some of them, of several species, live
throughout the winter in a dormant state, appearing again in
early spring, when some hot day calls them forth from their
retreat to renewed life, yet it is the former season to which,
even to a proverb, they belong.
This is a very common British species, and is widely dis-
tributed, occurring in lanes and meadows.
It appears about the middle of July.
The caterpillar is to be found in the beginning of June.
It feeds on the Poa annua, or annual meadow grass, and
also, according to Haworth, on the eracitum pilosella.
The wings expand to the width of from one inch and a
half to an inch and three-quarters. ‘Their ground-colour on the
SMALL MEADOW BROWN. 45
upper side is a mixture of red, yellow, and brown. The
fore wings are brown at the base and on the front edge, and
they have a broad margin also of brown. Near the tip is a
large black eye, in which are two smail white dots, and a
broad brown patch, or rather bar, runs obliquely across the
middle of these wings, parallel to the border at the outside
edge. The hind wings have a small portion apparent in the
centre of the same ground-colour as that of the fore ones, but
all the remainder is taken up with a dark brown border, and
the same colour spread over the base.
Underneath, the fore wings are coloured as above, but the
brown patch is wanting. ‘The hind wings are of a golden
brown hue at the base and the margin, with an irregular
waved greyish buff band running across the middle, with a
brown patch near the outer angle, in which are two small eyes,
and another patch and eye towards the hind angle, sometimes
accompanied by one or two or more small satellite eyes, which
vary in size as well as in number.
The female is without the bar which crosses the upper side
of the fore wings in the male.
The caterpillar is of a greenish colour, and has a reddish
line on each side, and a brownish head.
The figures are from specimens in my own collection.
46
LARGE MEADOW BROWN.
MEADOW BROWN.
PLATE XIX.
Hipparchia Janira, OcHSENHEIMER. StrerpHeNs. Lracn.
- « Curtis. Duncan. Werstwoop.
Papilio Janira, Linnevs, (male.) Turton. Stewart.
Papilio Jurtina, Linnexus, (female.) Lewin. Donovan.
es eg Haworrnu. Harrts.
Papilio Hyperanthus, Witkes. ALBIN.
Epirephile Hyperanthus, HUBNER.
Tris Butterfly is also to be seen in abundance
“In summer time, when leaves grow greene,
And blossoms bedecke the tree.”
It is one of our most plentiful species, and occurs in all parts
of the country. I well remember the extraordinary numbers
in which it appeared in the unusually hot and dry summer
of the year 1826.
The caterpillar feeds on various kinds of grasses, more
especially on the Poa pratensis.
‘This insect varies in the expanse of its wings from one inch
and a half to two inches; the whole upper surface of the fore
wings is brown, with more or less of a fulvous tinge, with a
faint shade of bronze over it. Near the tip is a small black eye
with a white dot in its centre, surrounded by a ring of orange
buff, sometimes more widely, though indistinctly, extended.
In some specimens there are two white dots, and in others
more. The hind wings are wholly brown.
Underneath, the fore wings are orange-yellow brown, with
a darker border of the same; the eye and eyelet shew through.
LARGE MEADOW BROWN. 47
The hind wings are darker brown, with a broad waved bar
at a little distance from the outer margin, and in it from one
to three minute dark specks.
The female is larger than the male; the general colours are
the same, but the fore wings have a large irregular patch of
fulvous brown, around, but chiefly extended beneath, the eye.
The general colour of the hind wings is brown, and they have
a broad indistinct bar of a paler colour with an orange tinge,
following the margin, but a little within it. The brown at
the edge of the latter is lighter than the remainder of it.
Underneath, the fore wings are pale fulvous; the eye and
eyelet the same as on the upper side, and the large patch
shews through from above a little lighter than the surrounding
colour, but more distinctly defined by straight edges on its
sides. The hind wings are darkish brown at the base with a
tinge of bronze. This is succeeded by a paler irregular bar,
the same which partially shews through on the upper side,
and this again by a broad margin a little darker in colour.
The caterpillar is green, with white longitudinal lines, and
its tail is forked.
The chrysalis, which is suspended by the tail, is of an angular
shape, and has two sharp points on the head.
The markings of this species are very variable.
The figures are from specimens in my own collection.
HEATH BUTTERFLY.
PLATE XX.
Hipparchia Davus, OcnsENHEIMER. Curtis. STEPHENS.
Hipparchia Polydama, (var:) STEPHWENs.
Papilio Davus, Fasricius. Haworrn. Jurmyn.
Papilio Tullia, HUuBNER.
Papilio Philoxenits, Esper.
Papilio Musarion, BorKHAUSEN.
Papilio Polydama, Haworth.
Papilio Polymeda, JERMYN.
Papilio Hero, Donovan. Lewry.
Papilio Iphis, BorkHavusen. JERMYN. STEPHENS.
Papilio Tiphon, Esper ?
Papilio Typhon, Haworrn.
Maniola Tiphon, ScHRANK.
Cenonympha Davus, Westwoop.
Satyrus Davus, Gopart.
I wave taken this insect in plenty on Thorne Moor, York-
shire, in company with my good friend, J. C. Dale, Esq. Alas!
it is some years ago; but “auld lang syne” has its pleasures
too, and it would be wrong even to wish the “days that are
gone” changed for those which may be yet to come. ‘What,”
said the M.P., “What has posterity done for us?’ The
“Pleasures of Memory” outweigh in the balance even those of
“Hope.
The following localities are also given for it:—Cottingham,
near Beverley, Yorkshire; the neighbourhood of Cromer, Nor-
folk; Delamere Forest, Cheshire; and between Stockport and
Ashton, Risley Moor, Woolston Moss, near Warrington; White
Moss, Chat Moss, Trafford Moss, Lancashire; near the lake of
Derwentwater, in Westmoreland; Prestwich Carr, near Gland-
20
ore iG) ey
,
' <
'
a
%
ri a
;
—
i i
‘
ri a vo
. - “-
*
E
:
. x ‘
>
7 —- «
; =
— : Se, i
ale —
? a =. “s
7 _
Am #
;
HEATH BUTTERFLY. 49
ford Brigg, Lincolnshire; also in Northumberland and Cum-
berland; and on Barnet Heath.
Coates and Drumsheugh, Schehallion, Ben Nevis, Ben
Lomond, Craig Chalaach, Ben More, the Isle of Arran, and
the neighbourhood of Oban, in Scotland, as also in the Shetland
Islands; near the lakes of Killarney, and on the mountains of
Donegal, in Ireland; Kinnordy, between Bala and Festiniog,
in Wales.
The perfect insect occurs from the first week in June to the
second or third in August.
The expanse of the wings in this species varies from an inch
and a half to an inch and three-quarters. The fore wings are
of a fulvous brown colour, the fringe of a pale grey; near
the outer corner are one or more eyes, following the line, of
the margin, all but one being in some specimens scarcely
visible. The hind wings are rather darker than the fore ones,
and there is a row of faint eyes following also their outer
margin, at a little distance within it. An irregular band of a
paler colour than the general tone of the wings runs more or
less distinctly across them about the middle, following the same
course as the eyes.
Underneath, the fore wings are nearly of the same colour
as their upper surface. Near the outer corner are one or two
dark eyes—a white dot in the centre, surrounded by a ring
of black, and this by one of very pale buff. These eyes are
followed by two or three smaller and less distinct ones, pale -
buff with a black dot in the centre. Within these is an irreg-
ular bar of still paler buff, wider at the upper than the lower
part: it goes nearly, but not quite, across the wings.
The hind wings are greyish brown at the base, and as far
as the middle, edged by an irregular very pale buff band, which
runs nearly across the wing, the remainder of which is pale
reddish brown, in the middle of which is an irregularly-waved
row of eyes, each formed by a white speck surrounded by a
black ring, and this by a pale buff one.
This is an exceedingly variable insect, and as may be sup-
posed, several so-called species have been made out of one;
30 HEATH BUTTERFLY.
permanent varieties seeming, as in the case of some other species,
to belong to particular localities.
One described under the name of ‘Polydama,’ measures about
an inch and a half in the extent of its wings; the fore wings
are of a yellow brown colour, with two obscure eyes. ‘The
hind wings are brown, but with the inner edge _ broadly
marked with dull white or pale buff, and there is a small
obscure eyelet near the hind angle. ’
Another, described by the specific name of ‘Typhon,’ of the
same size as the previous named ones, is described as follows:
—On the upper side the wings are of a rusty grey or ochre-
colour; brown at the base. ‘The hind wings are gencrally
darker, and without any distinct eyes. Underneath, the fore
wings are dusky at the base, followed by an irregular whitish
stripe, and the outer part greenish ash-colour, with from two
to five small eyes, occasionally obsolete. ‘The hind wings are
ercenish brown at the base, with an irregular interrupted bar,
(this interruption forming the ground of the formerly supposed
specific difference,) beyond the middle of the wing, and generally
with about six small eyes, but their number is very variable;
this bar is followed by a shade of greenish brown.
The female has the wings paler, and more tinged with ochre,
with a large pale blot on each. ‘The bar is succeeded by an
ochre shade.
Mr. Westwood remarks on these different varieties, or supposed
species, that in Davus all the markings are complete, distinct,
and unclouded; in Polydama they are somewhat paler and less
defined; and in Typhon the broad band is divided into two
irregular marks, while in further varietics some of the marks
disappear altogether, and all are fainter. Also that Davus has
the little rings always more or less defined on the upper side,
and is of a dull brown colour with a slight inclination to grey,
the darker parts inclining to olive green. ‘Typhon and Polydama
have the little rmgs very slight, and in some instances altogether
wanting on the upper. side, while also the ground colour is
somewhat paler, and inclining to tawny, and on the under side
all the markings are paler and less distinct.
eve). a
ad - ashi j a
iat 7 : ania | ie
¥ a * $ :
,
ol
LEAST MEADOW BROWN.
SMALL HEATH.
PLATE XXI.
Hipparchia Pamphilus, OcusENHEIMER, Leacu.
ee ge SrepHens. Curtis. Duncan.
Papilio Pamphilus, Linnzvus. Lewin. De Gerr.
ee <s Haworth. Srewarr. Harris.
Papilio Nephele, Huser.
Ceenonympha Pamphilus, WeEstwoop.
THIs is one of our commonest species, being abundant in
almost all parts of the country in the summer time, “when
the face of all nature looks pleasant and gay.” It is frequent
on heaths, as also in meadows and various other situations; it
is, however, scarce in the neighbourhood of Falmouth, as W.
P. Cocks, Esq. has informed me.
There are two broods, whereof the first appears the beginning
of June, and the second in September.
The caterpillar is found in the beginning of May and August.
It feeds on the Cynosurus cristatus, or crested dog’s-tail grass.
In this insect the wings expand to the width of from a
little more than an inch to nearly an inch and a half. The
fore wings are of a pale fulvous or tawny yellow colour, and
the margins brownish, these being darker and more decided
in the male than in the female. There is an indistinct eye
near the tip, sometimes accompanied by a still smaller one, or
by one or more black dots. The hind wings are of the same
colour as the upper ones, but with a grey mark irregularly
margined over their inner half, and with sometimes an obsolete
eye near their lower corner.
a2 LEAST MEADOW BROWN.
Underneath, the fore wings are fulvous; their base, tip, and
border, grey, and near the tip is a distinct eye—black with
a white pupil, and surrounded by a pale yellowish border or
ring, in an indistinct patch of which the eye is placed. The
hind wings underneath are greyish brown, with a faint tinge
of reddish at the base, irregularly marked at the edge of the
mark, as above; this is followed by a yellowish white streak
of very smuous shape, widest in the middle and narrower at
either end. ‘The remainder of the outside of the wings is the
same colour as the base, but paler, and in it is a row of
several minute faint eyes.
Varieties occur in which the eyes are more or less obliterated:
I have one which has the corner of one of the fore wings
curtailed in a curious manner, though possessing the rounded
appearance.
ns
Sy
i, |
5
—
- <
— ‘.
a
- J Fe
ee
}-
9
53
ARRAN ARGUS.
ARRAN BROWN.
PLATE XXII.
Hipparchia Lrgea, OcHSENHEIMER, STEPHENS.
- a Duncan.
Papilio Ligea, Lixnxus. Sowersy.
Papilio Alexis, Esper.
Papilio Philomela, Hupsner. Esper.
Erebia Ligea, Datman. Borspuvat.
Epigea Ligea, Husner.
Oreina Ligea, Wesrwoop.
Tus is a very rare Butterfly, and has hitherto only been
captured in the Isle of Arran, on the coast of Scotland.
Sir Patrick Walker, and Alexander Macleay, Esq., captured
specimens there. Those taken by the former gentleman, two
or three in number, were met with near Brodrick Castle,
and shewn by him to J.C. Dale, Esq. Many more will, I
hope, yet be taken. “Floreat Entomologia.”
The expanse of the wings in this species is from a little
under to about two inches. They are all of a rich dark brown
colour, and the fore wings have a broad oblong patch of red
near the outer margin, within which are four black eyes, the
two nearest the tip being confluent. Their fringe is alternately
brown and white. The hind wings have the like broad oblong
patch of red, and in it three black eyes. Their fringe also is
alternately brown and white.
Underneath, the brown of the wings is of a paler colour, and
in the fore wings the band is of a brighter hue. In the hind
wings it is almost obsolete, but beyond the middle is an lrreg-
54 ARRAN ARGUS.
ular white band, between which and the hind margin are three
black eyes with white centres, each surrounded by a red ring.
In the female, the eyes above have white pupils.
The caterpillar is described as being green, with a dusky
line down the back, and some white lines along the sides.
c
or
SCOTCH ARGUS.
PLATE XXIII.
Hipparchia Blandina, OcHSENHEIMER., STEPHENS.
a cc Curtis. Duncan,
Papilio Blandina, Fasricivs. Sowersy.
o = Donovan.
Epigea Philomela, Hvsner.
Oreina Blandina, Westwoop.
Tue British Butterflies are to be sought in various localities
—the “Highways and Byways” of the country. Few of the
latter will be found to exceed in the graces of quiet retirement
the district of Yorkshire, presently mentioned, as one of the
“habitats’’ of the present species.
This insect, formerly esteemed so rare, occurs in great pro-
fusion in the neighbourhood of Jardine Hall, Dumfriesshire, as
I have been informed by Mrs. Hugh E. Strickland, and her
sister, Miss Jardine. It is extensively distributed lkewise in
other parts of that county; also in the [sle of Arran; near
Minto, in Roxburghshire, and about Edinburgh, and doubtless
in most of the southern counties of Scotland. In Yorkshire a
few have been captured at the foot of Whernside, in Craven;
and Mr. Allis tells me that it is to be found in plenty near
Grassington, in Wharfedale, also in Craven, on most of the
hills and mountains of which district I fully expect that it will
be discovered. It exists m profusion in one or two places not
far from Newcastle, in Northumberland, and likewise in Castle
Eden Dene, in the county of Durham, a sweet spot, well worth
visiting for its own sake.
The Scotch Argus varies in the expanse of its wings from
an inch and a half to two inches. The upper side is of a
56 SCOTCH ARGUS.
uniform dark bronzed brown colour, the fore wings having a
dark orange-red patch near the tip, wider in its fore than its hind
part, which two are sometimes divided by a constriction in the
middle of the patch. In the upper part of this patch are two
black eyes, each with a white speck in its centre: in the hinder
part of the patch is one similar eye, but smaller in size, and
occasionally it is obliterated. In some specimens there are as
many as five eyes.
The hind wings, also of the same dark bronzed brown, have
a waved or indented bar, or united series of round marks of
dark orange-red following the outer margin, a little distance
within it, and in it are generally three small black eyes with
white pupils, and a black dot in their outer part. In some spec-
imens there are only two eyes. ‘The fringe of all the wings
is brownish, but darker in the male than in the female.
Underneath, the fore wings are of much the same general
colour as on the upper side, the brown bar shewing through
as above, but of a more yellow tinge, and the eyes in it simi-
larly appearing. ‘The hind wings have a tint of grey with the
brown at the base, which is succeeded by a broad waved brown
bar of the general colour of the wings, this, by another grey
wave of the colour of the base, in which are sometimes a few
rudimentary eyes, but in other specimens it is quite plain, and
the margin of the wing again is brown. The colour of these
bars varies very considerably in the males and females, and also
according to the locality in which the insect is found.
The caterpillar is described as being light green, with brown
and white longitudinal stripes, and the head reddish.
The eggs are said to be of a whitish colour, speckled with
brown.
This species varies much.
The figures are taken from specimens in my own cabinet.
i
SMALL RINGLET.
PLATE XXIV.
Hipparchia Cassiope, OcHsENHEIMER, STEPHENS.
. a Curtis. Duncan.
Melampias Cassiope, Hupner.
Papilio Aithiops minor, VILLaRs.
Papilio Melampus, Esper.
Papilio Mnemon, Haworru.
Oreina Cassiope, W estwoop.
Tus is a rare species in this country, or even if eventually
proving to be more plentiful than has hitherto been supposed,
a very local one, being only to be met with, so far as at present
is known, on the mountains of Cumberland and Westmoreland,
from whence you look down on the scenery, which, in even a
more than ordinary manner, gives ground for the exclamation
that ““Gop made the country, and man made the town.”
The following are localities for it:—Red Skrees, a mountain
near Ambleside, and Gable Hill, and Stye Head, between
Wastwater and Borrowdale.
The earliest date of its appearance is about the 11th. of June,
but the latter end of that month is the proper time. ‘The
females are later out than the males, and have been taken in
August.
The wings expand to the width of one inch and a quarter,
or alittle over. They are of a very dark brown colour, and the
fore wings have a red bar near the outside, interrupted by
the nerves. In this bar are generally four small black dots
with obscure pupils, but some specimens have only three, or even
only two eyes, while some are without them altogether, and in
others the bar itself is reduced to a few red spots.
58 SMALL RINGLET.
The hind wings have also a red bar near the outside, with
three eyelets like those on the fore wings.
Underneath, the fore wings are reddish brown, with the red
band, which, as it were, shews through, marked with four
black spots. ‘The hind wings are grey or brown, with a
metallic tint, and have three black spots, each surrounded by a
narrow red ring.
a9
SILVER-BORDERED RINGLET.
PLATE XXYV.
Hipparchia Hero, OcHsENHEIMER. Srepnens. Curtis.
Papilio Hero, Lixnazus. Haworrn.
Papilio Subeus, Fasricivs.
Papilio Melibeus, Ernst.
. Cenonympha Hero, Westwoop.
THis is one of the rarest British insects; two specimens
only being all that at present are known to have occurred.
One, a female, was taken by Mr. Plastead, near Withyam, on
the borders of Ashdown Forest, Sussex; and Mr. Stephens states
that he obtained another from the neighbourhood of Lamberhurst,
in the same county. Who knows however, how many others
may have been overlooked, or how many may yet be taken
by keen observers, who act upon the moral conveyed in Mrs.
Barbauld’s instructive story of “Eyes and no Eyes?”
This Butterfly measures about one inch and a half in the
expanse of its wings; they are of a general fulvous brown
colour. The fore wings are paler along the front edge, and
have an orange stripe close to the hind margin, near which
are two small indistinct orange-coloured eyes with brown centres.
The hind wings have also a narrow orange stripe near the
outer margin, above which are four large black eyes, with
minute whitish-coloured pupils, and surrounded by a_ broad
orange ring.
Underneath, the fore wings are of the same general colour
as the upper side, but there is a narrow silver stripe adjoining
the orange one. In the hind wings there is a continuation,
as it were, of the silver stripe through them, and also an
irregular whitish bar rather beyond the middle, succeeded by
K
60 SILVER-BORDERED RINGLET.
orange, in which are seven eyes of different sizes, the two
nearest the inner corner being the smallest, and confluent; the
eye being black, with a white pupil, and surrounded by a rim
of orange. I imagine that probably these eyes are variable
both in number and size.
61
WHITE ADMIRAL.
PLATE XXVI.
Limenitis Camilla, Leacu. Curtis. Duncan.
ae ae Husyer. Westwoop.
Papilio Camilla, Liynaus. Haworrtu.
“6 Lewin. Donovan. Harris.
Papilio Sibilla, Fasricius, Stuart.
THis most elegant and graceful species is of decidedly local
distribution, though im several places it occurs in tolerable
plenty—‘“‘the Happy hunting grounds” of the Entomologist. It
is found in shady places in the retired depths of woods, where
the sun gleams through at intervals. It is fond of alighting
on the bramble blossom, the nectar of which it sips. R. B.
Postans, Esq. informs me that it is taken in the greatest
abundance in Hartley wood, near St. Osyth, Essex; and
also, though more sparingly, near Colchester and Dedham, in
the same county. It is also found near Rye, Sussex; in Coombe
Wood, near London; in a wood near Parley Heath, and the
New Forest, Hampshire; near Peterborough, Northampton, and
I believe at or near Lilford, in the same county; Ipswich, Suf-
folk; Enborne Copse, near Newbury, Berkshire; in Birch Wood,
KXent; abundantly in woods near Winchester; near Finchley,
Middlesex; and one specimen of late years in the Isle of Wight,
where M. A. Bromfield, Esq. says that it used to be common
in the woods near Ryde.
This Butterfly appears the second week in July.
The caterpillar feeds on the honeysuckle.
The expanse of the wings is from two inches and a quarter
to two inches and a half; the upper surface of the fore wings
is dull brownish black, with a curved band of interrupted
62 WHITE ADMIRAL.
large white spots, rather outside the centre, the middle one
being very much smaller than the others. There are two
other small white spots near the corner, forming, as it were,
the right boundary of the white bar, the rest of it being filled
up with the general colour of the wing; between the bar and
the base of the wings is another dull white mark. There are
also one or two small faint white oblong spots near the middle
of the outer margin of the fore wings, and they are fringed
with white.
The hind wings have the same white bar continued through
their centre, narrowing to the end: they are also frmged with
white. There is an obscure red spot, within which are two
black dots near the inner lower corner. Inside the fringe is a
band of a darker colour than the ground of the wings, and
within this two others of interrupted spots of the same, and
two others are obscurely visible within the white bar.
Underneath, the general ground colour of the fore wings is
fulvous red, and all the white marks from above shew through,
and the dull ones are all clear. The centre of the wings about
the lower part of the bar has a tinge of ash-colour and faint
bronze. The fringe is alternate brown and white, the latter
being intersected by the former being waved. ‘This is succeeded
by another curved line, leaving three small crescents of white,
and a larger one again within the uppermost of the three;
these two last being the ones on the upper side that shew
through; after this the line fades nearly away in the fulvous
ground colour of the wings. ‘There are four short dark waved
cross lines, two on each side of the white spot between the bar
and the base.
The hind wings have two rows of blackish brown dots
between the bar and the margin, then one or two indistinctly
defined white marks, then a row of crescent-shaped white marks,
very faintly discernible towards the outer corner, and then the
white margin, indented with the fulvous brown of the wings,
shewing through between it and the last-named row of white
crescents in the shape of a waved line.
The caterpillar is green, with the head and legs reddish.
WHITE ADMIRAL. 63
The chrysalis is greenish or brownish, with golden spots. It
has a large and prominent appendage on the back, and the
head is divided into two forward projections.
Two varieties of this insect have been taken near Colchester,
in each of which the white spots on the wings were nearly
effaced, the white band entirely or nearly obliterated.
64
RED ADMIRAL.
ALDERMAN BUTTERFLY.
PLATE XXVIII.
Vanessa Atalanta, Fasricius. STEPHENS. Curtis.
ss ss Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio Atalanta, Linnzus. Haworty. Lewin.
of Donovan. Witxes. Anpin. Harris.
Aimnuralis Atalanta, RENNIE.
Pyramets Atalanta, TivBner.
THis magnificent : Butterfly, one of the richest coloured of
our native species, is met with throughout Europe, and also
in the northern part of the continent of Africa. It is widely
distributed in England, but, according to W. P. Cocks, Esq.,
is scarce in the neighbourhood of Falmouth. I have seen
it most abundantly im Worcestershire.
It is frequently to be met with in gardens, being fond of
the flowers of the dahlia and the blossoms of the ivy, and is
a very bold and fearless species, so as to be for the most
part easily approached. A pleasant sight it is to watch it in
your quiet retirement in the country, where, “the world for-
getting, by the world forgot,” you can enjoy in tranquillity
the ‘Thousand and one” beautiful sights in which the Benign
Creator displays such infinite wisdom of Almighty skill.
The perfect insect appears in August, and many individuals
live on to the winter, and even survive until the following
spring, when they again appear, and, though faded from their
former splendid beauty, still shine as welcomely in the eyes
of the entomologist as the sunshine of the returning spring
that calls them out.
~~
RED ADMIRAL. 65
The caterpillar is to be found in July.
It feeds on the common nettle, giving a preference to the
seeds,
The wings of this insect expand to the width of from two
and a half to three inches. ‘The ground colour of the fore
wings is intense velvet blue black on the outside half, and
imtense copper brown black on the immer. <A bar of lovely red
runs nearly across them, not .quite reaching to their lower
corner; towards which it is slightly curved. It is irregular on
its margins, formed, as it were, of a series of rounded oblong
patches. Between this bar and the tip of the wings is a sim-
ilar short bar of pure white, formed of three patches; and a
fourth lies like an island beyond it, interrupted by the ground
colour of the wings. ‘This latter one forms the largest of a
chain of white spots, which sweep by it, one inside, and three
outside, of which latter two are very small dots, and the third
at the top is a narrow oblong curve. Beyond these, and
between them and the tip of the wing, is an obscure wave of
purple blue. The margin of the wings is white, indented
crescent-wise on the ground colour.
The hind wings are deep velvet brown black, with a broad
margin to all their middle part of fine red, in which are four
black dots. At the lower inside corner of the wings are two
small conjoined oblong marks of purple blue. The margin of
the wings is white, indented in curves into the red bar, and
shaded with blackish brown, forming a sort of dots between
each segment.
Underneath, the fore wings are mottled brown at the tip,
and there are near it two small white dots, surrounded by
two rings of brown. The red bar and the white spots shew
through from above, and between them, near the fore edge,
are two small waved transverse stripes of metallic blue. The
upper inner corner of the red bar is intersected by a bar of
brownish black, and bounded by another, within which again
is another cross mark of metallic blue. ‘The fringe of the
wings is white, indented as on the upper side. ‘The hind
wings are most beautifully marbled, mottled, and variegated all
66 RED ADMIRAL.
over, in a manner that hardly admits of description, with black,
brown, buff, bronze, and grey, with a rather large triangular
yellowish white mark, with some brown in its centre, im the
middle of their front margin, and two heart-shaped marks some
way within their hind margin, somewhat like the eye of a
peacock’s feather, brown, margined with black, and with a
metallic green eye. ‘These wings are also edged with white
in the same crescent-shaped way.
The caterpillar is of a dusky green colour, with a yellowish
line along the back, and a pale line on each side above the feet.
The chrysalis is blackish or brownish above, and underneath,
grey, with golden spots.
28
PEACOCK.
PLATE XXVIII.
Vanessa Io, Fapricius. OcHSENHEIMER.
ab ce SrepHENS. Duncan. WeEstwoop.
Papilio To, Linnzvs. Hawortu. Lewin.
CS ae Donovan. ALBIN. Witkes. Harris.
Inachis Lo, HUBNER.
As the student in Entomology, or indeed in any branch of
Natural History, meets for the first time with one new spcecics
after another whose distinctive appearance it had never even come
into his mind before to conceive, he repeatedly exclaims, not
indeed perhaps in the words, but in the admiration of his
mind, “Wonders never cease:” well do I remember the intense
pleasure which, when a boy, the first sight of the Peacock,
the Red Admiral, and the Brimstone afforded me. I wish
others to experience the same gratification, and shall be truly
glad if my “History of British Butterflies” furthers the cause
of the gladsome science which it is intended to illustrate.
This truly splendid species is common throughout the greater
part of the country, though less so as you advance farther
north. In the south of Scotland it is but sparingly met with.
The perfect insect appears in the middle of July, and by no
means unfrequently survives until the following spring, hyber-
nating during the winter im sheltered ‘nooks and corners.”
The caterpillar is found in the beginning of July.
It feeds on the common nettle.
In this grand fly the wings expand to the width of
from two and a half to three inches; the fore wings are of
a rich dark brownish red; on their front margin there are two
black nearly triangular-shaped marks, the inner one smaller than
= L
68 PEACOCK.
the other, which latter forms the inside of a large patch, angu-
lar on its inner side, and rounded on its outer one, which is,
as it were, partially eclipsed by a large eye, whose ground
colour is yellowish buff, and within whose orbit are marks of
black and purple red, with a border of blue spots, and three
pale blue specks, followed by two others outside it. It is much
in the form of the handle of ‘Charles’s Wain,” the always
well-known constellation that guides the traveller by shewing
him unerringly the north, a beacon which, as the church spire
points upwards to raise the mind towards Heaven for the
journey thither, directs by a downward indication the earthly
pilgrimage of many a benighted wanderer both by sea and
land. ‘God is great,” says the Moslem, and verily the Moslem
speaks true in his saying. Great He is, in the stars of Heaven,
those unknown worlds of illimitable space, and great, equally
great, in the humble though beautiful msect before us.
The outer margin of the wings is brown, and their front edge
is striated on the inner half with streaks of dark yellowish
and black.
The hind wings are also reddish brown on the central and
hinder parts of their surface; the base being brown, studded
with innumerable specks of yellow dust, and the outside bor-
der brown: near the outer corner is a very large eye surrounded
with a colour which approaches more nearly to white than any
other, and it is bounded on its inside with blackish brown. ‘The
eye itself is black, with five blue specks in it—two, two, and one.
Underneath, the fore wings are dark brown, streaked across
with an infinity of darker marks, some wider, some narrower,
and some of deeper shades than others.
The hind wings are of a darker ground colour than the fore
ones, striated in the same way, and across their centre is one
large waved bar formed by dark edges, and in its centre an
obscure yellowish white dot.
The caterpillar is gregarious in its habits, black, spined,
spotted with white, and the hind legs are red.
The chrysalis is indented, of a greenish colour, and dotted
with gold.
i
x
i
be Pan
ren os wy | ;
dt Me g Y.. ®
oan Fg My H
MeL oy Mens
Ls Oe u
ay oP A tt ie
Le Ni /
-
~ =
24! “nen aid
ou) -
Ja A ~
A | %
i re “ > ia
-
7” te!
ri 4
Ogee eee é i
en ta a Nes ; vy z
ay at vt 7 h
ly i
' i
a |
i '
A i “145
aga, ; te
la." A TS ae 1 9 ~~ i
OAL Ua Ta ee 707 ai
ee v cf ,
eed As Pa any
ns
ey
Bh ks
nA
Ae
1
rae
ie '
i VN
, vu
1
,
)
/
ake non
69
LARGE TORTOISE-SHELLE.
PLATE XXIX.
Vanessa Polychloros, OcHSENHEIMER. Curtis.
se se STEPHENS. Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio Polychlores, Linnzvus. Hawortn. Lrwi.
ss ce Donovan. Asin. WILKEs.
Eugonia Polychloros, HUuBNER.
Tuts is a very fine species, though painted with no particu-
larly gay colours: it is at the same time sufficiently common.
I have seen this insect in the parishes of Bossall and
Huttons Ambo, Yorkshire, and have taken it in a wood a few
miles from Worcester, in which county it is tolerably plentiful.
I also once procured the larva, and reared it to the perfect
insect, at Charmouth, Dorsetshire. It is common in the neigh-
bourhood of Feversham and Milstead, near Sittingbourne, Kent,
where the Rey. Henry Hilton has taken it, and occurs at
Barnwell and Ashton Wold, and the neighbourhood of Polebrook
and Lilford, Northamptonshire. In the woods of Suffolk and
Essex it is very plentiful, at least in those near Stoke Nayland
and Colchester. It occurs also near Great Bedwyn and Sarum,
Wiltshire; plentifully at Bradfield, Berkshire, where my second
son, Reginald Frank Morris, has taken it in the caterpillar
state; in the neighbourhood of London; and also at Ely, and
other parts of Cambridgeshire; in Norfolk occasionally, as
Mr. Robert Marris informs me; and, though rarely, in the
woods on the banks of the River Dart, in Devonshire.
In Scotland, it has been found as far north as Dunkeld, and
in other places to the south of it.
This butterfly comes out in the middle of July, but some
individuals, hidden away probably in some sheltered corner,
70 LARGE TORTOISE-SHELL.
survive through the ungenial season, “when the stormy winds
do blow,” and re-appear for a time the following spring. It is
rather uncertain in its appearance, bemg much more plentiful
some years than others; but indeed with what insect is this
not the case?
The caterpillar feeds on the elm, and at first the whole brood
are gregarious, being associated together until their first change
of skin, under a common web.
The wings measure from two inches and a quarter to three
inches in expanse. ‘The fore wings are fine rich orange brown,
dusky at the base. They have four black patches of different
sizes on the front edge, the farthest forming the commencement
of a streak, which follows the windings of the margin of the
side at a little distance within it. The margin itself is also
dark. The next patch is the head also of a line of dots, four
or five in number, across the wing, running inwards, the lowest
being a large one, and between it and the streak already
spoken of is another dot. The hind wings are of the same
fulyous colour as the upper ones, but their inner portion is
more extensively dusky. ‘There is a large triangular-shaped
black patch at the centre of their upper edge, forming indeed
the boundary of the dusky part. Their outer edge is indented
and paler than the rest, and within it is a furbelow of dark
blue crescents, ending above in blackish, margined with a
blackish blue one, the middle ones being the largest, and the
horns of the crescents running through the margin to the ex-
tremity of the wing.
Underneath, the fore wings are dull brown, dark at the base,
then lighter, and then darker again, edged interiorly with very
dark blue at the central and lower part of the outside, the
light part thus assuming the form of a band. The hind wings
are marked precisely in the same way, the dark and light parts
being continuations of those on the fore wings. There is a
small white dot near the centre, in the outer part of the dark
base.
The caterpillar is blackish or brownish, with a yellow line
along the side, and yellow spines.
LARGE TORTOISE-SHELL. vial
The chrysalis is rather dark greenish brown, with small golden
spots. It is frequently found beneath the coping of walls,
underneath the trees on which the larva has fed, as well as
attached to the tree itself.
There are several varieties of this species, the black markings
being more or less diffused.
The figure is taken from one in my own cabinet.
SMALL TORTOISE-SHELL.
PLATE XXX.
Vanessa urtice, Fasricius. OcusENHEIMER. STEPHENS.
es cs Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio urtice, Linnzvs. Lewin. Donovan.
es te ALBIN. WILKES.
Tuts is one of our most common species, and therefore but
little thought of in comparison with others of greater rarity.
It is, however, a handsome insect, and in its general markizgs
very much resembles the Large Tortoise-shell, though the differ-
ence of colour instantaneously distinguishes the two.
The perfect insect, there. being two broods, appears in the
beginning of July, and the latter end of August or September.
The second brood often survives the rigours of even our northern
winter, and is seen again the following spring, flitting gaily
among the early flowers of the garden, or along the grassy
‘Banks and Braes;” and anon borne away by some fitful breeze
of the uncertain season.
The caterpillar is to be found in the beginning of June,
and again in the middle of August. It is gregarious in its
habits, principally in the earlier stages of its growth.
It feeds on the nettle.
This butterfly varies in the expanse of its wings from an
inch and three quarters to two inches and a quarter; the
fore wings are of a rich red orange colour, but the base is
dark. ‘There are three large black patches on their front edge,
and between these the ground colour is much paler than on
the general surface, being light yellowish orange; beyond the
outermost one is a white triangular-shaped mark. Near the
base of the middle part is a large irregular spot, and above
fo) é
SMALL TORTOISE-SHELL. qe:
this in the direction of the outer corner, two smaller ones;
the outer edge is dark buff, followed immediately by a black
indented stripe, in which are a series of small dark blue
crescents.
The hind wings are also rich orange red, but all the base
is dark coloured, and they are bordered with dark buff, fol-
lowed by an indented black band, in which is a row of dark
blue crescents of larger size than those in the fore wings, leaving
the orange as a bar across. Underneath, the markings are the
same, but the orange is changed to stone-colour; the margins
are the same, but darker, and separated from the rest by an
indented line of metallic blackish green.
The lower wings have the bar replaced by a darker stone-
colour; the margins separated by a row of crescent-shaped
dark blackish green spots.
The caterpillar is of a dull colour—a mixture of greén and
brown, with paler lines down the back and sides, and _ beset
with black spines: the head is black.
The chrysalis is brownish, with golden spots on the fore
part, and sometimes nearly entirely golden.
In varieties of this species the black spots have been more
or less enlarged or diminished, so as in some cases to be
confluent, and in others obsolete. In one figured by the Rev.
W.'T. Bree, of Allesley, in the “Magazine of Natural History,”’
the second and third black bars on the front edge are united,
and the two round spots on the same wings are absent, the
hind wings being uniformly obscure. A very singular ‘Lusus
nature,’ preserved in the cabinet of Mr. Stephens, has occurred
in the Small Tortoise-shell, Mr. Doubleday having taken one
near Eppimg, with five wings, the fifth, of small size, being
afixed to one of the hinder ones, whose markings it repeated.
A hymenopterous insect with seven legs, four on one side and
three on the other, and still preserved in the cabinet of J. C.
Dale, Esq., was captured several years ago by my brother
Frederick Philipse Morris, Esq., in a wood near Axminster,
Devonshire.
The engravings are from specimens in my own collection.
CAMBERWELL BEAUTY.
WHITE BORDER. GRAND SURPRISE.
PLATE XXXI.
Vanessa Antiopa, OcHSENHEIMER. STEPHENS.
i i Detncan. Curtis.
Papilio Antiopa, Linnzus. Hawortn. Lewin.
“s s Donovan. Harris. WILKEs.
Eugonia Antiopa, HUBNER.
e
THE wide uncertainty of the periodical appearance of this
very fine butterfly in our country is very remarkable, and
“whither away?” between the dates of its visits is a question
we cannot answer. About eighty years ago it appeared in
immense numbers. Again, in the year 1819, it was observed
in abundance in all parts of the kingdom: comparatively few
have been seen since, but latterly, within the last few years,
more have been met with, probably from having been better
looked after.
The neighbourhood of Rawmarsh, near Rotherham, Yorkshire,
is one of the most uniform localities for this rare insect that I
am aware of. In my own garden, at Nafferton, near Driffield,
one, as there seemed no doubt that it must have been, was
seen by my servant a few years since. It has ‘occurred also
near Cromer, Norfolk. I thought that I once saw one, three
or four miles south-west of the city of Worcester. It has also
been captured in the following localities, the year 1846 having
In that year, in a
been unusually productive of the species:
garden in the suburbs of York, one was taken, and two others
were seen at the same time; one near Epping, on the 12th. of
&
September, and another was seen; one taken near Yaxley
Re t
CAMBERWELL BEAUTY. 75
about the same time. One at Winchester, Hampshire, near
some willows, on the 14th. of September; two on a mulberry
tree in the garden of the vicarage at Stowmarket, Suffolk, and
another in the same neighbourhood about the same date; one
near Ipswich by Mr. Charles Eaton, on the 30th. of August,
1852, and another on the 31st. of the previous year; one in a
garden at Lincoln, in August; one at Herne Hill, Camberwell,
in a garden on the 12th. of September; one at Kensington, on
some ripe fruit, on the 21st. of September; one at Tottenham, in
September; and one seen at Streatham, resting on the sill of
a window. ‘l'wo were seen at Clapham, Bedfordshire, one on
the 13th. of August, and the other a few weeks later on an
apple tree; another near Woburn, in the same county; and
one was caught at Bronstone Wilderness, near Leicester.
One was seen near Ventnor, in the Isle of Wight, on some fallen
peaches, the 25rd. of August, and two following days; another
near Sea View, about two miles from Ryde, about the same time;
and another between Kingston and Leatherhead, Surrey, pro-
bably the same that was shortly afterwards taken at Mickleham.
One was taken at the West India Docks, London, on the 3rd.
of September, and another at Limehouse about the same
time; one near Mickleham; one at Southwell, Nottinghamshire;
one at Saffron Walden, Essex, early in September; and some
taken and others seen in different parts of Norfolk, resorting
to the blossoms of the ivy. One was taken on the 5th. of
September, 1846, in the garden of Widmore House, Bromley,
Kent, by A. Henry Taylor, Esq., who, I am informed, saw
several others also on the same occasion. In previous years
one was taken near Nottingham; one near Stoke-by-Nayland,
Suffolk; two near Colchester, and one between Dedham and
Colchester, Essex, in the month of August; one at Cromer,
in Norfolk, in the year 1847, by H. Barclay, Esq.; and formerly,
whence its name, at Camberweil.
In Scotland it has been noticed so far north as Ayrshire.
The butterfly appears in the beginning of August, and, like
others of its class, occasionally survives through the winter, and
re-appears after its long sleep, with the advance of the new year.
M
76 CAMBERWELL BEAUTY.
The caterpillar feeds on the willow and birch, and is said to
be found on the topmost branches.
This butterfly varies in the expanse of its wings from a
little under three inches to three inches and a half. The fore
wings are of a fine dark rich claret-colour, margined with dull
white, or yellowish. Inside the margin is a row of blue spots,
on a velvet black ground. The hind wings are of the same
dark claret ground colour.
Underneath, the wings are ash brown, with a great many
slender transverse black lines; the white margin and spots shew
through, as do the bar and the blue spots, but only faintly, if
at all.
The caterpillar is gregarious, black in colour, with spots on
the back, and some of the legs of a red colour.
The chrysalis is dull black, with fulvous spots, and dentated
in appearance.
The engraving is from a specimen in my own collection.
i Vi ROL dal ay Rae
i
P
’
{
c
i
/
77
COMMA.
PLATE XXXII.
Vanessa O-album, OcHSENHEIMER. CvuRTIS.
ss a SterpHENS. Duncan. WeEstwoop.
Papilio C-album, Linnzvus. Lewin. Donovan.
oe se Harris. ALBIN.
Polygonia C-album, HUBNER.
Comma C-albun, RENNIE.
Tuts very handsome and singularly-shaped species has been
noticed very abundantly two successive years by Mr. Graham,
of York, near Green Hammerton, Yorkshire, alighting in hun-
dreds on the blossoms of the common wild scabious; and James
Dalton, Esq. has taken it at Hackfall, so celebrated for its
beautiful scenery. It also occurs near York. I have seen it
occasionally near Doncaster, and in other parts of the same
county. I have also taken it in plenty in the neighbourhood
of Broomsgrove, Worcestershire, in all parts of which county
it is doubtless to be found, as it also is throughout Warwick-
shire. Other localities for it are Lilford, Barnwell, and Ashton
Wold, and the neighbourhood of Polebrook, Northants. It used
formerly to be taken at Glanville’s Wootton, Dorsetshire, by J.
C. Dale, Esq., but is now never seen there. It is very rare
near Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk, and very abundant near Bristol,
and doubtless in other parts of Gloucestershire. In Hertford-
shire it also occurs, and the neighbourhood of London; and in
Scotland, in Fifeshire.
The perfect insect appears in June, and in August or Sep-
tember, there being two broods in the year, the latter of which
is paler in colour than the former. Some individuals live
throughout the winter, and re-appear the following spring in
78 COMMA.
the sunshine, too soon to be obscured by the clouds which
the “Wandering Winds” of that early season unwelcomely
interpose.
The caterpillar feeds on the elm, willow, honevsuckle, and
other trees, and the hop, nettle, and other plants.
The wings extend to the width of from an inch and three-
quarters to rather over two inches. ‘The fore wings are a
beautiful rich fulvous orange colour; the outer margins are
dark orange brown, darkest in the middle, and lighter at each
extremity. There are three black patches on the front edge,
the outer one fading into the fulvous brown of the border, the
next lhehter brown at its upper edge, and the next some little
way within the extreme margin; beneath these are one larger
and two smaller black spots of irregular shapes. The hind wings
are dusky at the base and at the outer corner, their ground
colour is also fulvous orange, the border darker, edged with
cream-colour. Inside it is a row of pale buff crescents, forming,
as it were, the centre of a band of a darker brown than the
rest of the wing, which, divided by them, leaves a series of
blots following the shape of the margin. On the centre of the
fore edge is a large black patch, and beneath it, on the inner
side, another smaller one.
Underneath, the fore wings are elegantly variegated with
transverse marks of rich brown, grey, whitish grey, and metallic
green, in which latter are small black specks. ‘The hind wings
are marked in much the same way, with a white C in the
middle, whence the name of the insect, both scientific and
vernacular.
The whole underside varies very much in different individuals,
and in the spring and autumnal broods. In some it is almost
wholly of a uniform dull metallic bronze brown colour. In
others, the border is of an exceedingly rich brown, and the
whole surface much variegated.
The caterpillar is of a brownish red colour; the back reddish
in front, and the hinder part white; it is remarkable for the
sides of the head having two projections, which are bristled, as
are also the spines on the body.
COMMA. 79
The chrysalis is pale brownish red, and spotted with gold. It
remains in this state about fourteen days.
Mr. Westwood observes how this species is subject to an
extraordinary variation in the form of its wings, the incision
in the outer margin of the fore wings being in some specimens
so deep that it forms nearly a semicircle, whilst in others it
is scarcely more than a sextant, the other indentations being
equally varied.
I once had a singular variety taken near Doncaster, and
which I gave to J. C. Dale, Esq., in which all the black spots
on the fore wings were run into one large patch.
(S
The plate is from specimens in my own collection.
80
ALBIN’S HAMPSTEAD EYE.
PLATE XXXIII.
Cynthia Hampstediensis, SrppHEens. Westrwoop.
Hipparchia Hampstediensis, JERMYN.
Papilio oculatus Hampstediensis ex
aureo fuscus, Prriver.
THE only specimen of this insect that has ever yet been
recorded, was captured at Hampstead, near London, by Albin,
and then first described and figured by Petiver. It has since
been continuously figured and described by succeeding Entomo-
logists, who have faithfully copied the original picture. By
some it has been considered a foreign specimen, accidentally
imported; by others as the product of two different species.
The specimen is however no longer in existence, and cannot
speak for itself; no ‘Ecce signum’ can now testify to the truth-
fullness of the Entomologist Who shall pretend more accurately
to describe it, than in the stereotyped form which has come
down to the present day.
The fore wings have been described as fulvous brown, with three
transverse dark brown markings; two lengthened ones near the
hinder margin, and the margin itself yellow: there is a large
eye near the tip and another near the lower corner. The hind
wings are also brown with a yellow margin, and with two large
eyes following the margin.
Underneath, the fore wings are yellowish brown, with brown
cloudings, and a row of brown crescents near the margin. ‘The
hind wings are dull yellowish brown, with darker cloudings of
brown at the base; a small eye near the corner, and a row
of four brown spots, between which and the margin is a nearly
obsolete row of brown crescent-shaped marks.
34
SI
PAINTED LADY.
PLATE XXXIV.
Cynthia cardur. Kirpy. StTrePHeEns.
a cs Duncan. Westwoop.
Vanessa cardui, Gopart. LArrEernur.
‘6 se Meyer. Huvsner.
Libythea cardut, - LAMARCK.
Papilio cardui, Linnzxvus. Fasricius. Haworrtu.
oC es Lewin. Donovan. Saw.
ss as Panzer. WiI.keEs. ALBIN. Harris,
Tuts is, I believe, one of the most universally-distributed
species of Butterfly in the world, being found in every quarter
of the globe, and in every, or almost every country, both the
hottest and the coldest; in Europe and North and South America,
New South Wales and Java, North and South Africa. It is,
however, very uncertain in its appearance, at least in any numbers.
In Yorkshire I have taken it not unfrequently: near Falmouth
it was plentiful in the year 1849, but scarce in 1850 and 1851;
in 1850 not one was seen by R. B. Postans, Esq. near Stoke-
by-Nayland, while in 1851 it was to be seen in extreme abun-
dance there. In the same year it was captured near Hunstanton,
Lynn, and other places in the county of Norfolk, and im
Cambridgeshire, as Mr. Robert Marris has informed me.
In Ireland it is abundant near Ardrahan, in the county of
Galway; so A. G. More, Esq., of Trinity College, Cambridge,
has written me word.
The perfect insect is found in June, and also at the end of
August and beginning of September—a second brood. It occurs
in some years in great plenty, and in others is but rarely
seen. In the year 1828 an immense swarm passed over part
82 PAINTED LADY.
of Switzerland in such vast numbers, that their transit occupied
several hours, in a manner ‘mirabile dictu.’
The caterpillar is found in the middle of July.
It feeds on the thistle, (Carduus lanceolatus,) the nettle,
(Urtica dioica,) the mallow, (Malva sylvestris,) and the
artichoke, ( Cynara scolymus.)
The wings expand to the width of from two inches and a
quarter to two and three-quarters, or a little over. The fore
wings are brown at the base, the tip blackish, with five white
spots, the largest of which adjoins the front edge, and the four
others—two small ones between two larger, the upper of which
latter also adjoins the front edge—form a curved line, between
which and the margin is a slender interrupted whitish line,
the margin itself being white, indented crescent-wise. The
rest of these wings is fulvous orange, with a suffusion of pink
more or less extended from the upper inner part, and with
three indented black united spots. ‘The hind wings have the
base and the inner margin brown, the remainder fulvous, with
many black marks arranged in three rows, the inner one forming
a series of round larger and smaller spots, and the outer one
adjoining the margin, which is whitish.
Underneath, the fore wings are marked nearly as above, but
the tawny colour is more diffused; the dark spots are smaller,
and the tip of the wing is dark stone-colour, instead of black.
The hind wings are mottled in the most charming manner with
pale olive brown, yellowish buff, and white; the veins being
white. Near the hind margin is a row of slender blackish blue
marks, above which are four eyes; the two middle ones being
smaller than the two outer ones, which are encircled with black.
The caterpillar is solitary, of a brown colour, with interrupted
yellow lines along the side, and spined.
The chrysalis is brown, with ash-coloured lines and golden
spots.
This Butterfly varies considerably both in size and in the
amount and depth of the pink colour on the wings.
nF
oo
83
SCARCE PAINTED LADY.
HUNTER’s CYNTHIA.
PLATE XXXV.
Cynthia Huntera. Kirpy. Westwoop.
Vanessa Huntera, Date. STEPHENS.
Papilio Lole, CRAMER.
Papilio cardui Virginiensis, Drvry.
Papilio Huntera, Faxsricrus. HeErpert.
- es ABBOT AND SMITH.
One single specimen of this American species has, as yet,
been obtained in this country. It was taken by the late Cap-
tain Blomer—no relation of ‘Mrs. Bloomer,”—at Withybush,
near Haverfordwest, South Wales, in July or August, 1828.
It was kept by him for some time as a variety of the Painted
Lady, and subsequently presented to J. C. Dale, Esq., of Glan-
ville’s Wootton, Dorsetshire, in whose cabinet I have seen it.
This fly appears periodically in abundance in its native
country, while in some seasons it is rare.
The caterpillar is said to be found at the end of April, or
the beginning of May; and at the end of July, or beginning
of August, so that, if so, there are no doubt two broods in
the year.
It is variously said to feed on the wild balsam, and the
obtuse-leaved cudweed, ( Gnaphalium obtusifolium.)
This insect measures about two inches and three-quarters in
the expanse of its wings, which are of a tawny orange and
brown colour. ‘The fore wings are brown at the base, and
have several irregular blackish bars, and the tip blackish, with
a long white spot; and four dots near the tip also white;
N
$4 SCARCE PAINTED LADY.
between which and the margin is a pale interrupted waved
streak. ‘The hind wings have a slender interrupted brown line
near the edge, succeeded on the inside by four more or less
distinct eyelets, and two very slender dark lines near the margin,
which is lilac-coloured.
Underneath, the fore wings are elegantly varied with white,
orange, brown, and pink, with two eyes near the tip. ‘The
hind wings are brown near the outside, with two very large
eyes margined with black; and between these and the margin
are waved streaks of lilac, brown, and white. The margin
white.
The caterpillar is differently said by some to be green with
black rings round the body, and by others brown with the
segments anda line along the side yellow, and two lines along
the back formed alternately of white and red points.
The chrysalis state is said to continue ten days. It is placed
in the leaves of plants folded and spun together.
The plate is from Mr. Westwood’s figure.
PURPLE EMPEROR.
EMPEROR OF MOROCCO.
PLATE XXXVI.
Apatura Tris, OcHSENHEIMER. LE&AcH.
es se SrerpHens. Curtis. Duncan.
Doxocopa Tris, HUBNER.
Papilio Iris, Linnzvus. Lewin. WItxKEs.
+ x HawortH. Donovan. Harris.
THe 19th. of July, 1852, must ever be the most memorable
one, the events of which are recorded in my Entomological diary,
for on that day did I first see the Emperor on his throne—
the monarch of the forest clothed in his imperial purple,
‘Mille trahens varios adverso sole colores —
One! two!! three!!! ‘Allied Sovereigns!” Thanks to the
obliging hospitality of the Rev. William Bree, the curate of
Polebrook, to whom I had no introduction but that which
the freemasonry of Entomology supplies to its worthy brother-
hood, I had the happiness of beholding His Majesty, or to
speak more correctly, Their Majesties, though, as is only
proper, at a most respectful distance; they at the “top of the
tree,’ and I on the humble ground. The next day, in the
same wood, at Ashton Wold, near Oundle, Northamptonshire,
during my absence in successful search of the Large Blue, of
which more anon, Mr. Bree most cleverly captured one, by
acting on the principle—an invaluable one, as I have always
found it, long before its enunciation by the late Sir Robert
Peel, to the students of the University of Glasgow, at his
installation as Rector, in the best speech, by the way, if I
86 PURPLE EMPEROR.
do not make my sentence too long, that he ever made—namely,
whatever you want to do that is within the bounds of possibility,
determine that it shall be done, and you will be sure to succeed!
That specimen, a male, as a practical illustration of the lesson,
now graces my cabinet, together with the first female that its
captor had ever taken, both obligingly presented by him to
me. Since then, I have just heard from him that he took
another the day after I left him, in one of the ridings of the
wood, in his hat. I hope that Her Most Gracious Majesty
has no more profoundly loyal subject than myself, and I
may therefore relate that, without any reference to what is
now going on in France, or any allusion to Louis Napoleon,
my toast that evening after dinner was, with as much sincerity
as is in the minds of the French, ‘Vive ZL’ Empereur!’
The following are given as localities for this noble fly:—
The neighbourhood of Doncaster, Yorkshire; but I must
frankly confess that I never saw it there; Warwickshire; the
Isle of Wight; Coombe Wood and Darenth Wood, near London;
Bradfield, near Reading, and Enborne Copse, near Newbury,
Berkshire; Lilford, Barnwell, and Ashton Wold, and the neigh-
bourhood of Polebrook, Northamptonshire; woods in the neigh-
bourhood of Arundel, and Poynings, near Brighton, Sussex;
near St. Neots, Huntingdonshire. In the woods near Stoke-by-
Nayland, Suffolk, R. B. Postans, Esq. tells me that it is
found abundantly, as it also is in those of Badly, Dodnash,
and Raydon; and he has favoured me with a fine specimen.
He captured six in 1851, one of them reared from the cater-
pillar; and he was informed by .Mr. Seaman, an old collector
at Ipswich, that in Hartley Wood, near St. Osyth, and between
Dedham and Colchester, in Essex, he in one season took a
hundred specimens in a fortnight. It is also taken in that
county in Epping Forest, Great and Little Stour Woods,
Wrabness, and Ramsay; Clapham Park Wood, Bedfordshire;
and Brinsop Copse, Herefordshire.
This splendid insect is to be seen, if seen at all, the first or
second week in July, perched on the outermost spray of some
commanding oak or other tree—an elm or an ash—the highest
PURPLE EMPEROR. 87
that the neighbouring locality affords him. There he sits,
generally with his attention directed outwards, as an Island
King’s should be, conscious that at home he is secure. If a
rival approaches, a fight is of course the consequence—Pares
cum Paribus;’ and “O ’tis a goodly sight to see!”
The caterpillar is to be found at the end of May.
It feeds on the broad-leaved sallow.
The wings expand to the width of from two inches and
three-quarters to three and a quarter. The fore wings are of
a blackish hue, with a most splendid purple iridescent colour
apparent in a proper light. In the middle and towards the
outer margin at the tip, are three serics of white spots, two,
five, and two, the inner ones conjoined forming the waved
upper end of a bar which runs nearly across the hind wings.
In these wings the same splendid purple colour is observable,
though scarcely so objectively; in some lights they too are dull
“Jack-lustre” black. A fulvous line follows the margin, and
within its outer corner is asmall obscure fulvous spot. Near
the lower corner is a fine eye—a black pupil with a light centre
and an orange rim—and outside it some fine fulvous marks.
Underneath, the fore wings are varied with silvery greyish
white, grey, orange, fulvous, and black, a white band, formed
of interrupted spots, running irregularly across them, behind
which is a black eye, with a lilac-coloured centre, surrounded
by a broad orange circle, in which are two white spots. The
hind wings are grey, with a broad silvery greyish white bar
across them, tapering towards the corner, with a broad ferru-
ginous, adjoining band on each side, but much the least distinct
on the inner. The corner is also ferruginous, and above it is
a black eyelet, with a lilac-coloured pupil and orange centre.
The wings of the female are of a general blackish brown
ground colour, and the markings the same as in the male.
The larger of the measurements given above are hers.
The caterpillar is green, with pale yellow oblique lines.
The chrysalis is of a pale green colour.
The plate is from a specimen in my cabinet—the one cap-
tured by the Rey. William Bree.
PURPLE HAIRSTREAK.
PLATE XXXVII.
Theela quercus, Leacw. STEPHENS. CuRTIS.
a6 4 Boispuvat. Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio quercus, Linnzvus. Lewy.
aC cs Donovan. Wixixes. Harris.
Bithys quercus, HUBNER.
Lycena quercus, OcHSENHEIMER.
THis is a sort of miniature of the Purple Emperor, though
not a “flattering likeness,” the wings reflecting something of
the same iridescent purple colour, but inferior both in extent
and intensity; it is, however, a very pretty insect.
It is common throughout England in most parts of the
country. I have met with it at Sandal Beat, near Doncaster,
Yorkshire, and in the vicinity of Charmouth, Dorsetshire,
also at Barnwell and Ashton Wold, and the neighbourhood
of Polebrook, Northamptonshire. Near Great Bedwyn and
Sarum, Wiltshire, it likewise occurs, but not commonly there.
In YSeotland “it-"1s, rare! In Ireland, A’ Go More, sq, of
Trinity College, Cambridge, has met with it in plenty at
Ardrahan, in the county of Galway.
The middle of July is the time for the appearance of the
Purple Hairstreak, but it is sometimes still out until the latter
end of September.
It is to be seen flying over the tops of oak trees in and
near woods.
The caterpillar is found in the beginning of June.
It feeds on the oak.
This fly varies in the expanse of its wings from about an
inch and a quarter to an inch and a half. The fore wings
are blackish brown all round and over the whole of the upper
PURPLE HAIRSTREAK. 89
outside corner, the outside edge white, the remainder being
filled in with iridescent purple, more or less extensive and
intense. The hind wings, which have a short tail, are uniform
blackish brown; the outside edge is white.
Underneath, the front wings are bronzed ash-colour, with
a slender white streak shadowed on the inside with brown,
some distance within the outer margin, and following it,
but not all the way; near the lower corner are two orange
fulvous marks, the base of a faint procession of the same upwards,
obscurely visible in some lights. The hind wings are of the
same bronzed ash-colour, with a similar white streak, taking
up that of the fore wings, but slightly curved inwards instead
of following the margin; near the lower corner are two other
orange fulvous spots, the upper one with a black centre, and
the outer one edged at its base with black, which runs on in
a streak to the tail. The antenne are reddish on the lower
side of the clubs.
The female resembles the male, but the purple is obscurely
extended over the black of the upper wings in some lights,
and likewise over the lower ones, excepting a rather broad
band at the margin.
The caterpillar, which in appearance somewhat resembles
a woodlouse, is short and thick, of a dull rose-red colour,
covered with short hairs, and with several rows of dark
ereenish lines or dots.
The chrysalis is described as being of a shining rusty brown
colour, with three rows of brown spots on the back.
90
GREEN HAIRSTREAK.
PLATE XXXVIII.
Thecla rubi, Leacu. SrEePHens.
ce ne . Curtis. Duncan.
Papilio rubi, Linnzus. Lewin. Hawortu.
ee sé
Donovan. Witxes. Harris. ALBIN.
Lycus rubi, HUuBNER.
Tus “petite” species is not uncommon, though only of local
distribution. I have taken it in tolerable plenty at Buttercrambe
Moor, near Stamford Bridge, Yorkshire, and the warren on the
east cliff near Charmouth, Dorsetshire. In the following places
it is also to be found:—Barnwell and Ashton Wold, and the
neighbourhood of Polebrook, Northamptonshire; near Great
Bedwyn and Sarum, Wiltshire. It occurs throughout the whole
of England in suitable situations, but is only found in Scotland
in the southern districts.
This pretty little insect occurs in the perfect state at the end
of May or beginning of June, anda second brood appears the
beginning of August. It frequents thorn and bramble bushes
in the more uncultivated parts of the country.
The caterpillar is to be found in the middle of July.
It feeds on the bramble, (Rubus fruticosus,) broom, (Spar-
tium scoparium,) dyer’s weed, ( Genista tinctoria,) and other
plants.
The wings expand to the width of from rather over an inch
to an inch and a quarter. The fore wings are of a uniform
bronzed brown colour, with a dark spot in the middle near
the front edge. The base of these wings has a tinge of green.
The hind wings are of a similar colour.
Underneath, the fore wings are of a beautiful metallic green
Co
oe
GREEN HAIRSTREAK. 91
colour, except at their lower part, which is brown. The hind
wings are also of the same green colour, with a row of minute
white dots, forming a more or less complete streak near the
middle, but outside it, following the shape of the margin. In
some specimens the dots are almost obsolete. ‘The tail is very
short, and hardly distinguishable from the other indentations
which border these wings. Mr. Stephens describes a variety
in which the fore wings have a row of white dots on their
front margin.
The female resembles the male.
The caterpillar is ight green, with rows of triangular yellow
spots on the sides: the head is black.
WHITEK-W HAIRSTREAK.
PLATE XXXIX.
Thecla W-albuin, Husner. Gopart. STEPHENS.
as es Curtis. Duncan.
Papilio W-album, VILLERS.
Papilio Pruni, Lewin. Haworrn. Donovan.
Thecla Pruni, Leacu. JERMYN.
Strymon W-album, HUBNER.
Lycena W-album, OCHSENHEIMER.
Harry im all its aspects is ‘‘Rural life in England,” and
not the least so when the love of Natural History gives a
zest to every walk and ride, and invites you moreover into
calm and peaceful scenes, where, for the most part, the beauties
of nature are seen to the greatest advantage.
I have captured this pretty species mm numbers at High
Melton Wood, near Doncaster. It is rather difficult to procure
it at a sufficiently low elevation. It has also been obtained at
Barnwell and Ashton Wold, and the neighbourhood of Pole-
brook, Northamptonshire; near Windsor, in Berkshire; Ipswich
and Bungay, in Suffolk; Allesley, in Warwickshire; Southgate,
in Middlesex; and in Cambridgeshire; also in the vicinity
of Ripley, in Surrey, where it was observed by Mr. Stephens,
in myriads in the year 1827. It is partial to the bramble
blossom.
The fly occurs in July.
It is said to feed on the elm and the blackthorn.
The wings expand to the width of from a little under an
inch and a quarter to nearly an inch and a half. ‘The fore
wings are of a uniform dark blackish brown. The hind wings
are of the same dark ground colour, with a minute white
ane
” a
i
Galvin haere
nt nN
a
or wt ial
WHITE-W HAITRSTREAK. 93
dot outside the tail, from which a very narrow white streak
runs to and round the tail; there are a few rufous marks near
the lower inside corner.
Underneath, their general colour is a fine rich ash brown,
with a white line nearly across them, and then fainter, turning
inwards. ‘The hind wings have also a slender white line
across them beyond the middle, thinner still towards the lower
side, where it bends in a zigzag shape, forming the letter W.
A row of small black crescents, slightly edged on the inside
with white, runs nearly parallel to the outer margin of these
wings, and is succeeded by a fulvous band extending from the
inner lower corner, about half-way towards the outer angle,
when it becomes gradually obliterated; on its outside this band
is marked with black semicircular spots, succeeded by a faint
silvery line, the black spots nearest to the lower corner being
the largest; the lower corner itself is black, with a silvery dot.
The tails are black, tipped with white; the antennz are ringed
very prettily with white, the tips red; the legs, whitish, ringed
with brown.
The female has the white streak on the fore wings rather
broader than in the males, as also rather more waved, and
they are without the spot on the middle of these wings; the
tails to the hind wings are a little longer than in the male.
The caterpillar is green, with the two rows of small dots
down the middle of the back, which is indented, and paler
oblique marks on the sides; the hinder segments are spotted
with dark red.
The figures are from specimens in my own collection.
94
BLACK HAIRSTREAK.
PLATE XL.
Thecla Pruni, StePHENS. Curtis. Duncan.
Se Westwoop.
Papilio Pruni, Linnzxvs. Husner.
Strymon Pruni, HUBNER.
Iycena Pruni, OcHSENHEIMER.
Barnweti and Ashton Wold, and the neighbourhood of
Polebrook, Northamptonshire, where the Rev. William Bree
has captured it in plenty, Black hill, near Exmouth, Devon-
shire, where James Dalton, Esq., of Worcester College, Oxford,
has taken it, and Monk’s Wood, in Huntingdonshire, are
localities for this fly. |
It appears the middle of July, but has been taken I believe
so soon as the 18th. of June.
This species averages about an inch and a quarter in the
expansion of its wings. ‘The fore ones are of a_ blackish
brown colour, with a light silky patch near the middle towards
the front edge. ‘The hind wings have two or three, or more,
pale orange-coloured semicircular-shaped spots near their hind
margin at the imner corner, and extending more or less
forwards, often running much together into a line.
Underneath, the ground colour is an ash grey, the fore wings
having a slender, nearly straight, bluish white line extending
nearly across them beyond the middle; outside this line there
are several obscure fulvous patches, those nearest to the lowest
corner being preceded by a black and silver dot or eyelet.
The white line proceeds from the fore wings, and reaches to
the inner margin of the hind wings, where it becomes more
irregular, somewhat resembling an obtuse W. ‘The black spots,
BLACK HATRSTREAK. 95
seven in number, and edged internally with silver, are more
conspicuous on these wings, and are succeeded by a_ broad
fulvous bar extending to the outside corner, its outer edge
being marked with semicircular black marks, followed by a
silvery line. The spots nearest the lower inside corner are
the largest, and the corner itself is black with a silvery dot.
The tails are black; the antenne ringed with white, as are
the eyes.
The caterpillar is green, with oblique yellowish lines on the
sides, and darker marks down the back.
‘The chrysalis is brown, with lighter markings, and dark
tubercles.
Slight varieties occur in the extent of the orange-coloured
marks on the upper wings of this insect, but still they are
not of sufficient importance but that the rule ‘Ex uno disce
omnes’ may be readily applied to any individual specimen.
BROWN HAIRSTREAK.
PLATE XLI.
Thecla Betule, Fasricius. Lracn. StTrerHens.
és es Curtis. Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio Betule, Linnevs. Hawortn. Donovan.
€ fe Avpin. Wiixes. Harris. Lewin.
Lycena Betule, OcHSENHEIMER.
Strymon Betule, HUBNER.
How well one remembers the “Long time ago,” with which
so trivial a thing as the capture of an insect, even though of
no great rarity, is associated. The Brown Hairstreak I[ first,
and indeed for the only time captured on one of two little hills
with an unpleasing designation in the neighbourhood of Wal-
lmgford, Berkshire. Barnwell, Ashton Wold, and the neigh-
bourhood of Polebrook, Northamptonshire; near Great Bedwyn
and Sarum, Wiltshire; Coombe Wood, Birch Wood, Darenth
Wood, and Hornsey Wood, near London; Raydon Wood,
near Ipswich, Suffolk; Dartmoor, in Devonshire; and places in
Dorsetshire and Norfolk are also given as Iccalities for it.
It is by no means a plentiful species, though widely distri-
buted.
About the end of August or the first week in September the
Brown Hairstreak is to be taken flying about oak and beech
trees.
The caterpillar occurs at the end of May.
It feeds on the blackthorn, birch, plum, ete.
In this species the wings extend in width from one inch and
a third, to rather more than one and a half. They are of a
rich glossy brown colour, with a short oblong mark near the
middle of the front, outside which is a more or less visible
BROWN HAIRSTREAK. 97
lighter mark, but sometimes it is entirely wanting. The outside
margin is elegantly bordered with white. ‘The hind wings have
a round orange dot at their lower inside corner, and another at
the base of the tail.
Underneath, the ground colour is fine orange yellow, the
edge with a brighter border; the dark oblong mark shews
through, and outside it is a long narrow wedge-shaped mark,
its base arising at the front edge and running two-thirds across
the wing. It is edged all round with a very slender dusky
line, and this again on the outside by a narrow white one.
The hind wings are of a still richer brown colour, especially
at the lower imside corner: a darker orange wedge-shaped
bar, edged with a narrow dusky line, and this by another
narrow white one, runs almost entirely across them, its wide
end beginning at the middle of the front upper edge. ‘The
tail is bordered with a black edge, which proceeds to the
imner corner.
The female is of the same glossy brown colour, and has a
large orange brown patch between the middle and the outside
corner, and running nearly across them, gradually narrowing;
at the upper inner corner of the patch is a dark oblong mark,
as in the male. The hind wings have the like orange dot, and
the mark on the tail, but rather more extensive. Underneath,
she resembles the male.
The caterpillar is light green, with paler oblique lines on
the sides, and straight ones down the back.
The chrysalis is brown, with darker marks.
98
DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARY.
PLATE XLII.
Nemeobius Lucina, Srepuens. Horsrretp. Duncan.
BoispuvaL. Wersrwoop.
Hamearis Tucina, Husyer. Curtis. Werstwoop.
Papilio Lucina, Linnzvus. Lewin. Donovan.
ss Harris. Haworrn.
Meliteza Lucina, OcHSENHEIMER. Leacu. JERMYN.
“PARVUM parva decent,” says the proverb, but the high-
sounding and sesquipedalian name of this small species is by no
means in harmony with its diminutive size. It is not however
my province to write a work on ‘Titles of Honour,” nor to
give any genealogical account of the Duke of Burgundy Frit-
illary. So far however the name is appropriate, in that Dukes
and these butterflies are alike somewhat rare, and from my
blazon of the plate it will be seen that the latter, as is only
Ducal, have numerous quarterings.
I have taken this pretty insect in tolerable plenty in the
neighbourhood of Melton Wood, near Sandbeck Park, Tickhill,
Yorkshire. It occurs also at Barnwell and Ashton Wold, and in
the neighbourhood of Polebrook, Northants; and, though rather
uncommon there, near Great Bedwyn and Sarum, Wiltshire;
Coombe Wood, near London; Darenth Wood, Kent; Boxhill
and Dulwich; the New Forest, in Hampshire; and in Dorset-
shire and Berkshire. Mr. Heysham has taken it as far north
as Carlisle.
It is out the beginning of June.
The caterpillar is stated by Hubner, to be found betore
midsummer, after which period it turns into the chrysalis
state.
ial
j
+
"
4
7
1
2
j
f
5
>
f
Aah
2
4
*
- 7
=
c fr ‘
( : ~ ;
i
a es
‘
x
es, E A
cane
. « 7 wk =n
Les vas
; : i)
5 -—= -
és = : See
“ S
: 7 = = ~
i a 7
ca”
4 an 4F
er, 7 | boon
7 7 i
i , .
' 1e-
} : Sys %
s e = 7 A wy Sy £
}
‘i
co dy 7
st i
A:
° ' of
\ |
5 ' : 7
As i -
7 - .
' x
P
' i! “
f Ss
i
. ' ms / ‘
. 5 - i
Py
: = «
: aml D '
: :
: s- .
i
————s : : : cl
== =
5 =
= -} * iy
*
: z a : re
= : on, . :
= L, a
if 7
P joy ee,
‘ = R - ~ Ap ’
‘ ~ ae Me
a Se i :
= eal
- oe » % i
4 i
“ j -
= - ei j »
i «
1
+ v @ a J
v rr
& | : - iy :
i 7 a
= <=
> : : iw
. > :
i ey =
‘ - os a 2
rt 1
DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARY. 99
It feeds on the common primrose, (Primula veris,) and
the broad-leaved primrose, (Primula elatior.)
This species varies in the expanse of its wings from a little
under to a little over an inch and a quarter. On the upper
side the fore wings are dark fulvous, crossed with three waved
and indented bars of dark blackish brown, the inner one being
the most irregular, the indentations of each meeting the next
one, forming a kind of mosaic work; the base is entirely of
the dark blackish brown colour; the extreme margin is yellowish,
intersected at intervals by the outside bar, which is close to
it, and immediately inside which is a row of dots in the fulvous
part, which is a row of crescents formed by the extensions of
the next dark bar. The hind wings are nearly entirely of
the dark colour, the edge being a row of widely interrupted
whitish yellow marks, inside which is a row of fulvous crescents,
each with a black triangular-shaped dot within it, and in the
centre of the wing three fulvous dots semicircularly disposed,
between which and the base is one other, which may indeed
be considered as the upper part of the curve, in the shape of
a_ sickle.
Underneath, the fore wings are of a paler fulvous ground
colour, the outside edge being cream-colour, indented with
brown, the centre of the wing being paler than the rest, with
two irregular short interrupted rows of large dark brown marks
on it and towards the inner edge and the lower corner, and
towards the tip a row of light dots partly following the margin,
with one extra one between the row and the tip itself. The
hind wings are of a rather darker and richer fulvous, crossed
with two irregular waved bars formed of large silvery cream
white spots, one near the base and the other about the middle;
the latter has some dark markings on its inner edges, and a
few more between it and the outside, on the fulvous ground
colour.
In the female there is a greater extension of the pale colour
on the upper surface of the fore wings, and the blackish brown
colour is darker.
The eggs are found solitary or in pairs, on the under side
P
100 DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARY.
of the leaves of the primrose. ‘They are round, smooth, shining,
and of a pale yellowish green colour.
The caterpillar is of an oval but depressed and elongated
shape; the head, rounded, heart-shaped, smooth, shining, and
of a bright ferruginous colour; the body is covered with rows
of tubercles: it is set with feathery hairs. On the hinder part
of the back there is a black dot on each joint, and on the
sides the like, but the spots less distinct. The general colour
is pale olive orange; underneath, it is whitish; the feet are
rusty brown; the claws whitish. It moves very slowly, rolls
itself up when disturbed, and remains in that state a long
time. Hubner says that it changes its skin five times before
going into the chrysalis state, and that each appearance varies
considerably.
The chrysalis is suspended from the head, and is also kept
by a cord round its middle.
The figure is from one of the specimens in my own cabinet.
’ Hy ei
i ee a hoe iu
he hea
in
1a an ie
101
GREASY FRITILLARY.
MARSH FRITILLARY.
PLATE XLIII.
Melitea artemis, Faprictus. OCHSENHEIMER. HUvUBNER.
= es STEPHENS. Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio artemis, Fasricius. Lewin. Harris.
Papilio Maturna, Esper.
Papilio Lye, BorKHAUSEN.
Papilio matutina, THUNBERG.
Papilio Lucina, WILKES.
THE following are localities for this fly:—Finstall, near
Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, where, as in other places in that
neighbourhood, I have taken it; Barnwell and Ashton Wold,
Aldwinkle, the birth-place of Dryden, and the neighbourhood
of Polebrook, Northamptonshire; Great Bedwyn and Sarum,
Wiltshire; Durdham, near Bristol; Eriswell, near Beccles, and
Mildenhall, Suffolk; Coleshill and Coventry, Warwickshire;
Woodstock, Oxfordshire; Glanville’s Wootton, Dorsetshire;
Dartmoor, Devonshire; Enborne Copse near Newbury, Berk-
shire; Holm Fen and Monks Wood, Huntingdonshire; Clapham
Park, Bedfordshire; Brighton, Sussex; Beachamwell, Norfolk;
Belford, Northumberland; Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire; and
A. G. More, Esq., of ‘Trmity College, Cambridge, has seen it
in plenty near Ardrahan, in the county of Galway, Ireland.
It is found in marshy meadows and marshy places in woods.
The perfect insect appears the middle of May, and continues
into June and July. }
The caterpillar, which is hatched in the autumn, and is
gregarious, the brood passing the winter under a common web,
is full fed in April.
102 GREASY FRITILLARY.
It feeds on the devils-bit scabious, (Scabiosa succisa,) the
greater plantain, ( Plantago major,) and the ribwort plantain,
( Plantago lanceolata.)
This Fritillary extends across the wings from one inch and
a half to-two inches: I have two in my collection of exactly
these respective measurements. ‘The fore wings are of a dark
reddish orange colour, barred cross-wise irregularly with
blackish and straw-coloured waved bars or spots; the base of
these wings is blackish brown. The hind wings are of a
similar red ground colour, their base and inner side blackish
brown, with a yellowish orange spot near the former; they are
also barred with a bar of dark blackish brown, widest at the
lower corner, and in it a row of continuous light orange cream-
coloured spots; the ground colour, there apparent as another
bar, has a row of black specks in each of its compartments,
and this is succeeded by a blackish brown border, edged
with yellowish grey, and bordered on its inner side with a
row of small yellowish orange crescents, each a satellite of
the several compartments of the red ground colour.
Underneath, the fore wings, which have an oiled appearance,
whence the common name of the species, are of a much
more obscure and dull general colour, the markings from the
upper side all, or nearly all, shewing through. ‘The hind
wings, of a slightly brighter ground colour, have three yellowish
cream-coloured curved bands, margined with thin black lines,
the first, near the base, irregular and oblique, with an extension
outwardly into the middle, the sccond, in the middle of the
wing, and the third, a series of marginal crescents, between
which and the middle one, in the ground colour, is a row
of small yellowish cream-coloured spots, with a central dot of
black, severally more or less distinct.
The female resembles the male.
The caterpillar is spined, black above and yellowish beneath,
with a row of small white dots along the back and sides; the
spines are black, as is also the head; the legs are reddish
brown.
The chrysalis is suspended, according to M. Harris, between
GREASY FRITILLARY. 103
several blades of grass, drawn together, and fastened at the
top with threads. It is pale-coloured, with dark spots. It
continues about a fortnight in its “durance vile,’? and then
the beautiful insect emerges to the full enjoyment of its ‘‘little
day.”
Individuals vary considerably in the intensity and size of the
markings.
In one, the front edge of the fore wings was. slightly
concave.
The figures are from specimens in my own collection.
104
GLANVILLE FRITILLARY.
Melitea Cinzia,
ee ce
Papilio Cinzia,
ee ee
PLATE XLIV.
OCHSENHEIMER. BotspuvaAt.
SrepHENS. Curtis. Westwoop.
Linnzxvus. Lewin. Donovan.
Witkes. Harris.
Papilio Delia, HUBNER.
Papilio Piloselle, Esper.
Papilio Trivia, ScHRANK.
Papilio Abbacus, RETZzIvs.
Tus butterfly is a very local one, so that its capture must
be regarded as a “great fact’? m the experience of by far
the greater number of entomologists.
J. W. Lukis informs me that this extremely interesting
insect is taken, though very rarely, in the neighbourhood of
Great Bedwyn and Sarum, Wiltshire. It seems to be most
plentiful near Ryde and other places in the Isle of Wight,
on the grassy sides of the little glens which run down to the
sea-shore. One was captured by Mr. Walhouse near Leamington,
in Warwickshire; Dover, Dartford, and Birchwood, in Kent,
are also given as localities for it; it is said also to have
occurred in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
The Glanville Fritillary appears the end of May, and in
June and July.
“The caterpillars are found,” says Mr. Westwood, “in the
autumn, living in societies under a kind of tent formed by
drawing together the tips of the leaves on which they feed,
and covering them with a web.”
This butterfly varies in the expanse of its wings from a
little under to a little over one inch and three-quarters. The
fore wings are of a rich fulvous ground colour, elegantly
44
i ay wy
ey AN
mY
ey
GLANVILLE FRITILLARY. 105
tesselated all over the outside half with black brown markings,
arranged for the most part in waved cross lines, intersected
by longitudinal ones; the margin is yellowish cream-colour,
indented with the ends of the last-named lines; the base of
the wings is blackish brown, as is the lower edge; the black
markings on the inner portion of the wings are hollow, the
fulvous-colour apparent on their centres. The hind wings are
marked in a very similar manner, with the addition of a row
of dots inside the last black bar, between it and the next
one, in the middle of each fulvous intersection.
Underneath, the fore wings are rather lighter fulvous, the
corner only of the transverse bars shewing through, and the
inner markings faintly; the whole of the tip is broadly washed
with pale dull yellow, with a waved black line and a row of
black dots, which skirt the edge of the outside of the wings,
succeeded by a straw-coloured margin, intersected with black.
The hind wings have three broad straw-coloured bars across
them, the inner one at the base, and the outer on the outside
part; the inner one with a row of black dots along its
middle, the middle one with a row of the like at its inner
edge, and the outer one with a waved line of black; the two
intermediate spaces are pale fulvous, the inner of them with
a straw-coloured patch in its centre, and the outer one with
darker marks of fulvous in its central divisions, which are
marked out with thin transverse lines.
The caterpillar is of an intense black colour, very slightly
spotted with white; the head and the fore legs fulvous.
The chrysalis is brownish, with rows of raised fulvous marks
on the back. .
The engraving is from specimens in my own cabinet.
106
PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.
PLATE XLV.
Melitea Euphrosyne, Lzacn. Sreruuns. Corts.
a " Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio Euphrosyne, Linynzvs. Lewiyn. Donovan.
Argynms Huphrosyne, OcHsENHEIMER. Hecsner. Borspuvat.
To see this pretty imsect gaily flitting about in the open
places in woods in the new summer time, when every trace
of winter has at last disappeared, is almost enough to make
one wish to be, as well as to sing “I’d be a butterfly,” so
happy and joyous does it seem.
It is very plentiful in many places; among others, at
Buttercrambe Moor, near Stamford-Bridge, Yorkshire; near
Great Bedwyn and Sarum, Wiltshire; and in great abundance
in all the woods near Shelly, Stoke-by-Nayland, Suffolk; and
Birch Wood, in Kent. It is also abundant in various parts
of Scotland.
It is found in woods.
There are two broods of this butterfly, the first appearing
the end of May and beginning of June, and the second in
August and September.
The caterpillar feeds on the wild violet, ( Viola canina,)
and other species of that genus.
In this insect, which measures from one inch and three-
quarters to nearly two inches across the wings, the upper side
is fulvous, mottled over with several large black billets on
the centre of the wings, placed in a zigzag manner, the imner
series running across the wing in a connected manner, followed
by two other sets, which only extend half-way across from the
front edge; the base of the wings is blackish brown, much
PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY. 107
more extensive and distinct in some individuals than in others.
Next the outside series is a row of round dots, succeeded
by a row of small crescents, and these by a row of round dots
intersected by a line and forming the margin, the brown of
the wings appearing between the circles. The hind wings are
marked in a very similar manner, but the billets are much
run together. Their base is also dusky black.
Underneath, the fore wings exhibit all the markings from
the upper side, the tips being lighter, and bordered some way
within with dark reddish orange. The hind wings have one
large silver spot on their centre, placed diagonally across the
central pale bar, and a row of silver crescents runs round the
edge of the wing, followed by a reddish line, itself margined
by a streak of greenish straw-colour, the outside margin. These
wings are very beautifully marked with reddish ferruginous,
buff, and greenish straw-colour, in the way of waved bars,
formed by a wide band of the former mottled with the latter,
this by one of the greenish straw-colour, and this by one of
the latter, the base being also of the greenish straw-colour;
the central pale bar has one.
The caterpillar is black in colour and spined, with two rows
of orange dots on the back.
Several varieties of this species have been recorded.—The
Rey. C. J. Bird, Vicar of Gainsborough, possesses one which is
nearly white. Mr. Stephens records one in which the silvery
marginal spots are wanting, and another with the inner half of
all the upper surface of the wings black, spotted with fulvous,
with large black spots on the under side of the fore wings. Mr.
Westwood also figures one in which all the black markings on
the upper side of the fore wings are suffused, except the row
of round spots within the margin, the markings on the hind
wings being somewhat more distinct, and the under side scarcely
different from the ordinary appearance. The autumnal brood
is of a much yellower ground colour than the spring one.
The figures are from specimens in my own collection.
108
SMALL PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.
APRIL FRITILLARY.
PLATE XLVI.
Melitea Selene, Stepuens. Curtis. Duncan.
ee es WeEstWwoop.
Papilio Selene, Fapricivs.
Papilio Silene, Hawortn.
Papilio EKuphrasia, Lewin.
Papilio Euphrosyne, (var:) Esper. Harris.
Tuts is another of those insects which do not make their
appearance until the cold weather has fully passed away, and
there is no longer any danger, as is the case with other less
fortunate species, of mistaking some transient gleam of sunshine
for the established serenity of the true summer.
It frequents woods, heaths, and waste grounds. I have taken
it in plenty in Edlinton Wood, near Doncaster, an excellent
locality, and one in which Nightingales abound. Other localities
are Barnwell, and Ashton Wold, and the neighbourhood of
Polebrook, Northamptonshire. It is scarce near Falmouth. It
occurs also near Great Bedwyn and Sarum, Wiltshire; Raydon
Wood and Layer Heath, near Colchester, Essex; Dartmoor, in
Devonshire; Lyndhurst, in Hampshire; Newcastle, in North-
umberland; and Durham, “of that Ik.”
There are two broods in the year, the one appearing in May
and June, and the second in August and September.
This imsect measures in the expanse of its wings from a
little under to a very little over an inch and three-quarters.
The ground colour of the fore wings is fulvous, the
base black, with a series of waved lines of irregular black
dots of different sizes and shapes, and outside this, from one
Paiay
a
7
i
(ek ae
SMALL PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY. 109
larger black spot near the tip, two rows of six dots, the inner
larger and rounder, and the outer smaller and of a triangular
shape, run across the wing; the margin is similarly marked
with black dots on a narrow black line, which runs all round
the outside and the base of these wings. The hind wings are
marked in a very similar manner, and their base is also black,
running into the wing, and forming the inside bordering of
the central markings.
-Underneath, the fore wings are much the same as on the
upper side, but the ground colour is more dull, and the black
marks, which shew through, are not so large; the tip is of a
paler hue than the rest of the wings, and it is divided by a
reddish ferruginous waved bar, running out below to the edge
in a loop. The hind wings are very elegantly marked with
reddish ferruginous, buff, and greenish straw-colour, in the
way of waved bars, formed by a wide band of the former mottled
with the latter, this by one of the greenish straw-colour, and
this by one of the latter, the base being also of the greenish
straw-colour; the central pale bar has one large spot of silver
placed diagonally across it, of an oblong, quadrangular, uneven
shape, another inside it of an oblong form, placed upright,
wedge-shaped at each end, and another divided in three by
the veins of the wing running from near the base of the former
to the upper edge of the wing, near the outside corner; between
these three patches and the lower corner is another horizontal
one, divided by the red, near its outer and smaller portion,
and a row of crescents runs round the edge of the wing, the
middle ones silver, followed by a thin reddish line, itself
margined by a streak of the greenish straw-colour, which forms
the outside margin.
The caterpillar is black, with a pale stripe along the sides.
The spines are half yellow, and two on the neck are longer
than the others, and project forward.
The chrysalis is of a dull grey colour.
This species is lable to vary considerably. Mr. Stephens
describes one specimen in which the upper surface of the wings
was whitish, Another, recorded as a separate species by the
110 SMALL PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.
name of Thalia, is described as having the wings above pale
fulvous, irregularly spotted with black; the front ones, under-
neath, pale, varied with yellowish and ferruginous towards the
tips, with some obsolete black and dusky spots; the hind wings
variegated with ferruginous, yellowish, and greenish, with the
pupil of the eye very large; the silvery spot continued to the
hind margin, and the usual marginal spots lengthened inwardly ;
the usual bands obliterated, but the silvery spot at the base
somewhat apparent.
The figures are from specimens in my own collection,
VEL
PEARL-BORDERED LIKENESS FRITILLARY.
WHITE MAY FRITILLARY. HEATH FRITILLARY.
PLATE XLVII.
Melitea Athalia, OcHSENHEIMER. STEPHENS. Duncan.
Papilio Athalia, Esper.
Papilio Dictynna, Lewin. Hawortu. Jermyn.
Papilio Maturna, Fasricius. Witxes. Harris.
Cinclidia Athalia, HUBNER.
THe late Captain Blomer used to take this very interesting
insect plentifully in Devonshire; Ford Wood is one of the
localities there for it, and Dartmoor another; it is taken also
in Cain Wood, Middlesex; Bagley Wood, Berkshire, near
Oxford; Apsley Wood, and near Bedford, Bedfordshire; near
Deal, Faversham, Canterbury, and at Combe Wood, Kent. It
occurs near Falmouth, but rarely; W. P. Cocks, Esq. has taken
it there; also not very uncommonly near Great Bedwyn and
Sarum, Wiltshire, as J. W. Lukis, Esq. informs me; and at
Langham Lodge Wood plentifully, as also in Hartley Wood
and Malden Wood, near St. Osyth, and in the High Woods,
near Colchester, Essex; it has also been taken at Peckham,
Surrey, near London. I have never yet seen it on the wing,
but live in hope of being able to chronicle its capture on some
“Red-letter day.”
It is “out” in the end of June and the beginning of July;
the end, and even the beginning of May, is also given as a
date for it; but I think it must be a mistake. It frequents
woods, heaths, and marshes.
The caterpillar feeds on the broad-leaved plantain, and the
narrow-leayed plantain.
112 PEARL-BORDERED LIKENESS FRITILLARY.
This species is a little over an inch and a half, and from
that to three-quarters, in the expanse of its wings. The fore
wings are fulvous, blackish brown at the base, and waved all
over with blackish brown lines, intersected by others running
through to the border, which is blackish brown, edged with
yellowish white, and indented by the blackish colour. The
hind wings are very similar to the fore ones in their markings
in all respects.
Underneath, the fore wings are paler fulvous, with a few
slight blackish brown marks, indicating the situation of some
of the principal markings on the upper side; the tip is straw-
colour, which runs some way along the margin, crescented on
the inside and across by black lines, crossed by a waved
longitudinal line following the edge, and intersected by others
running into it, and reaching to the border. The hind wings
are very elegantly marked; a whitish cream-coloured bar runs
across them, crossed and margined with blackish brown lines;
the base is reddish brown, but is very much mottled over
with a continuation of the whitish cream-colour; the bar is
succeeded by another narrow waved bar of fulvous crescents,
margined with black, and outside this is a darker cream-coloured
scolloped bar, tinged with yellowish, and edged round each
division with blackish brown, which lines run through to the
edge, which is also cream yellow, divided from the last-named
bar by two lines, one straight and the other crescented.
The caterpillar is spined, and black, with two white dotted
lines on each segment, and white tubercles on the sides.
One variety of this insect, described by several authors as
a distinct species, under the name of Melitcea Pyronia, a
specimen having been taken by Mr. Howard, at Peckham, in
Surrey, in June, 1803, is described by Mr. Westwood as rather
more than a1 inch and a half m expanse, with the fore wings
above deep fulvous; the veins, blots in the middle, a waved
streak, apd th: marginal bar, black; the hind wings above,
black, with a waved bar of six fulvous spots beyond the
midale; beneath, the fore wings are fulvous, but paler at the
tips, with two black spots at the base, and a broad black bar
PEARI-BORDERED LIKENESS FRITILLARY. HIS;
in the middle, divided by fulvous veins, and with a row of
black lunules near the margin; the hind wings fulvous at the
base, with about eight confluent black patches; the middle of
the wing occupied by a broad whitish band, intersected by
blackish veins, followed by a row of fulvous lunules, with
black edgings; the outer margin straw-coloured, with a row
of ochraceous lunules in the middle.
Another variety, also described as a distinct species, under
the name of Papilio tesselata, is mentioned as being paler
than the ordinary colour, and the fore wings more fulvous
beneath; the hind wings, underneath, entirely straw-coloured,
with black veins; at the base three large yellow spots, edged
with black; a broad curved band of straw-colour, edged with
black, and with an irregular black line running through
the middle of it, across the centre of the wings, and this
succeeded by a row of black crescents, the margin being
straw yellow, with a black vandyked line running along it.
The figures are from specimens in my own collection.
114
WEAVER’S FRITILLARY.
PLATE XLVIIL.
Melitea Dia, STEPHENS. JERMYN. WeEsTWoop.
Papilio Dia, Linnzus. Stewart. Turron.
Argynnis Dia, OcHSENHEIMER. HvUBNER.
Mr. Richard Weaver has taken this rare fly at Sutton Park,
near Tamworth, and Mr. Stanley near Alderley, in Cheshire.
Certain ‘“‘Malignants” having doubted the former captures, I
feel constrained to rescue an honest man’s character from the
undeserved imputation. In a letter I received from the late Dr.
Shirley Palmer, of Tamworth, Warwickshire, dated so recently
as the 23rd. of October, 1852, he says, “I know not whether
you are personally acquainted with that extraordinary man: he
possesses the most correct eye for the discrimination of species,
of any individual whom I have hitherto met with. On several
occasions the poor fellow has experienced rather shabby treat-
ment from the entomologists of London and Paris, and I have
had to vindicate him from charges of unblushing falsehood and
eross negligence, of which I know him to be utterly incapable.
His assertion respecting the capture of any rare insect, if made
by himself, may be most implicitly relied on.” I formerly,
when at Bromsgrove school, knew Mr. Weaver personally myself,
as a most successful, because a most indefatigable collector,
and the opinion of such a man as the late lamented Dr. Palmer
he may well be contented with, should this record of it meet
his eye. ‘Satis est equites plaudere.’
The caterpillar feeds on the sweet-scented violet, ( Viola
odorata, ) and there are two broods in the year.
This species measures a little over an inch and a half in
the expanse of its wings. ‘The fore wings are of a reddish
WEAVER’S FRITILLARY. 115
brown colour; much marked all over with black marks, several
near the centre, the base blackish brown, and a row near the
outside edge, followed by a line, which is again succeeded by
another line, through both of which a series of oblong marks
cross to the margin, which is yellowish white. The hinder
wings are also reddish brown, the base being nearly black, and
the marks disposed much in the same way as on the fore
wings, except that the inner line is waved from each cross
mark to the other.
Underneath, the fore wings shew the central dark marks
through, and a few of the others; the upper corner and part
of the outer edge is paler than the rest. The hind wings
are of a brownish purple colour, relieved with darker markings
of the same; there are six or seven small silvery spots, inter-
mingled with minute yellowish dots, at the base, a broad
irregular band of the same nearly across the wings, then a
purple white streak, in which is a series of circular spots,
indistinctly eyed, and the margins also silver in indentations.
The caterpillar is described as being black, with the spines
white and reddish, the back greyish, with a line along it.
The plate is taken from Mr. Westwood’s figures.
116
HIGH BROWN FRITILLARY.
PLATE XLIX.
Argynnis Adippe, Fasricius. Duncan.
og oe OcHSENHEIMER. STEPHENS.
Papilio Adippe, Linnezus. Harris. Esper.
ee te Lewin. Donovan.
Acidalia Adippe, Hovener.
Ir has been well observed, that all the best and highest
enjoyments of man are those which, coming as they do direct
from the bounteous hand of the Omnrrorenr Himself, are
not purchaseable with money or any other human commodity.
Every aspect under which nature is viewed throws lhght upon
this remark, and gilds it with the unmistakeable lustre of truth.
Without philosophismg on the connection between mind’ and
matter, upon an investigation into which, if we enter, the result
at its close will be that we shall find ourselves on the threshold
at which we first stood, it is certain that mental enjoyments
are those of primary moment, and those that convey the highest
satisfaction to the intellectual man, to that part of man which
even the heathen philosopher perceived to be the man himself.
Where can you buy the feelings of the astronomer, or in what
Australia discover a reward for the successful mathematician?
Where is the El Dorado that will furnish a value which the
gifted mechanist would exchange for the widely extended
benefits his fellow-men derive from the years of his patient
endeavours? Under what “Mountain of light’ shall you discover
a hidden treasure, the finding of which shall equal the exalted
delight with which you will gaze from its summit on all that
lies between it and the surrounding horizon? What sublunary
pleasure can realize the depth of feeling with which you
49
HIGH BROWN FRITILLARY. 17
gaze up into the vault of the firmament of Heaven? Was
Solomon, “‘in all his glory,” arrayed like one of the “lilies of
the field??? What pearls do the ‘dark unfathomed caves” of
the ocean conceal that can compare with the view of the ocean
itself? What sordid motive can furnish the thrill of devoted
loyalty? What price will purchase peace of mind? What worldly
feeling can equal the aspirations of piety, the “Breathings of
the devout soul?” What picture can depict the real landscape?
“Who can paint like nature?” and where is the artist but must
borrow both his ideas and his hues from her? What elaborate
perfume can vie with the scent of the primrose, the violet, the
hawthorn, and the rose? What artificial draught can give the
refreshment that “‘gentle sleep” will bestow even on the “‘ship-
boy” rocked upon the mast? “He giveth His beloved sleep,”
and who can sell, or who can buy it, if He denies the inesti-
mable boon to the sick or the wearied in body or in mind?
This may be moralising, but moralising is never out of place,
and I wish for readers who can moralise with a “Country
Parson,” and share with him in the devout feelings which it
is his duty to spread as widely as he can. And what is true
of nature, the work of Gop, in any one particular, is true,
in this respect, of all; and if it be the right and the good
way to find “sermons in stones and good in every thing,” let
the entomologist be allowed his share in the laudable feeling,
and admire, in the elegant Butterfly before us, the handiwork
of the Almighty and Adorable Creator.
This fine fly is not uncommon in most of the southern
counties, and is taken in plenty so far north as Osberton, in
Nottinghamshire, the seat of George Savile Foljambe, Esq.
It frequents the paths and borders of woods, and also, it is
said, heathy places.
The perfect insect appears the end of June or beginning of
July. Mr. Dale once, namely in 1824, took the larva of this
species in the New Forest, Hampshire, on the Ist. of June.
The wings expand to the width of about two inches and a
half. The fore wings are of arich fulvous ground colour, the
base greenish, and the remainder thickly mottled over with
118 HIGH BROWN FRITILLARY.
black marks, many of which, especially a row, forming almost
a continuous waved streak a little within the margin, are more
or less of a crescent form. The extreme edge is pale fulvous,
and within this are two black lines intersecting a row of black
dots, both again intersected horizontally by the black veins of
the wings. The hind wings are marked very much in a similar
way: the outside edge is slightly concave.
Underneath, the fore wings shew through most of the marks
from above, those however at and near the outside edge being
much fainter and more indistinct: the ground colour too is
rather paler. The black marks near the tips are faded into
rich brown, sometimes spotted with silver. The hind wings
are most beautifully variegated with buff, rich ferruginous,
and brown, the upper edge near the base being silver,
outside which are from five to seven large silver spots, these
again succeeded by an interrupted band of nine or ten still
larger ones of different sizes and shapes; these by a row of
small rusty red spots, some of which have their centres silver,
and these again by another row of seven triangular-shaped
silver spangles.
The caterpillar, in one of its first stages, is red, which is
afterwards exchanged for olive green, with a white-line along
the back, and white spots on the sides.
The chrysalis is of a reddish colour, with silvery spots. The
insect remains in the chrysalis state about a‘ fortnight.
A curious variety of this insect is mentioned by Mr. A. D.
Michael, as having been taken near Cromer, Norfolk, in which
all the upper side of the fore wings was of a deep brown
colour without spots, but with a lighter margin, in which were
three or four darker lunules. Other varietics have occurred in
which the spots on the wings were more or less confluent.
The plate is from specimens in my own collection.
119
DARK GREEN FRITILLARY.
PLATE L.
Argynnis aglaia, OcHSENHEIMER. STEPHENS. JERMYN.
G - Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio aglaia, Lewin. Donovan. Witkes. Harris.
Acidalia aglaia, Husyer.
Tue Dark Green Fritillary frequents heaths, woods, meadows,
and downs.
Broadway, near Osberton, Nottinghamshire; Sywell Wood,
near Northampton, Barnwell, and Ashton Wold, and the
neighbourhood of Polebrook, Northamptonshire; the Downs
near Arundel, various parts of Suffolk; Hainault Forest, and
other places in Essex; near Great Bedwyn and Sarum, Wilt-
shire; the woods on the banks of the River Dart, in Devonshire,
are localities for this handsome insect, but it occurs not uncom-
monly in a great many other counties throughout England,
from Hampshire to Scotland, and even in the Isle of Arran,
“both inclusive.”
The perfect insect appears in July, and continues till August.
The caterpillar feeds on the dog violet, ( Viola canina.)
This species expands like the last to the width of from two
inches and a quarter to a little over. The ground colour is
of a rather pale but fine fulvous, marked over with numerous
black billets, a row of round spots, another of crescents,
followed by the margin, two narrow lines running through a
row of black spots, both intersected diagonally by the black
veins of the wings; the base is dusky—the outside edge
nearly straight; the hinder wings are marked ina very similar
manner, the whole of the base dusky.
Underneath, the fore wings are marked as above, but the
120 DARK GREEN FRITILLARY.
dark marks near the outside edge are much paler; the tips
of the wings are paler than the rest, as are the front edges, and
there are a few minute faint silver dots near the corner, and
one very obscure one inside them. ‘The hind wings dull green
over all their inner and larger portion, excepting towards the
upper part of the outer side, where the dull fulvous, which
succeeds the green in a wide band, runs into it. The border
is pale greenish yellow; inside this is a row of seven angular-
shaped spots, edged on their inner side, crescent-wise, with dull
green. ‘These are followed by au irregular row of seven silver
spots on the outside edge of the green colour of different sizes and
shapes, the centre one very small, and these by about seven
other spots and dots of silver, also of different sizes and shapes,
over the base of the green.
The female expands to the width of two inches and three-
quarters, or a little over; the ground colour is more dull; the
base much more extensively and more deeply darker coloured;
the dark billets are larger, and those that are open in the male
are filled up with black. The hind wings are also much darker
at the base.
Underneath, most of the marks are larger than in the male.
The caterpillar is of a blackish colour, with a whitish line
down the back, and another on the side, over which is a row
of eight small spots.
One variety of this insect has been described as a distinct
species, under the name of ‘Papilio Charlotta,’ (Haworth,) and
‘Argynnis Caroletta,’ (Miss Jermyn.) It has “the two costal
spots on both sides of the fore wings united, and only nineteen
instead of twenty-one silvery spots on the under side of the
hind wings, several of the ordinary spots at the base being
confluent.” Dr. Abbot took three specimens of this variety,
nearly all alike, near Bedford; and Mr. Dale has another, taken
near Peterborough, which on the under side represents on one
wing the character of ‘Caroletta, and on the other that of
‘Aglaia,’ thereby proving it to be, “sans doute,” a variety only.
Another splendid variety, of which specimens have been taken
near Ipswich and Birmingham, has “the upper surface of the
DARK GREEN FRITILLARY. 12h
fore wings almost entirely of a dark brownish black, except
a bright linear fulvous mark, and beyond it a much smaller
mark of the same colour, with a row of faint tawny spots
running parallel with the hinder margin. The hinder wings
have the markings considerably more distinct. Beneath, the
ground colour of the fore wings is dark ferruginous, and that
of the hind wings pea-green, with twenty-one silvery spots.”
My friend, John Curtis, Esq., records a variety intermediate
between this and the preceding one. Also in the “Magazine
of Natural History,” No. 26, a pale buff-coloured variety is
mentioned with the spots and markings very faint.
The engraving is from specimens in my own collection.
122
QUEEN OF SPAIN FRITILLARY.
PLATE ILI.
Argynnis Lathonia, Fapsricius. OcHSENHEIMER.
os “f Leacu. SrepHens. Courts.
Argynnis Latonia. ZETTERSTEDT.
Papilio Lathonia, Linnzvus. Lewin. Donovan.
Papilio Principissa, Linn xvs.
Papilio Lathona, Huser.
Tssormia Lathonia, HuBner.
In June, in the year 18035, Dr. Abbot has recorded that he
took this rare insect; and the late Mr. J. F. Stephens captured
one on the 14th. of August, in the same year. ‘Two specimens
were taken, and others seen, at Harleston, near Norwich, in
1846, and three near Dover, the same year. ‘Two on the
race-course near Ipswich, Suffolk, in 1851; and two or three
pairs at Jagger, near Colchester, in the same year, as R. B.
Postans, Esq. has informed me. Stoke-by-Nayland, in Essex,
is also given as one of its localities, as are likewise the neigh-
bourhood of Wisbeach, and near Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire;
Halvergate, Norfolk; Birch Wood and Dover, Kent; Battersea
Fields, near London; and Hertford.
When the summer has fairly set in, with all its gay delights
for those who can appreciate them,
“Et nune omnis ager, nunc omnis parturit arbos,”
when not only botanical, but entomological treasures are abun-
dantly brought forth, then is the time for the appearance of
the Queen of Spain Fritillary. It is believed to be double-
brooded, and some individuals of the latter are said to live
through the winter.
QUEEN OF SPAIN FRITILLARY. Zs
The caterpillar feeds on the heart’s-ease, ( Viola tricolor, ) the
saint-foin, (Onobrychis sativa,) and the burrage, ( Borago
officinalis. )
The expanse of the wings is about two inches; their colour
is fulvous, with many distinct spots, most of them of a round
shape, those at the tip uniting with the dark margin, and
enclosing several small paler buff patches; the base dusky.
The hind wings are of the same general character, their base
also dusky.
Underneath, the fore wings have nearly the same markings
as those on the upper surface, but at the tip is a broad
ferruginous patch, at the base of which is a silvery spot,
succeeded by two small eyes, between which and the margin
are several oval-shaped silver patches. The hind wings are
buff, varied with reddish brown, with numerous silver patches
of different sizes and shapes, and of which there are about
fourteen between the base of the wings, and a row of seven
dark brown eyes with silvery pupils, between each of which
and the margin of the wing is a large silvery patch.
The caterpillar is said to be greyish brown, with a white
line spotted with black along the back, and two yellowish
brown lines along the sides; the spines and legs pale yellow.
The chrysalis is varied with brown and dull green, interspersed
with metallic spots.
124
VENUS FRITILLARY.
PLATE LII.
Argynnis Aphrodite, Brer. Westwoop.
Papilio Aphrodite, Fapricivs.
Tuts is an American species, but it is unquestionable that
a specimen was taken in an undoubted wild state in Upton
Wood, a few miles from Leamington, Warwickshire, by James
Walhouse, Esq., of that place. How it came from the “Far
West” is now an undiscoverable mystery. This grand capture
occurred in the summer of 1833.
The expanse of the wings is nearly three inches and a quarter.
The fore wings are of a rich fulvous colour, spotted and
chequered over with black. The hind wings are of the same
general ground colour, with very similar markings.
Underneath, the ground colour is buff, tinged with pink, the
tips greenish, the dark marks shewing through. The hind wings
are bronze green, but dark at their base, and lighter towards
the outside; a row of semicircular silver spots follows the mar-
gin, and there are numerous other silver spots.
The engraving is from the figure in Mr. Westwood and
Mr. Humphreys’ work.
SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY.
PLATE LIII.
Argynnis Paphia, Fasricius. OcHsSENHEIMER, STEPHENS.
fe Westwoop. Curtis. Duncan.
Papilio Paphia, , Linnaus. Lewin. Donovan.
as a Wiikes. Harris.
Araqyronome Paphia, HUsBNER.
Tris is a plentiful species in woods, in the south of England
especially, but it extends northwards also to Scotland. A few
of its localities are the “Dukeries,” near Osberton, Nottingham-
shire; Hainault Forest, Essex; Barnwell and Ashton Wold,
and the neighbourhood of Polebrook, Northamptonshire; in
Langham Woods, near Stoke Nayland, Suffolk, very abundantly ;
also, rather uncommonly, near Great Bedwyn and Sarum,
Wiltshire, as J. W. Lukis, Esq. tells me; and in the woods on
the banks of the River Dart, in Devonshire, as James Dalton,
Esq., of Worcester College, Oxford, has written me word.
The perfect insect appears the beginning of July.
The caterpillar feeds on the violet, nettle, and raspberry.
This Fritillary expands in the width of its wings from about
two inches and three-quarters to nearly three inches. The
fore wings are rich fulvous, with numerous blackish spots and
bars, the latter horizontal, and of the former there are three
rows, following the outside edge of the wing, the inner row
the largest sized, and the outer one on the edge, with a dark
line running through them. ‘The hind wings are of the like
ground colour, with also three rows of larger spots, the inner
rounded, the next bell-shaped, and within the three two waved
blackish lines, meeting together near the lower part of the
inner one.
Underneath, the fore wings are paler in colour, the outer
corner dashed with metallic green; of the dark marks, some
126 SILVER-WASHED FRITILLARY.
shew through, and of others only the outlines; those towards
the outer edge of the wing are nearly obliterated. The hind
wings are pale metallic green, with two short waves of silver
near the base, a third tinged with purple running across the
wing, and another still more tinged with purple follows the
margin; between these two last is a row of darker green spots,
with lighter centres, and another of green half-moons, the
latter outermost.
The female is larger than the male, without streaks, the spots
larger, the fulvous colour less bright, and tinged with green.
The caterpillar is light brown, with a row of yellow spots
on the back; it is covered with long spines, the two next the
head being longer than the rest.
The chrysalis is described as being grey, with gilt tubercles.
One variety, a female, taken by J. C. Dale, Esq., has the
upper surface of the wings very dark, with some whitish spots
at the tips of the fore wings.
In one, figured by Hubner, the wings on the right hand
side are of this variety, and those on the left as in the ordinary
specimens.
Mr. Westwood adds, “A still more remarkable specimen has
been figured by M. Wesmaél, in the fourth volume of the
Bulletin of the Academy of Brussels, in which the right wings
were those of the male type, except that the marginal row of
spots were as large as in the female; the left fore wing
exhibited a complete ‘melange’ of the male and female, as well
as of the variety and typical individuals, the ground colour
being fulvous, as in the male, but the markings, especialiy at
the tip, dark as in the female, with the white spots of the
variety; upper side of the hind wings entirely coloured as in
the variety.”
Another specimen of this kind is mentioned by Ochsenheimer,
the right wings of which were those of a male, and the left
those of a female.
In Loudon’s “Magazine of Natural History” the occurrence
of a similar one in England is noticed.
The engraving is from specimens in my own cabinet.
U we RY 7 7
1 an
mame
ra
H ‘
y aii
8 | Sena ae
BPD iy eek
ce Oe a ae it
> , ils watiie's®
ay i P; a hy iG if i
?
red
Nica
LARGE COPPER.
PLATE LIV.
Iycena dispar, Curtis. Duncan. Woop. Swatnson.
Papilio dispar, Hawortn. Kirsy anp SPENCE.
Papilio Hippothoé, Lewin. Donovan.
es ee var. Esper.
Polyommatus dispar, Botspuvat.
Chrysophanus dispar, Westwoop.
Lone the tenant of the watery wastes which formed the
fen districts of Cambridgeshire and the adjoining counties, this
fine insect has at last disappeared from what was for ages its
secure fastness and its safe stronghold. The industry of man
has stopped the “Meeting of the waters,” or rather the very
waters themselves have been employed against themselves, and,
condensed in the steam-engine, have driven all before them,
as if with the force of the rising tide of the ocean. Science,
with one of her many triumphs, has here truly achieved a
mighty and a valuable victory, and the land that was once
productive only of fever and of ague, now scarce yields to
any in broad England in the weight of its golden harvest.
Time was, and even abundantly within our own recollection,
when it might have been considered a beneficial improvement
to introduce a stream of water where none before existed, or
to deepen it where it did into a navigable canal, and the
engineer who successfully completed the work might well say
with a laudable satisfaction—
“Tmpellitque rates ubi duxit aratra colonus;”
but now the converse is the just subject of boast, and even
over the loose surface of the most treacherous morass, the
iron way conveys with speed and safety, and to any extent,
128 LARGE COPPER,
the mercantile, the physical, and the intellectual wealth of the
country. The entomologist is the only person who has cause
to lament the change, and he, loyal and patriotic subject as
he is, must not repine at even the disappearance of the Large
Copper Butterfly, in the face of such vast and magnificent
advantages. Still he may be pardoned for casting “one longing
lingering look behind,” and I cannot but with some regret
recall, at all events, the time when almost any number of this
dazzling fly was easily procurable, either “by purchase” or “by
exchange,” for our cabinets. A goodly “rank and file,” from
some individuals of which the figures in the plate are taken,
I now consider myself fortunate in possessing, for the existing
number of indigenous specimens is no more again to be added
to by fresh recruits: “Fuit [lium et ingens gloria”—
“The light of other days has faded, and all its glories past.”
Nay, further, not only is it, or rather was it, for it is now, as [
have said, extinct, extremely local, but it has always hitherto been
believed, like the Grouse, to be peculiar to Britain, being not
found elsewhere. These are inexplicable facts in Natural History,
but into the consideration of which the limits of my space pre-
vent me from entering. Mr. H. N. Humphreys however states
that he took a specimen, which appeared to be identical with
it, in the Pontine marshes between Rome and Naples.
The “Fen Districts” of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire,
and other congenial places in Norfolk and Suffolk, such as Holme
Fen, Whittlesea Mere—now no longer a Mere, Bardolph Fen, and
Benacre, were the localities of this fine fy. It was quick and
active on the wing, flying among and about the reeds.
It appears, that is to say, used to appear at the end of July
and the beginning of August.
The food of the caterpillar was the water-dock.
This species measures in the expanse of its wings from a
little under to a little over an inch and a half. The fore
wings are of a splendid copper-colour, with a black edging to
the outside of the wing, widest’ at the upper corner, from
whence it decreases; there is a black oblong spot in the centre
LARGE COPPER. 129
of the wing, near the front edge; some of the spots from the
under side shew faintly through in some lights. The hind
wings are of the like colour and markings, only that the
outside black border is indented and equally wide all along,
except at the uppermost part, where it is narrower; the whole
of the inner edge, from the base downwards, is dusky black.
Underneath, the fore wings are pale orange, the outside
edge blue ash grey; there are two large and one small black
spots, placed horizontally, in a row from near the base, their
edges bordered with a line of still paler orange; the inner one
is the smallest: these are succeeded by a transverse row of
seven others, of smaller comparative sizes, three and four, and
there is a row of small faint black crescents on the inner
edge of the grey band. The hind wings are silvery greyish
blue, brightest near the base, followed by a broad oblong orange
bar, which again is edged by the grey and a row on each
side of black dots, the inner ones larger than the outer; on
the grey part the black oblong mark shews through, there
being within it five or six black dots, one near the upper
edge large, and an iregular row of about nine others near
the orange band.
In the female the copper on the fore wings is of a deeper
colour, with a wide dusky black border running over part of
the front edge: the lower part of these wings near the base
is also dusky black, and there are two large black spots placed
horizontally near the front edge, and a transverse row of six
or seven other ones towards the margin, the middle ones being
large and elongated. In the hind wings the copper is almost
entirely hid by blackish brown, excepting a broad bar of
copper near the outer edge, indented by the black on its
outer margin, and running up into the black, which it intersects
in narrow streaks: the outer edge is bluish white.
The caterpillar is described by the late Mr. J. F. Stephens as
of a bright green colour, with innumerable white dots.
The chrysalis was ‘‘at first green, then pale ash-coloured, with
a dark dorsal line, and two abbreviated white ones on each
side, and lastly sometimes deep brown.”
150
SMALL COPPER.
COMMON COPPER. COMMON SMALL COPPER.
PLATE LV.
Lycena Phleas, Fasricius. OciHsENHEIMER. Leacu.
ss cs SrepHens. Curtis. Duncan. Woop.
Papilio Phleas, Linnazvus. Hawortn. Lewin.
és se Donovan. Harris.
Chrysophanus Phleas, Husner. Westwoop.
Polyommatus Phleas, Boispvuvat.
Tuts butterfly occurs throughout Europe, and in Asia, and
also, or a closely allied species, in America.
It is a common insect with us, and generally distributed
throughout the country. It is an exceedingly elegant object on
the wing, as it flits from flower to flower, its showy colour,
though it is so small, attracting the eye. It seems to be fond
of attacking and fighting with any of its fellows that approaches,
but the difference may be more apparent than real—a mere
‘‘nassage of arms” essayed in the exuberance of the happiness
of the ephemeral little creature.
There are two or three broods in the year, and they appear
early in April, in June, and in August.
The caterpillar feeds on the sorrel, ( Oxalis acetosella. )
The fore wings, which expand from a little over an inch
to a little over one and a quarter, are of a resplendent copper-
colour, with from eight to ten black spots of different sizes
and shapes on their central part; of these, the two or three
nearest to the base of the wing are placed transversely. ‘The
front edge of the wing is narrowly margined with brown, and
the outer edge broadly so; the fringe is buff. ‘The hind wings
are dark blackish brown, with a copper bar at the lower side,
SMALL COPPER. 131
edged on its lower part with black crescent-shaped spots; the
fringe is buff.
Underneath, the fore wings are of an orange colour, the
black spots shewing through, and slightly edged with pale
buff. The outer margin, which is dull buff, is edged on its
inside with several faint dark-coloured crescents near the lower
corner, fragments of the broad border on the upper side. ‘The
hind wings are also a sort of buff, with numerous minute and
nearly obsolete golden brown specks placed in irregular rows,
and with an obscure narrow bright orange band parallel with
the hind margin. There are short tails to the wings, which
are indented within them. ‘The body is black on the upper
side, with some tawny down about the head and thorax, and
greyish buff-coloured beneath.
The female resembles the male.
The caterpillar is green, with a pale line along the back, and
also one on the side.
Specimens differ considerably in size, and also in the depth
of their colour :—
One has been taken, in which the copper band on the hind
wings are wholly obliterated.
Another had the copper colour on all the wings exchanged
for milk white.
A third had the black parts replaced by milk white.
The plate is from specimens in my own cabinet.
W
132
MAZARINE BLUE.
PLATE LVI.
Polyommatus Acis, Srepuens. Curtis. Woop.
s & Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio Acis, ERNst.
Lycena Acis, OcHSENHEIMER.
Nomiades Acis, HUBNER.
Papilio Argiolus, Esper. Husner.
Papilio semiarqus, BorkHAUSEN.
Papilio Cymon, Lewin. HawortH. JERMYN.
Lycena Cymon, Lracu. SAMOUELLE.
THIs, in conjunction with a former species, gives us an cn-
b]
tomological “‘Acis and Galatea,” who
“Merry, harmless, free, and gay,
Dance and sport the hours away;
For them the zephyr blows, for them distils the dew,
For them unfolds the rose, and flow’rs display their hue.”
“Where shall I seek the charming fair?
Direct the way kind genius of the mountains ;—
Seeks she the groves?”
It is rather the “pleasure of the plains” that will reward
your search, and even there you must wander far and wide,
for it is but at distant intervals that our present butterfly is to
be met with.
This very interesting and valuable insect used formerly to be
taken in tolerable plenty by J.C. Dale, Esq., in his parish of
Glanville’s Wootton, Dorsetshire, but now it is never seen there.
It occurs also near Sarum, Wiltshire, and in Sywell Wood, near
Northampton, as the Rev. D. 'T. Knight, of Earl’s Barton, informs
me. Other localities given are Yorkshire and Norfolk, various
parts of Cambridgeshire, Hampshire, and Worcestershire; also
MAZARINE BLUE. 133
near Hinkley, Leicestershire; and one was once taken in Coles-
hill Park, Warwickshire, by the Rev. W. T. Bree.
The fore wings, near the centre of which is a dark spot,
are of a dark purple blue colour, the front edge thinly edged
with white; the outer margin is narrow, and dark brown,
which colour runs up into the wing along the veins: the fringe
is white. ‘The hind wings are also fringed with white, and
their outer margin is also narrow, and dark brown.
Underneath, the fore wings are of a uniform bronzed grey
colour, the base bluish grey; the spot shews through, edged
with white, and beyond it is a waved row of seven spots
ringed with white, the middle ones larger, the end ones
smaller and much less distinct, especially on the lower side,
where two are adjoined; these spots vary in number in different
individuals; in some there are also one or two eyed spots near
the base.
The female differs from the male in having the upper side
of all the wings of a very dark copper brown, the basal part
alone purpled.
The female is figured from a specimen in my own collection.
134
LARGE BLUE.
PLATE LVII.
Polyommatus Arion, Larrei“tue. STEPHENS. CurRTIS.
ae ac Woop. Duncan. WeEstwoop.
Papilio Arion, Linnzvus. Haworrs. Lewin.
es ff Donovan. HvuBNeEr.
Iycena Arion, OcHSENHEIMER. LEACH.
Nomiades Arion, HUBNER.
Locatittes for this insect are Charmouth, Dorset, where my
brother, Beverley R. Morris, Esq. once took one, which I saw
immediately afterwards; the Cliffs near Dover, Kent; the Downs
near Marlborough, Wiltshire; and those near Glastonbury, Som-
ersetshire, where Mr. Quekett has taken it in some profusion;
the Mouse’s Pasture, near Bedford, where Dr. Abbot first took -
it, and Mr. Dale again in 1819; Broomham, in Bedfordshire;
near Winchester, in Hampshire; and Wigsworth and Barnwell
Wold, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, where, in company with
my hospitable host, the Rev. William Bree, Curate of Polebrook
near there, who had in previous years discovered and taken it
there in tolerable plenty, I took the considerable number of
eleven specimens on the 19th. and 20th. of July, 1852. He
only once took one in the neighbourhood of Ashton Wold, a
few miles distant, though there are several other fields of exactly
a similar appearance to those in which it occurs at the former
place.
The Large Blue expands in width from a little over an inch
and a half to nearly one and three-quarters. The fore wihgs
are of a deep blue colour, with a large cluster of oblong black
spots near their centre; the outer edges are dark coloured; the
fringe of the wings is white. The hind wings are of the like
deep blue colour, bordered with blackish brown.
aj
aah
~
=
——$—<$—"— -
.
¢ y “y
e
7) ~
‘
wh
)
2
i
’
1 7" :
. : i
r
i
i
% Ne,
“"
,
’
}
A
G
be
ee
fit
A
ya
i
i
=
yd
‘ K
-
ony
i
Lg
= i
a
a.
BG
we
m
ye,
5
i at W
bay ql
1, ie
ro 4
. hie ah
; A
i
LARGE BLUE, 135
Underneath, the colour is dark grey; the black oblong spots
are replaced by rounded ones, with white orbits, and two rows
of smaller dots of a similar character follow the black line that
bounds the outside of the wing, which is succeeded by a white
fringe: the base of these wings is blue. The hind wings are
much spotted, and their base is blue considerably diffused;
two irregular rows of black spots, with white edges, run across
the middle part, and there is one single one near the base;
a double row of black angular-shaped spots, based with whitish,
follows the outside marginal line: the fringe whitish.
The female is of a duller colour than the male, the spots
larger and more numerous, and the dark margin of the wings
broader.
This insect varies very much in the number and size of the
spots. Some specimens are almost wholly immaculate, and others
are gradually spotted ‘seriatim’ more and more till the wings
are strikingly marked.
The figures are from specimens in my own cabinet.
HOLLY BLUE.
AZURE BLUE.
PLATE DVITE.
Polyommatus Argiolus, LatrEr“tye. STEPHENS. Curtts.
as Ss Woop. Duncan. Westwoop.
Papilio Argiolus, Linnezvus. Haworth. Donovan.
ss Lewin.
Papilio Acis, Husner.
Papilio Clevbis, Esper.
Papilio Argus marginatus, Dr GEER.
Agriades Argiolus, HusNeEr.
LIycena Argiolus, OcHSENHEIMER. LEACH.
- ef SAMOUELLE.
Turis plain but neat species is to be found, as its name
imports, in places where the holly abounds. Unlike the other
Blues, it flies near the tops of these trees, hovering about them
and settling on them very much after the manner of the Hair-
streaks.
In Yorkshire, it is not uncommon. I have known it in
former years in very considerable plenty at Fairfield, near
Broomsgrove, Worcestershire; other localities for it are Castle
Eden Dene, Durham; Dartford, Kent; Ripley, Surrey; Epping
Forest, Essex; Newcastle, Northumberland; Hammersmith, near
London; Allesley, in Warwickshire; the Isle of Wight, and
in Hampshire; and also in various places in Norfolk, Suffolk,
and Devonshire.
It appears to be double-brooded, being taken so early as the
middle of April, as also in May, June, July, and the end
of August—the charming summertide, when you cannot but,
with the butterflies you seek, ‘love the merry merry sunshine,”
and wish that it were always summer.
Pa
58
HOLLY BLUE. si
The caterpillar feeds on the buck-thorn, (Rhamnus cathar-
ticus,) and the holly, (Ilex Aquifolium.)
In this species the wings expand to nearly an inch and a
quarter in width. The fore wings are of a uniform rather
dull pale blue; the hind wings the same: the fringe of all the
wings is white.
The female differs from the male in being generally of a
smaller size, the blue of a paler hue, and the fore wings
broadly margined with black or blackish brown. ‘The hind wings
are also marked with a row of black or dark brown spots within
the margin, which are sometimes so large as to be almost
confluent. Their upper edge is broadly margined also with
black.
Underneath, the whole surface is of a uniform pale silvery
greyish blue, crossed towards the outside of the fore wings with
an irregular row of small black dots. The hind wings have
also a few minute dots on different parts of their surface, the
principal one on the middle of the upper edge: the spots as
well as the dusky markings vary considerably in size, and the
former in number in different individuals.
The caterpillar is of a greenish yellow colour, with a bright
green line along the back, the head and legs being also black.
The chrysalis is smooth, brown and green, with a dark
line along the back.
The figures are from specimens in my own cabinet.
158
LITTLE BLUE.
BEDFORD BLUE.
PLATE LIX.
Polyommatus Alsus, * StepHens. Curtis. Duncan.
ee a Woop. Westwoop.
Papilio Alsus, Gmewtin. Lewin. Donovan.
Papilio minimus, Esper. ScwHarrer. VILuers.
Papilio pseudolus, BorKHAavsENn.
Nomiades Alsus, HUBNER.
Hesperia Alsus, Fasrictivs.
I wave taken this diminitive butterfly in tolerable plenty at
Pinney Cliff; Devonshire, near Lyme Regis; and also near
Charmouth, Dorsetshire; also near Sittingbourne, in Kent. In
Yorkshire, it has been met with at Wadsworth and Brodsworth,
near Doncaster, and in other parts. Other localities for it are
the neighbourhood of Newmarket, Cambridgeshire; near Great
Bedwyn and Sarum, Wiltshire, in isolated places near woods,
as J. W. Lukis, Esq. has informed me, as likewise near Ames-
bury; and Hainault Forest, Essex. Also South Creek, Norfolk;
Brandon Warren, Suffolk; Dover, Birch Wood, and Darenth
Wood, Kent; near Andover and the Isle of Wight, in Hamp-
shire; Darlington, in Durham; between Woodstock and Enstone,
Oxfordshire; near Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire; and near
Hertford. In most of the northern counties of Scotland, and
at Ardrahan, in the county of Galway, in Ireland, as A. G.
More, Esq. has written me word.
The perfect insect appears at the end of May or beginning
of June, and keeps out for a considerable time. It is often
seen on the sides of disused chalk-pits, and on grass-grown
39
cliffs, where, a veritable “Gay being,” it revels in the concen-
59
Die "
‘ Aas 2 Bh
\ ' hee
a oe a eG
ea Ty vs fi
" i" ee
i
?
Lf
uA
ie 1
EP
*
s
——
.
=
a
PN
LITTLE? BLUE, 139
trated sunshine which there glows with an unsubdued heat
such as the race of butterflies rejoices in.
The caterpillar feeds on the milk-vetch, (Astragalus cicer.)
The expanse of the wings is between three-quarters of an
inch and an inch. ‘The upper surface of the fore wings is
obscure dark brown, more or less glossed with blue, chiefly
at the base. The hind wings are likewise of a dull dark brown
colour. The fringe of the wings is white.
Underneath, the fore wings are of a pale silvery ash-colour,
with a small black dot near the front edge, and between this
and the hind margin is a transverse row of small black spots
with white rims, the two lower being more confluent. The
hind wings, which are of the like ground colour, have three
or four of the eyed spots irregularly placed on their inner
part, beyond the middle of which is a waved row of seven or
eight similar spots, and on the margin is a black spot near
the lower corner.
The female is duller in colour than the male.
The caterpillar is green, with yellow lines on the sides and
the back.
The figures are from one in my own cabinet, and from others
in that of Mr. Allis, of Osbaldwick, near York.
140
SILVER-STUDDED BLUE.
PLATE LX.
Polyommatus Argus, SrrepHens. Duncan.
4 ee Westwoop. Woop.
Polyommatus Alcippe, Kirsy, MS., (var.)
Polyommatus maritimus, Haworrtn, MS., (var.)
Papilio Argus, Linnzvus. Lewin. Haworrn.
Papilio Idas, Linnexus, (female.)
Papilio Argyrognomon, BorKHAUSEN, (var?)
Papilio Leodorus, Esper, (var.)
Papilio Argiades, Esper, (var.)
Hesperia Argus, Fasricivus.
Hesperia Acreon, Fasricius, (var?)
Lycena Argus, Leacnu. OcuHsrennermer. Hoesner,
Tyceides Argus, HUBNER.
Tuts fly is not uncommon near Sarum, Wiltshire; also in
Sywell Wood, near Northampton. I have taken it in Devonshire,
at Pinhay cliff, near Lyme Regis. It is also found in Coombe
Wood and Darenth Wood, Kent; at Wood Hay Common,
Hampshire; on Coleshill Heath, Warwickshire; Parley Heath,
Dorsetshire; Holt, Norfolk; and Ripley Green, Surrey; as
likewise in various other localities in the south of England.
It is a very pretty and interesting, though rather plain species;
and pleasant it is to watch it as it wanders about to “bid good-
morrow to the flowers,’ in the height of summer, when
you are glad to lie down on some grassy bank and gaze upon
the flowers or the insects which surround you, listening the
while to the murmur of the tinkling rill, or it may be the
gentle rippling of the tide over the pebbled beach, every sight
and every sound full of present and inexpressible enjoyment,
and recalling perhaps also other times and other scenes and
69
a< i 4 -
ri
t |
,
ii
j
o
‘
- ~
t i
ee eri rh
ss ne
ae '
le jtiyye
j
f
a) ‘
i
ie. ’ j '
f
sien 4) 2a : (hy are W435 )
10 )
7 waewal asl hits
Li end tte eaten 1
if ee ae 4 re be ts
eke 6k M: Hh Neyer te
thi i) HEOROY AMNINOKS ft; ode
ws vii byeranvill dpa!
tng apt Ebel brriosy) a eal
hain. aitd eos a
lie eed Sule a0s, aed
phe door euly ae
« sothad-\ evo Rieter ;
SCN Sap. ON 00k
yee Gat Ci CT Ce
a iloly ty shana ‘\
ewe rlsqny tia
| uted to saxll i
if abe haiiwe JF Rod ae
ie he oda 2th ni
| Di, Avaya i ai
ct yt ‘aeapth if oy
SILVER-STUDDED BLUE. 141]
passages connected with them, which, alas! cannot be otherwise
recalled than by the memory, too retentive, and yet not
retentive enough.
The perfect insect appears about the middle of July.
The caterpillar feeds on the broom, (Sarothamnus scoparius, )
saintfoin, ( Onobrychis sativa,) and other species of the clover,
( Trifolum,) and allied kinds.
In this species, which measures from an inch to an inch and
a quarter across, the fore wings are of a silvery blue colour,
the front part verging to white; there is a minute speck near the
centre, and the edge is black; the fringe white. ‘The hind wings
are of a similar colour, but the dark edge is wider, seemingly
a tissue of spots, and the fore part has also a dark margin;
the body above is clothed with silvery and blue down. ‘“‘The
antenne are black, with white rings, the upper side of the club
black, and the lower fine orange.”
Underneath, the fore wings are of a pale greyish lilac tint,
the base saturated with blue; the spot shews through larger,
and beyond it is a waved row of black spots, with white rims,
the ground colour under them being paler than the rest of the
wings, followed by two rows of minute and faint ones on a pale
orange ground, followed by a black line, and this by the white
frmge. ‘The hind wings are marked in much the same way,
but there are two additional small eyes near the base and one
at the front edge; the pale ground under the row of spots is
nearly white, followed by a band of clear orange, with a row
of dots on its inner and outer edges, the latter larger and more
distinct than the former.
The female, which is larger than the male, has the fore wings
of a coppery brown colour, sometimes faintly tinted with blue,
with a line of obscure orange spots near the margin; the fringe
reddish buff, white at the tip and on the front edge. ‘The hind
wings are marked in a similar manner, but the row of orange
spots is larger and more distinct, and farther within the margin;
in some specimens these wings especially have a faint suffusion
of blue.
Underneath, the fore wings are dark ash grey, with a central
142 SILVER-STUDDED BLUE.
eyed spot, then a waved row of the like, then a partial white
streak, then a row of black spots, shaded off on the edges,
followed successively by an orange band, a row of small black
dots, an interrupted white line, a narrow black line, and a
greyish white fringe. ‘The hind wings have much the same
markings, but there are several spots over their inner portion,
and there is a row of bright metallic green streaks along the
outside of the orange band.
The caterpillar is described as being “of a dull green colour,
with whitish tubercles, and a blackish head and legs, a line
down the back and sides, and oblique marks on the latter of a
dark red colour bordered with white.”
The chrysalis is said to be at first green, and afterwards
brown.
A variety of this species, described as a separate one under
the name of ‘Polyommatus Alcippe,’ has “the wings narrower,
blue above, with a broad black margin to all the wings, the
under side of the male of a deep greyish or drab colour; the
ocelli very distinct in the, female, and the oblique series on the
posterior wing consisting of four.”
In another, taken by the late Mr. Haworth, and named by
him ‘Polyommatus maritimus,’ ‘‘the ocelli on the disc of the
under side of the wings are elongated into those on the middle
of the wing, being almost confluent with the following row of
spots.”
Another, taken by the late Mr. Hatchett, had the upper
surface of all the wings of a pale fulvous tawny-colour.
i * vey . Py
dy Maugay i Bat. oa | 7 yh ’ t
is afi hay His. Hoeliads. jezar
fe flaw tower © Chur ff
._of? Jonld Wiytinit f wee cat] : add P. 3
oresy Fc: PLT, "EE ype “eek Dn 7 Gil
i Yee 7 v “Fy i ,
* wig ees, aia Ivey CS : IO hao 3: Ayiy'|
GHG Ber i) | I
i
a j :
BOOS weet igh a te , 2 i ; sits
r , 7
plyrr 73%) 7
.-
2! a ‘
‘
ak ar F
+
Fi
ii sift :
4
a ery ei ise q j
ax : a
"
j
' ‘ ita
y } ‘ * 3 ;
f
CFP y stant Pek arity
a i ay
i ‘ rn ne
&
i - wei at 4 3
fe penn ae! ANIC? : pe See bkheigy
543: vob oats an ; .
if pist a Py 3 wot rd ; P
as é ;
7 SHOW Tarver of é .
* = ' .
| a
( iv. Pode hel ar
ay) ttoolon-y nh nt) Po ,
Sh
145
COMMON BLUE.
Polyommatus Alexis,
‘ &<
Polyommatus Labienus,
Polyommatus Tiestylis,
Polyommatus Lacon,
Polyommatus dubius,
Papilio Alexis,
Papilio Argus,
Papilio Hyacinthus,
Papilio Icarus,
Iycena Dorylas,
PLATE LXI.
Larreinte. STEPHENS. CuURTIS.
Woop. Duncan. WeEstwoop.
JERMYN, (var.)
JERMYN, (var.)
JERMYN, (var.)
Kirsy. MSS., (var.)
HusnerR. WIENER.
Witxs. Donovan. Harris.
Lewin. HawortH. (var.)
Vintars. Haworth. Lrwin.
Lracu. SAaMOUELLE.
Tuts is one of the commonest of our native species, and
appears to be distributed throughout the kingdom.
In the ‘Journal of a Naturalist,” it is thus accurately noticed
by Mr. Knapp:—“‘We have few more zealous and pugnacious
insects than this lttle elegant butterfly, noted and admired by
all. When fully animated, it will not suffer any of its tribe
to cross its path, or approach the flower on which it sits, with
impunity; even the large admirable Atalanta at these times it
will assail and drive away. Constant warfare is also kept up
between it and the Small Copper Butterfly; and wherever these
diminutive creatures come near each other, they dart into
action, and continue buffeting one another about till one retires
from the contest, when the victor returns in triumph to the
station he had left. Should the enemy again advance, the
combat is renewed; but should a cloud obscure the sun, or a
breeze chill the air, their ardour becomes abated, and contention
ceases. ‘The pugnacious disposition of the Argus Butterfly soon
deprives it of much of its beauty; and unless captured soon
144 COMMON BLUE.
after its birth, we find the margins of its wings torn and jagged,
the elegant blue rubbed from the wings.”
The caterpillar is found the end of April, and in July.
It is said to feed on the wild strawberry, (Fragaria vesca, )
and different kinds of grasses.
The Common Blue averages in the expanse of its wings from
a little over an inch to an inch and a quarter. ‘The fore wings
are of a fine lilac blue, margined on the outer edge with a
thin black line; the fringe white. A similar description applies
to the hind wings.
Underneath, the front wings are of an ash-colour; towards the
base is one ocellated spot, and beneath it a black line, then
another spot, then a transverse row of six others, and then two
rows of smaller and fainter ones; the lower ones of each row
with some pale orange marks between them; these are succeeded
by a narrow black thin line at the edge of the white fringe.
The hind wings are irrorated about the base with silvery blue,
and are spotted very much in the same way as the fore wings,
but there is a bidentine spot below the centre, and the orange
spots outside this are large, continuous, and distinct, following
the margin of the wing. The body is clothed with long downy
hair, of a bluish white colour.
In the female the blue of the fore wings is almost wholly
obscured with blackish brown, which latter colour forms a
distinct border at the outer edge, within it being a row of
orange spots more or less distinct in different specimens: the
fringe 1s white. The hind wings are similarly marked, except
that the black edge is supplanted by a narrow black line,
within which is a blue line, with a row of black spots continuous
with the orange ones.
Underneath, the markings resemble those in the male, but
they are brighter and more distinct.
The caterpillar is of a bright green colour, with a dark line
along the back, adjoining which are rows of yellow spots.
This species is much subject to variety, both in the number
and size of the eyes on the under surface of the wings, and
the markings on the upper, and hence has acquired many an
‘
COMMON BLUE. 145
“alias,” as shewn by its synonyms and supposed distinctions,
Some individuals exhibit the double appearance of the male
and the female.
Others have the sides not correspondingly alike.
Some differ in form from the rest, the tips of the wings in
the females being rounded, or acute.
Some females have the upper wings nearly as blue as in the
male, with a black spot, while in others they are nearly entirely
blackish brown.
One variety, of a very small size, described as a separate
species by the name of ‘Polyommatus Labienus,’ had “the
upper side of the wings of a very pale lilac blue, and the
spots on the under side very small and pale, the inferior spot
at the base of the fore wings obsolete, only five spots in the
curved row beyond the middle of the discoidal cell, and the
fulvous lunules almost obsolete, the two basal spots on the costa
of the hind wings large and black.”
Another, a large female, the ‘Polyommatus Thestylis’ of
Jermyn, in which the blue of the upper surface of the wings
was more than ordinarily extended, had the front wings with
a large blackish spot, obscurely engirdled with white, the
hind wings with a similar spot near the margin, and the number
of eyes in all the wings varying considerably.
Another variety is the ‘Polyommatus Lacon,’ also of Miss
Jermyn, “in which the disc of the wings beneath is only marked
with a triangular spot; the hind margin of the anterior with a
few indistinct dusky marks, and of the posterior ones with a
fulvous band, terminated internally with a series of black
wedge-shaped spots, and externally with black dots on a white
ground.”
Another had ‘the two spots towards the base of the fore
wings on the under side obsolete, and the upper side of the
wings of the female more strongly saturated with blue.”
Some males have the wings very transparent, and of a more
than ordinary silvery hue, and some females “‘very blue, with
very distinct red lunules.”
146
CLIFDEN BLUE.
DARTFORD BLUE.
PLATE LXII.
Polyommatus Adonis, SrepHens. Curtis. Woop.
ee ‘8 Duncan. WeEstwoop.
Papilio Adonis, OCHSENHEIMER. L&acnH.
cs ce SAMOUELLE.
Papilio Ceronus, HUBNER.
Papilio Bellargus, Esper. Vritars. MULLER.
Papilio Argus, Donovan.
Hesperia Adonis, Faprictius.
THE unfeelmg and heartless manner in which Mr. Charles
Dickens relates the gratuitous destruction, by the robbers, of poor
Grimaldi’s “Dartford Blues,” in revenge, as it would appear,
for the rest of the intended plunder having been timely removed;
must for ever lower him in the estimation of every high-
souled—entomologist. ‘l'rue indeed it is that he uses language
not altogether inappropriate, in treating of the lamentable loss—
language which, did it express the feelings of his heart, might
be accepted, as displaying some degree of commiseration for so
sad a calamity; but the acute perception of the entomologist
will at once tell him that the sympathy is but feigned, the
pity but a mockery, the pretended commiseration a mere delusion,
betokening an utter want of feeling on a subject which ought
instinctively to call forth the deepest emotion. “Tis easy to
see through the hollow speciousness: ‘hic nigri est succus
loliginis;’ which translated into plain English is—Mr. Dickens,
I am quite sure, is no entomologist.
This most lovely insect, whose beauty is imported by its
CLIFDEN BLUE. 147
specific name, is abundant in some seasons in the vicinity of
Croydon, Surrey, as Mr. C. Miller informs me: it also occurs
in some parts of Suffolk, and other southern counties. It too
frequents the districts of the chalk formation.
The expanse of the wings is from an inch and a quarter to
nearly one and a half. The fore wings are of a splendid
polished azure blue, the fringe white, intersected by the veins,
edged interiorly by an attenuated black line. The hind wings
are of a similar appearance.
Underneath, the fore wings are of a dark ash grey, with
one eyed spot towards the base, then a large dark one near the
centre, then a waved row of six, and then two other faint
rows. ‘The hind wings are powdered with silvery blue at the
base; near the front margin are three eyed spots, and below
these two others; the outer one near the centre with a larger
white circumference, and a comet-like tail pointing downwards.
Between these and the outer margin are two rows of eyed
spots, the inner one irregular, and with a white patch about
its middle, the outer one following the black line which meets
the margin, and is followed by the white fringe. Between the
two rows are some pale orange marks with white crescents on
their mner edge.
The female has the fore wings of a dark brown colour, the
base sometimes marked with blue. There is a white spot near
the centre towards the front edge, with a black speck on it.
The fringe is pale buff white, chastely striated on the upper
portion with blackish brown, and within it is an obscure row
of dark dots, tipped interiorly with faint dull white. The hind
wings are similarly marked, but there is more blue on their
inner portion, and there is a row within the margin of black
dots, some of them set in orange, and within these a row of
small angular-shaped blue specks.
The caterpillar is described as being green, with rows of
fulvous spots along the back.
This butterfly also varies in the number, size, and situation
of the spots on the under side, and in some specimens those
on the one side do not even correspond with those on the other.
x
148
CHALK HILL BLUE.
PLATE LXIII.
Polyommatus Corydon, Latrernie. SrerpHEens. Cvurmis.
és ES Duncan. Woop. JERMyn.
Fi es Westwoop.
Hesperia Corydon, Fasricius. Husner. Lewin.
me : Donovan. Esper.
Agriades Corydon, HUBNER.
Papilio Tiphis, Esper, (female.)
Papilio Calethis, JERMYN, (var.)
I believe I once took a specimen of this elegant butterfly,
which frequents the chalk districts on the Downs, a few miles
from Lambourne, Berkshire, near Ashdown Park, a _ very
singularly situated mansion, a sort of “Oasis in the desert.”
It occurs abundantly near Newmarket, Cambridgeshire, where
I have captured it; and is not uncommon near Sarum, and
also at Martin’s Hill, near Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, where
J. W. Lukis, Esq. has obtained it, and also near Croydon,
Surrey, in some seasons; it is plentiful also on the grassy
slopes and pastures known as the ‘Downs’ near Hunstanton,
Norfolk, as Mr. Robert Marris has informed me. Other localities
are. Dover and Darenth Wood, Kent; Shoreham, Sussex;
Newport, in the Isle of Wight; Prestbury, near Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire; near Winchester, Hampshire; different parts
of Suffolk; and in Oxfordshire; and one was taken near
Knowle, Warwickshire.
It appears the beginning of July.
The caterpillar is said to feed on the wild thyme, ( Thymus
Serpyllum. )
The Chalk Hill Blue varies in the expanse of its wings from
an inch and a quarter to an inch and a half. The male has
63
»
; ; Setter
* : by : 0!
Sy a
F ”
ve RrSiad 2-2 Re RE
‘
y
.
ene A v2 Ss
F
ee,
5 toufi
4 f
CHALK HILL BLUE. 149
the fore wings of a most elegant pale metallic blue, with a
cast of white; the outer part of the front edge, and a broad
border on the outside of the wings, as also the veins, dusky
black; there is a row of black dots almost hidden by the wide
border; the fringe is white, crossed by the veins ending in
dots, and very wide, except on the front edge. ‘The hind
wings are of a similar colour, with a similar broad border on
the outer part, the lower being removed, and shewing the
black dots distinctly, bordered by a line only of the former
on the outside; the dots are more or less ringed with silvery
white; the border at the front of these wings is broader than
on the outside; the fringe is white, and very wide.
Underneath, the fore wings are pale greyish white, the margin
defined by a dusky line, through which the veins run, and end
in dots; near the middle, towards the base, is a black dot,
faintly ringed with white, then another larger oblong central
one, then an irregular diagonal row of the like, the middle
ones being the largest, and the lower two close together, then
another row of smaller and rather fainter ones, succeeded by
another: the fringe is white, intersected by the veins. The
hind wings are greenish blue about the base, and generally of
a pale greyish brown hue, the whitish grey occasionally breaking
through, especially near the lower corner; the fringe is white,
marked off by a marginal dusky line: these wings are much
spotted with a variety of spots and dots, some of them eyed
with white, some of the lower ones of a dull orange colour.
The female has the fore wings of a dark bronzed brown,
with more or less phosphorescence of blue; near the centre is
a small white spot, with a black pupil; the fringe is dull white,
the veins crossing it ending more widely: there is a row of
obscure light-coloured dots within the margin. The hind wings
are of the same ground colour, but there is more of the blue
tinge, at least in some specimens; they also have a small white
spot in their centre: the margin is dull white, crossed by the
veins, and within it is a row of black dots, partially encircled
on the inner side by orange, and these again followed, at least
in some individuals, by small bluish triangular-shaped marks.
150 CHALK HILL BLUE
Underneath, the wings are similarly marked to those of the
male, but the ground colour is very much darker, the spots
much larger and more distinct, with white rims, and there are
some orange marks within the margin of the fore wings, and
a decided row of orange lunules within that of the hind ones.
The caterpillar is green, with yellow lines on the sides and
the back.
Many varieties of this species have occurred, the eyes being
more or less distinct, and the brown more or less diffused over
the wings of the male.
One, described as a species by Miss Jermyn, under the
name of ‘Polyommatus Calethys,’ has the wings “above brown,
with a blue disc and a whitish discoidal spot with a black
pupil; beneath, the posterior wings have a discoidal, white,
cinctured crescent, with a waved band of seven undulated spots
towards the hinder margin.”
151
BROWN ARGUS BLUE.
DURHAM ARGUS. SCOTCH ARGUS.
PLATE LXIV.
Polyommatus Agestis, JERMYN. STEPHENS.
- ey Duncan. Woop. Westwoop.
Polyommatus Salmacis, SrerHens. Westwoop.
= ¥ Woop. Duncan.
Polyommatus Artaxerzes, STEPHENS. JERMYN. Woon.
- Duncan. WeEstwoop.
Papilio Agestis, HUBNER.
Papilio Idas, Lewin. Donovan. Haworrtu.
Papilio Medon, JERMYN.
Lyeena Artaxerxes, Leacn.
Lycena Idas, OcHSENHEIMER. LEAcH.
Agriades Agestis, HUBNER.
Argus Artaxerxes, BorspDuvat.
Hesperia Artaxerxes, Fasricius. Lerwin.
oe se
HawortH. Donovan.
THIS insect is common near Great Bedwyn and Sarum,
Wiltshire, as J. W. Lukis, Esq. has informed me; and also on
the “Downs” near Hunstanign, Norfolk, as Mr. Robert Marris
has written me word: I have taken it in tolerable numbers at
Pinhay cliff, Devonshire, near Lyme Regis. It also occurs in
various other localities throughout the ‘kingdom; Ramsgate,
Dover, and Hythe, Kent; Hastings, Rye, Brighton, Worthing,
Little Hampton, and Chichester, Sussex; Portsmouth and the
Isle of Wight, Hampshire; Birmingham, Warwickshire; Dorset-
shire; near Worcester; Shrewsbury, in Shropshire; Manchester,
Lancashire; Castle Eden Dene, Durham, and Seaham Dene, near
Sunderland. Flisk, in Fifeshire; near Queensferry and Roslyn
ay.
5 24 BROWN ARGUS BLUE.
Castle; Jardine Hall, Dumfriesshire; King’s Park, Salisbury
Crag, near Duddingstone Loch, the Pentland Hills, and Arthur’s
Seat, near Edinburgh, where the ‘gaudentes rure camene’ will
present more attractions to the entomologist than the ‘Modern
Athens” itself.
For the most part this Blue seems to prefer the neighbour-
hood of the coast.
It is double-brooded, appearing in June and in August.
The caterpillar is found in April and in June.
It is said to feed on different grasses, and the wild strawberry.
The expansion of the wings is a little over an inch. ‘The
fore wings are glossy brownish black, with a small crescent-
shaped black spot near the middle. The margin is narrow
and pale whitish grey, with very fine vein lines. The hind
wings are of the like ground colours, with a row of bright
orange-coloured crescented spots, largest on the inside part,
and nearly obliterated on the outer; in some specimens they are
all scarcely discernible.
Underneath the ground colour of the fore wings is a chaste
grey, with a row, more or less curved, of clear white spots,
within which the spot shews through white, sometimes enclosing
a black one; outside the white row is another of orange, more
or less bright, followed by a slender black line; the inside border
of the fringe, which is white. The hind wings are of the same
ground colour, tinted with blue about the base, near which
there are three white spots, two others at and near the upper
edge, the former the larger, and an irregular row of white
spots, followed by another of orange ones, dotted with black
on their lower corner, bounded by the black line which makes
the inside of the fringe, which is white.
“The caterpillar is green, with a pale angulated row of dorsal
spots, and a central brownish line.”
The changes in the markings on the wings in this insect,
in different latitudes of the country, are certainly very curious;
but though described as three separate species, there seems
every reason to believe, or rather, in fact no reason to doubt,
but that they are all referable to one and the same butterfly—
1 Fe
64
BROWN ARGUS BLUE. q 153
that before us; and that the opinion expressed by Mr. Edward
Newman, in the ‘Entomological Magazine,” volume i. page
515, is correct; namely, that as they advance to the midland
counties, “an evident change has taken place, the band of rust-
coloured spots has become less bright; at Manchester these
spots have left the upper wing almost entirely; at Castle Eden
Dene, they are scarcely to be traced, and a black spot in the
centre of the upper wing becomes fringed with white; in some
specimens it is quite white; the butterfly then changes its name
to Salmacis. We proceed farther northward, and the black
pupil leaves the eyes on the under side, until at Edinburgh
it is quite gone; then it is called Artaxerxes.”
The plate is from specimens in my own cabinet.
GRIZZLED SKIPPER.
PLATE LXV.
Hesperia Malve, Leacu. Curtis. Datman.
Ss ot ZETTERSTEDT.
Hesperia Fritillum minor, Fapricivs.
Papilio Malve, Tannazus. Lewin. Haworrn.
a ef Tcrron. Harris.
Papilio Alveolus, HUBNER.
Papilio Althee, BorKHAUSEN, (var.)
Papilio Lavatere, Fapricius. Haworra.
ot ee JERMYN, (var.)
Papilio Malwe minor, Esper.
Papilio Sao, P BERGSTRASSER, (var.)
Papilio Fritillum, Lwin, (var.
Pyrgus Alveolus, HUBNER.
Pyrgus Malve, WeEstwoop.
Thymele Alveolus, SrepHens. Duncan. Woop.
Syrichtus Malve, Botspuvat.
I wave taken this species in plenty at Pinhay Cliff, Devon-
shire, an “old familiar spot,” near Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire.
Other localities for it are Sywell Wood, near Northampton,
Barnwell and Ashton Wold, and the neighbourhood of Polebrook,
Northamptonshire; Raydon Wood, very abundantly, and other
woods, near Colchester, Essex; Great Bedwyn and Sarum,
Wiltshire; Yarmouth, in the Isle of Wight, Hampshire, Bewdley,
Worcestershire, as also in various parts of Kent, Hertford, Dur-
ham, Cambridge, Northumberland, and the south of Scotland.
It appears the end of May, and beginning of June.
The caterpillar feeds on the teazel, ( Dipsacus sylvestris, )
In this very pretty little species, which is just about an incl.
in width, the fore wings are very dark brownish black, marked
63
GRIZZLED SKIPPER. 155
with about fourteen small white spots; the base is powdered
with white, especially in the male. The fringe is wide and
white, elegantly crossed with the black of the ground colour.
The hind wings are of the same colour, and marked in a similar
manner, but the white spots are much smaller, fewer, and less
distinct.
Underneath, the fore wings are paler, and the spots larger,
clearer, and more run together in lines. The hind wings are
principally of a neat brown colour, with large spots, one of
them a wide short band from the front edge. The inner
part of these wings is greyish black.
The caterpillar is green, with pale longitudinal stripes, the
head black, and a yellow ring round the neck.
The chrysalis is wrapped up in folded leaves of the plant
on which the larva feeds.
There is a not very common variety, which Fabricius and
Lewin consider as a distinct species, in which, as Messieurs
Westwood and Humphreys describe it, “there 1s a white oblong
blotch on the middle of the fore wings towards the posterior
margin, visible on both sides, which is frequently duplicated
from the confluence of two contiguous spots. The white dots
are also larger than in the typical individuals.
Mr. Stephens possesses a specimen with one of the fore
wings marked as in the variety, and the other in the type.”
The plate is from specimens in my own collection, one of
them the variety just spoken of.
156
DINGY SKIPPER.
PLATE LXVI.
Hesperia Tages, Fasricius. Lracu. JERMYN.
Papilio Tages, Linnzvus. Lewin. Haworrn.
ef ie Harris.
Thymele Tages, Fasricius. SrepHens. Duncan.
oh eS Woop.
Thanaos Tages, Botspuvat.
Nisoniades Tages, Husner. Westwoop.
I wave taken this Skipper in plenty near Charmouth and
Lyme Regis, Dorsetshire, and Devonshire. It is met with at
Barnwell and Ashton Wold, and the neighbourhood of Pole-
brook, Northamptonshire; and is very abundant in Raydon
Wood, and Wintlesham Wood near Hadleigh, Essex; near Great
Bedwyn and Sarum, Wiltshire; and, in fact, in most parts of
England. In Ireland it is plentiful at Ardrahan, near Galway,
as A. G. More, Esq. tells me. It is taken also in Scotland in
different parts.
It frequents for the most part wooded districts, both the
woods themselves, and any places not very distant from them;
open flowery pasture meadows, where, a “tenant for life,” its
sombre. hue contrasts well with the yellow of the goiden butter-
cup on which it alights.
This plain-coloured insect occurs at different periods, in May,
June, and July.
The caterpillar feeds on the bird’s-foot lotus, (Lotus cornicu-
latus,) and the field eryngo.
The wings of this species expand to the width of about an
inch and a quarter. The fore wings are blackish brown, with
three cross-waved bands of grey, the middle one the widest,
£y a
i+ Ny aay
a
tein bret ..
a
we @
[ att
> he
+a
‘a * } ii!
; : a’ ¥ : ‘
f if ° ‘* j ii
é 4
y 1 +f
» X y
, i) bs i > |
1 ° ' )
A ‘ ig i? ‘
P i
i Py slp
*
wy ; 3
x = Fi \ 4
if ’ t A
} : t 7 ‘ * * pt
ou i t i 4 ‘
“ ms BP.
{
‘ =} -
} bn '
ihe ,
os ‘ ba , 3
it iF +
iy, | ’ é
. ;
é Kso~ iy imy etl
‘ ¢
: .
; is ’ ‘ i .
; Ce 1- a iY
¥ a a e.
fe yey “e \
| ,
\ ,
i in
;
r bs ie
C ‘ 4
{ «
i ia
a
¥ Dei
———— |
x R
{
4 aN ‘ :
” A
‘ ,
. i
‘y
Se r
a = f
zs a,
Py
-
. 1
\
; |
ma?
: J :
‘ n Y
: ? -
J '
“ i. a
~ j y
ye ‘
‘ q yy
rae!
: o] pea
< \ ry
¥ :
) i f /
1eA ’ ; a
DINGY SKIPPER. oa
and most distinct. In some specimens the two colours contrast
together much more markedly than in others. The margin is
grey, edged on its inside by a black line, close within which
is a linear row of small white dots. There are two white dots
near the front edge towards the upper outer corner. The
hind wings are blackish brown, with a few indistinct paler
marks above the centre, beneath which is an indistinct row of
paler dots, and then a linear row of white dots. The margin
erey.
Underneath, the fore wings are of a uniform pale fulvous
grey brown, with a small white dot near the outer corner on
the front edge, and a line of dull white dots within the marginal
line. The hind wings are of a similar colour, within a quadrant
of dull white spots above the middle of the wing, towards the
front edge, and a half line of others following inside the other
line.
The colours in the female are brighter than in the male.
The caterpillar is bright green, the head brown, the back and
sides with yellow stripes, dotted with black.
The figures are from specimens in my own cabinet.
158
LARGE SKIPPER.
PLATE LXVII.
Hesperia Sylvanus, Fasricius. Vit~nars. GMELIN.
oa << OcHSENHEIMER. CuRTIS.
Papilio Sylvanus. Husner. Donovan. Haworrn.
fo iy Harris.
Pamphila Sylvanus, Fasricius. SrepHens. Duncan.
Bo cc Woop. Westwoop.
THe habits of this kindred species are similar to those of
the next but one, and ‘‘a life in the woods for me,” will be
the exclamation of every lover of nature, who seeks it, or any
other butterfly, in the calm and peaceful scenes where it is to
be met with—the ridings and paths in woods, or their borders,
sheltered lanes, etc.
It is common in most parts of the country; near Falmouth
it is in general scarce, but was plentiful in the year 1850, in
a lane leading to Mr. Jago’s farm, as W. P. Cocks, Esq. writes
me word.
The perfect insect appears at the end of May, or beginning
of June, and also at the end of July, or beginning of August.
This species measures rather over an inch and a quarter across
the wings. ‘The fore wings are tawny orange, with. a large
black vein following the front edge, and an oblique bar near
the middle, from the end. of which the black veins diverge;
the outer part is tawny brown, two spots detached from the
orange near the tip, breaking the line of the latter; the mar-
gin paler, edged inside with black. The hind wings are of
the same general ground colours, with a waved bar of spots of
a brighter tint than the rest.
Underneath, the fore wings are marked as above, but much
\,
t>/
yi
————
Y
v
LARGE SKIPPER. 159
duller and less distinctly: the brown is tinged with green in
some lights. The hind wings have also a greenish cast, the
spots shewing through, and the lower corner and margin orange.
The female is without the black bar on the fore wings; their
base is also fulvous brown as is the margin, so that the orange
forms a wide irregular bar across the centre of these wings. The
hind wings are tawny brown, with a waved bar of orange; the
margin lighter, edged with black interiorly.
Underneath the colours shew through, but duller; the hind
wings are principally of a greenish cast, the lower corner orange,
and the bar the same, but paler.
The figures are from specimens in my own collection.
160
SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER.
PEARL SKIPPER.
PLATE LXVIII.
Hesperia Comma, Fasricius. OcHSENHEIMER. CURTIS.
ss s Botspuvat. ZETTERSTEDT.
Hesperia Sylvanus, (female,) JERMYN.
Papilio Comma, Linnzxvs. Haworts. Lewin.
a6 “ Donovan. Husner.
Pamphila Comma, Fasricius. SrepHens. Duncan.
ss es Woop. Westwoop.
Augiades Comma, HUBNER.
“Val? said Suttum to Mr. Layard, as he waded his mare
through the flowers of a thousand hues, with which the vast
plains of Mesopotamia are carpeted, and the scented air per-
fumed, ‘Ya! what do the dwellers in cities know of true
happiness; they have never seen grass or flowers! What delight
has God given to us equal to this? It is the only thing worth
living for.” Poor Suttum! he has since, it appears, fallen in
a foray, but if he has an epitaph, let it be inscribed upon the
monument that contains it, that he was a naturalist, and hada
fellow feeling with every other lover of nature.
This species is plentiful near Newmarket, and at Gagmagog
Park, near Cambridge, and Mr. Dale records the neighbourhood
of Hull as another locality for it; Barnwell and Ashton Wold,
and the neighbourhood of Polebrook, Northamptonshire; near
Dover, Kent; Old Sarum, Wiltshire; Croydon, Surrey; Lewes
and Brighton, Sussex, are also its habitats.
It is taken in the end of July, and the beginning and middle
of August.
SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER. 161
The caterpillar ‘‘feeds on the various-coloured coronilla,
( Coronilla varia,) on the continent.”
This Skipper measures an inch and a half across the wings.
The fore wings, which are hollowed on their front edge, are
dark tawny orange on their inner portion, the remainder
greenish brown, with some light orange spots towards the tip;
there is a black oblong bar near the centre; the margin pale
yellowish fulvous, bounded darkly by the ground colour. The
hind wings are a mixture of orange fulvous and brown; the
margin the same as in the fore wings.
Underneath, the fore wings are marbled with dark greenish
at the tips, yellowish brown, orange, black from the base, and
some silvery spots. ‘The hind wings are brassy green, with a
waved row of six silvery spots, and three others, the two lower
ones often in conjunction, near the base: the imner lower
corner is orange.
The female has the fore wings, which are more hollowed on
the edge than in the male, dark tawny orange on their upper
inner portion, the remainder greenish brown, with several light
orange spots in an irregular waved bar, the margin cream-
colour, asin the male. ‘The hind wings are of a deep greenish
brown round the edge, which is margined with cream-colour,
the remainder is the same, but with a cast of orange in some
lights, and a waved bar of dark orange following the upper
part of the outer margin.
Underneath, she is marked similarly with the male, but the fore
wings are much more handsomely and distinctly marbled, and
all the colours brighter, and the hind wings darker green, on
which the spots are much brighter and more distinct.
The caterpillar is of an obscure green colour, marked with
dull red; the head black, the neck with a white collar, and
a row of black dots on the back and sides.
The chrysalis is elongated, and of a cylindrical shape.
The plate is from specimens in my own collection.
SMALL SKIPPER.
PLATE LXIX.
Hesperia Linea, Fapricius. OcHSENHEIMER.
ns - Lracw. Curtis. Botspuvat.
Papilio Linea, HawortH. Donovan. Harrts.
Papilio Thaumas, Esper. Lewin. Stewart.
Papilio Comma, BarBur.
Papilio Flavus, Motter.
Pamphila Linea, Fapricius. SterHens. Woop.
cc Duncan. Westwoon.
Thymelinus Linea, HUusBNER.
Tus active and lively little species is to be found in woods,
or along their borders, and “for whom is the forest so pleasant >
99
and gay,” as for the quiet insect-hunter, who there sees it in
the gladsome sunshine, flitting from flower to flower with its
burnished wings.
It is rather uncommon in Great Bedwyn and Sarum, Wiltshire,
as J. W. Lukis, Esq. informs me, but in most parts of England
is very abundant.
It frequents open places in and near woods.
The fly appears the beginning and middle of July, and the
middle of August.
The caterpillar feeds on the mountain air grass, and other
grasses. y,
This fly a little exceeds an inch in the expanse of its
wings. The fore wings are bright bronzed fulvous; the margin
paler, edged interiorly by a line of black; the base dusky;
there is a narrow oblique black bar near the centre. ‘The
hind wings are of the same ground colour and margin; the
upper edge widely bounded with black.
69
SMALL SKIPPER. 163
Underneath, all the central part of the fore wings is also
fulyous, the base and lower edge dusky, the outer corner greenish.
The hind wings are also of a greenish hue, the lower inside
corner orange.
The female wants the black bar, and there is no dusky colour
about the base. In other respects she resembles the male.
The caterpillar, which is of solitary habits, is of a deep green
colour, with a dark line down the back, and two whitish lines
along the sides, edged with black.
The chrysalis is of a green colour, and is enclosed in a slight
cocoon.
The engraving is from specimens in my own cabinet.
164
LULWORTH SKIPPER.
PLATE LXX.
Hesperia Acteon, OcHSENHEIMER. CuRTIS.
Papilio Acteon, Esper. Huvupner.
Pamphila Acton, StepHens. Woop. Duncan.
€s as WEstWoop.
Thymelinus Acton, HUBNER.
In company, some years ago, with my friend J. C. Dale, Esq.,
late High Sheriff of Dorset, I formerly captured this, then
newly by him discovered insect, I mean as a British one, in
plenty at Lulworth Cove, Lulworth, Dorsetshire—a charming
scene, where you will be fain to wish that you could for
ever watch the glorious ocean, dashing up from its dark depth
against the steep cliffs, which there present an aspect of the
utmost seclusion and the most lonely retirement. Wild must
all around be in winter, but this small butterfly rejoices in
the settled summer, more fortunate than some of its class,
who are tempted out to woo the “beautiful spring: often
their reception is cold and chilling, and their day-dream of
happiness is blighted lke the contemporary delicate flower
that has peered out too soon from its sheltered nook, and
must again hide its head for a season, till the skies are more
propitious, and the sun shall shine undisturbed upon it.
Now it is not to be seen there, though it is still to be
found at the burning cliff, near Weymouth, where my friend
the Rev. Francis Lockey, of Swanswick Cottage, near Bath,
has taken it in plenty, Mr. Humphreys, also at Shenston, near
Lichfield.
In this small species the expansion of the wings is about an
me)
7
‘
‘
‘
"
a
-
r
SS
‘
=
*
~ 7
LULWORTH SKIPPER. 165
inch; the fore wings are of a bronze brown colour, with an
orange brown dash, anda short bar of the same, also a straight
black horizontal line in the middle of the wing; the fringe
darker, edged on the inside with an evanescent dark line.
The hind wings are of the same general bronze brown colour,
the dark line near the edge more distinct and wider.
Underneath, the wings are more of an orange cast, but in
some lights it is not diffused, but the ground colour appears.
“The disc of the fore wings in the female is more tawny
orange; beyond the dark extremity of the discoidal cell is a
curved scries of six or seven orange spots, divided from each
other by the veins of the wings. The under side has a pearly
ochre lustre; a large orange patch on the fore wings extending
to the tip of the discoidal cell, where the pale row of spots
again appears, but more obscurely, and an oblique portion of
the inner edge of the hind wings yellowish orange.”
The plate is from specimens in my own collection.
SPOTTED SKIPPER.
CHEQUERED SKIPPER.
PLATE LXXI.
Hesperia Paniscus, Fapricius. OcHsENHEIMER. LxEacH.
oH ct JERMYN. CuRTIS.
Papilio Paniscus, Donovan. Haworrtu.
Papilio Brontes, HUBNER.
Papilio Sylvius, VILLARs.
Pamphila Paniscus, Fasrictus. SterHens. Wooo.
oe Duncan.
Steropes Paniscus, Boispuvau.
Cyclopides Paniscus, Husner. Westwoop.
Tuts is a very local species, though where it does occur it
is found in abundance.
Sywell Wood, near Northampton, Milton, Rockingham Forest,
Monks Wood, and Castor Haglands Wood, near Peterborough,
Barnwell, Ashton Wold, and the neighbourhood of Polebrook,
Northamptonshire; White Wood and Gamlmgay, Cambridge-
shire; near Dartmoor, Devonshire; Clapham Park Wood and
Luton, Bedfordshire, are localities for it. I have heard that
in one of these places the “Lord of the Manor” has forbid the
“free warren” and “free entry” of the entomologist, but I will
not believe that any such interference with the “liberty of
the subject” has been perpetrated.
The end of May or beginning of June is the time when the
Spotted Skipper first appears, and in July it is still to be seen.
The caterpillar feeds on the greater plantain, ( Plantago
major, ) and the crested dog’s-tail grass, ( Cynosurus cristatus. )
This Skipper is about an inch and a quarter in the expansion
SPOTTED SKIPPER. 167
of the wings. ‘The fore ones are of a rich dark brown ground
colour, spotted horizontally and transversely, with large black
spots, and a wide black border on the outer side, with a faint
row of dull small orange dots following the margin, which is
dull pale fulvous. The transverse bar of spots has two, which
would otherwise complete it, pushed ‘‘out of their propriety,”
towards the outside edge. ‘The hind wings, which are of the
same ground colour, have sone large round similar orange spots
on their middle, and an irregular row of smaller ones outside
them; the margin, pale dull fulvous.
Underneath, the ground colour is tawny yellow on the fore
wings, the dark marks shewing obscurely and partially through.
The lower wings are of a dull greenish cast, some of the spots
shewing through of a dull pale buff colour, and others being
added near the front edge, and the row near the border being
larger. The antenne on the lower side are bright orange.
The female resembles the male.
‘The caterpillar is dark brown on the back, with two yellow
stripes on the sides; the head is black, and there is an orange
rmg round the neck.
The chrysalis is of a dull grey colour.
The plate is from specimens in the cabinet of the Rey.
Wilham Bree.
Small as this butterfly is, and insignificant indeed as every
insect may by some be thought to be, unworthy of serious
attention, yet, when we come to regard it with reference to
other creatures, we shall see reason for thinking far otherwise;
for, to say nothing of its wonderful organization and wonderful
beauty, it holds, in truth, a comparatively high place in creation.
Thus Ehrenberg informs us that there are some of the animalcule
so minute, that five hundred millions of them might be contained
in one of the drops of water which do, we know, actually
contain such numbers of strange and different species of living
beings. The microscope reveals to us wonders in one way
equally great with those which the telescope brings home through
the eye to the mind in another, even though the latter, with
its still limited power, shews us that in all probability the sun
168 SPOTTED SKIPPER.
is but the centre of one system, and that there may be others,
perhaps countless others, 1m comparison with some even of
which ours may be insignificant, revolving each in their pre-
scribed orbits in the regions of infinite space. ‘There is indeed
a “Music of the spheres,” which is heard by the soul alone,
and it sings the power of Him who is the Eternal, the Almighty,
and with its silent voice invites us to join in its harmony with
the unspoken and unutterable language of the heart. ‘‘And these
are but parts of His ways, but how little a portion is heard
of Him, but the thunder of His power who can understand?”
In the contemplation of the limited portion of the works ‘‘which
Gop created and made” that it comes within the bounds of our
knowledge or of our capacity in some small degree to comprehend,
the mind is lost m admiration, the soul appalled with awful
reverence.
Every one of those minute, and to the eye invisible creatures
I have alluded to, which yet agam may be gigantic compared
with others which even the aids of science will not enable us
to discover, has all its internal organization complete, and adapted
in the most absolutely perfect way to all its requirements, and
is even able, as has been proved, to impart animal heat to the
fluid in which it lives. How astonishingly small then must
each separate part of each be, all acting in as harmonious
co-operation as any of those of the higher orders of earthly
being! Every individual of them too has, so to speak, mental
capacities, by which the actions of their bodies are unerringly
ordered and directed. Yet, “known unto Gop are all Hts works
from the beginning of the world,” and every separate action of
every separate animalcula is known to Him, both before its
occurrence, and as afterwards registered, as well as every motion
of every vast planet, and the history of each atom of its
component parts!
I conclude my “History of British Butterflies’
sentiment and in the words of an old writer, “The Masestry of
Gop appears no less in small than in great, and as it exceedeth
human sense in the immense greatness of the universe, so also
doth it in the smallness of the parts thereof.”
> with the
Setting Case.
Store Box.
Breeding Case. Pocket Box.
Chloroform Pottle,
Relaxing Jar. Digger. Sugar Tin.
a
Insect on Turned Wood. Thread Spcol, Box for Pill Boxes.
Round Net.
Emperor Net.
Insect with Single Braces.
Fly extended.
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.,
“CAVENDO TUTUS.”
Noraine can be done in Entomology without a good cabinet: this
should be the foundation stone. Have it made of old oak or mahogany,
either of these woods being well seasoned. It should be well and evenly
corked, with good soft cork, and glazed with good glass; the glasses
fitted in frames to take in and out. It should be made by some
person who is in the habit of making them, for the mode of fitting
the frames is not very easily explained on paper.
Let the drawers be about one foot nine inches long in front,
one foot six inches in width, and two inches and a quarter in
depth, on the outside. They must be carefully papered at the bottom
and on the sides. This is always done in the first instance by the
maker. There must be a ledge placed for camphor, but it need not
go all round the inside of the drawer, as is gencrally the case; it will
be quite sufficient to have it on one side. This had better be the
front side, as then it is completely out of sight, and the drawer appears
without any detriment. ‘There need be no holes cut in the front of
the ledge, for the scent of the camphor to pass through; the top of
the ledge being left open affords abundant escape for it.
Keep the cabinet in the dryest room in the house, and never let
it be placed against an outer wall, but if possible against the part of
a wall that is behind a fireplace in an adjoining room. Mould must
be carefully avoided: it is thus totally prevented; but if otherwise suffered
to appear, cannot be cleared away without some injury to the specimens,
and will spread again unless thus checked. Keep the glasses on the
drawers as much as possible, both on account of the mites, and also
of the dust, which, if it settles upon the insects, must more or less
damage their appearance. Take, however, the glasses off every now
and then for a moment or two, or raise them, if ever so little; for
the fresh air admitted will help to keep off mould and damp. See
that the drawers of the cabinet run easily, otherwise the specimens will
be shaken by the jarring every time it is put in or taken out, and
the antenne and bodies will be liable to be shaken off.
2 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA,
When, in time, or by accident, the paper gets discoloured or damaged,
do not paper the drawer over again, but whitewash it, which has an
excellent effect, both in making it whiter than it even was before, filling
up all pin-holes, destroying mites, if any, and stuffing up all those chinks
and crevices where they resort, and probably is a preventive of decay
and injury generally. Common whitening will do very well, and it may
be laid on with a common paint brush of a middle size. This, how-
ever, must be carefully done, as the more smoothly and evenly it is
washed over the drawer, the better of course it will look. It must
not be laid on too thick. A thin coating will hide most blemishes
when it is dry, but if the lines; of which presently; are intended to
be re-arranged, they had better be first rubbed out with a piece of
Indian-rubber. Flake-white used to be considered the best material to
make the wash of, but it is rather expensive, and it will be found
that precipitated chalk, which is sold for a penny an ounce at the
druggists, will answer the purpose as well, or better. Six pennyworth
of it will be enough for twenty drawers. It should be placed in a common
small basin, and boiling or cold water poured upon it, so as just to
cover it. Some good gum arabic, dissolved, should then be added, as
size, to make it keep without rubbing off. A tablespoonful or two
will be enough for two or three ounces. This is also to be had ready
made at the druggists, and costs a mere trifle. More water may be
added from time to time, as required. LHxperience will soon teach the
right proportions of each of the ingredients. The paste on the paper
is a never-failing supply of food for the mites, and the lime in the
chalk is an excellent corrective.
To expel or destroy mites, invert the drawer, and place it, the
glass frame having been taken off, over a sheet of blotting-paper well
saturated with liquid naptha, for an hour or two. It is also recommended
to leave a few small globules of quicksilver loose in the drawers.
Cork is the best thing to line the drawers with, but the following
is a cheap substitute, and easily procured and applied:—
Two-thirds of the best bees-wax; one-third of the best resin; to which,
in this climate, not being a very hot one, a little tallow may be added.
Renew camphor in the drawers every three months.
If any mould arises on the antenna, wings, or ‘bodies of any speci-
mens, a little cajeput oil will be found the best possible remedy. It
must be applied with a very small camel’s hair brush. The best oil
should be procured, and, if possible, direct from the Apothecaries’ Hall.
(se)
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA,
It will be found also most useful in thus restoring beetles, and has a
relaxing effect at the same time upon the antennae and legs of the
smaller ones, so that their setting can be easily improved if necessary.
If the cabinet can only be kept against an outside wall, let it, if
possible, be a wall with a south aspect.
In placing the insects in rows in the cabinet, draw double lines
between each row; it has a much better effect. Use great neatness
in drawing the lines, which should be made with a hard and very
fine-pointed pencil. Put the insects very straight in each row, or the
collection will never look well. Leave space, in all cases where you
have not already got a series, for four specimens. Of those species
which are liable to vary much, a whole row should be kept.
Thus much then as to the cabinet, of which an engraving will be
given, together with a series of representations of all the apparatus
required for the entomological hunter.
“PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.”
Ir would at first sight almost seem like “putting the cart before the
horse,” to give, as I have done, instructions respecting the cabinet,
before I have said a word as to the mode of capturing the insects which
are desired to be placed in it. Such, however, is by no means the case:
there is no doubt whatever as to the capture of a vast variety of species,
but if there is not provided, beforehand, a suitable receptacle for them,
they will in all probability be wasted; and it would have been far
better in that case never to have captured them at all, but that they
should have been left flitting along the side of the hedge, or over the
open meadow, or in the paths and rides in the woods.
Now, therefore, as to the ‘modus operandi.’ <A vast variety of different
kinds of nets have been invented and described, but depend upon it,
that there is none better than, or so good as the common one, of which
an engraving will accompany these remarks. It is made to take to
pieces, and put up in the pocket of your coat. Those who in their
younger days have known the kind of engine that is used when you go
out on a dark winter night, with a large “‘bat-fowling net” in their
hand, and a lantern with the means for lighting it in their pocket, will
understand at a glance the whole art. More need not be said by
way of description; the figure will explain itself to every one that is
b
4. APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
desirous to learn. This, I say, is the best kind of net. The bottom
part should be turned up, and run on a piece of tape tied to the
handles on each side, forming a kind of bag, to stop the captured
insects from falling down and out of the net if held upwards at the time.
The second best, and indeed the only other that I at all recommend,
is also best to be understood by means of an engraving, which is accor-
dingly given; but I may mention that though less fitted ‘ad captandum,’
than the one just before mentioned, the present has an advantage, or
rather some advantages over the other, though on the whole, in point
of usefulness inferior to it. First, it folds up into a very small compass.
Secondly, it is shut up or put together in a very brief space of time;
which when you see three Convolvulus Hawk Moths at once, as I have
done, is a considerable desideratum. Thirdly, the stick to which the
round net is affixed, is neither more nor less than a common walking-
stick, and useful accordingly in more ways than one; add to which,
that even when fitted to the net, or rather the net to it, it will often
be found very serviceable in “beating about the bush,” as you walk
along; and if any “scarce article” flies out from its concealment, you
instantly reverse the state of affairs, and capture the insect, or—miss it.
It is then very serviceable, at all events as a ‘pis aller, though
inferior, on the whole, to the. first-named net. As to the forceps ‘et
id genus omne,’ I exclude them altogether from my vocabulary of
entomological apparatus. A common fishing-jacket, with two large and
two small pockets outside, is the best kind of coat.
“CPIRST CATCH YOUR HARE.” -
“Blessings on the man that first invented sleep,” said Sancho Panza,
and every housemaid must surely almost as much praise the memory
of him-who was the first discoverer of lucifer matches. The old
tinder-box and its concomitants must be most unpleasingly associated in
their minds, with the idea of a cold dark winter morning, and the almost
impossibility there was in the olden days, or rather nights, to “strike
a light.” Now, thanks to the benign inventor of the lucifer match,
whose sole thought must have been doubtless for the unhappy females
spoken of, all difficulty is at once and for ever removed, and if they
only “keep their powder dry,” it will give them the privilege of lying
in bed half-an-hour longer than they otherwise would be able to do,
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA, 5
with the positive certainty of being in time even for an early breakfast.
There are, however, certain individuals who must lament the loss of
the old-fashioned brimstone match; for as it is “fan ill wind that blows
nobody good,” so it must be one that comes from all points of the
compass at once, that does no one any harm. The entomologists are
they to whom [I allude, for it is now next to impossible, at least I
find it so, to procure even a halfpenny worth of the article once so
universally in vogue. But, ‘cui bono?’ what are the brimstone matches
for? The next chapter will tell you; containing, as it will do, a
“dissertation on boxing,” and that of a pugnacious kind too, albeit
altogether peaceful. The solution of the riddle will there be given.
“PUGNO, PUGNAS, PUGNAVI.”
Ir you can construe the above without conjugating it, somewhat after
the same ‘ideal’ as “‘malo, malo, malo, malo, quam vivere malo, malo,”
you will probably be able to understand somewhat of the allusion in
the last chapter.
As I have already recommended the use of but few kinds of nets,
so I would give similar advice as to boxes. You must, however, have
some of different sorts. They may be made of oak, mahogany, or deal;
or one or two of them, of which presently, of tin. First of all, in
further carrying out the principle laid down as to the necessity of
a previous state of preparation, you must have a large one, say two
feet long, one foot wide, and three inches deep, on the outside. Of
course it must be lined with good soft cork, and papered, and, if
thought advisable, from time to time whitewashed over, in the way
described for the cabinet. <A little camphor should be securely fixed
in ‘one of its corners, and be regularly renewed from time to time; or
a piece of cotton wool, to be saturated now and then with cajeput
oil. It should have a lid projecting above the inside edges of the
lower side all round, to keep the dust from penetrating through the
interstice when the box is shut together. This box is for carrying about
with you from place to place, as a temporary receptacle for your captures
when preserved, or any species that you may procure by gift, exchange,
or purchase. Of course it must be shaken as little as possible, and,
when you are travelling, should be carefully packed in your “portmantel.”
6 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
If you “do business in a large way,” you will require several of these
boxes.
The next box to be procured, and to be now described, is of much
smaller dimensions, being what is commonly called the pocket box. It
may be made about six inches long, four wide, and two deep; but on
the same principle that you “cut your coat according to your cloth,”
so you can have your box made larger or smaller according to the
size of your pocket. Now, let this box be made of tin; and as to the
mode of making it, I have to give myself credit for, in the words of
my namesake, Miss Mdgeworth’s Francisco, “a discovery! a discovery!
which it concerns all” entomologists ‘‘to know!’ as follows:—
Let this box, I say, which is to take out with you when you go
collecting, be made of tin, and be of the dimensions just given, or as
nearly so as may be most convenient to yourself. Have it made to
open as shewn in the plate, not in the middle, as these boxes generally
are, but nearer to the top, so as to have only one side, the bottom one,
lined with cork, which should be papered or white-washed over, for the
reception of recent captures. Inside the lid, have a piece of perforated
zinc, which you can obtain at any good ironmonger’s shop—fine wire
net work would do, but that it is liable to rust, especially under the
circumstances about to be narrated. Videlicct; this piece of metallic
gauze being fixed on a little hinge or hinges at the inner edge of the
lid, is to be made to open out, or shut in, at pleasure. Between it
and the lid, place a flat piece of sponge, and when you are going out
collecting, dip the top of the box, thus containing the sponge between
the actual lid and the “fly leaf” of zinc, in water. If it should
become dry, or rather so, which will naturally be the case in the hot
times of the year, when for the most part you go out collecting, all
you have to do is to dip it again in the first stream of water you come
to, which will probably not be again required to be done. The effect
is this: instead of your insects, even if ever so small, being dried up
by the time you return home, so as to be incapable of being set until
you have been at the additional trouble of relaxing them, they are as
fresh as at the moment they were first captured; and if you have not
time to extend them all that night; by again moistening the sponge, and
keeping them in this, so made, relaxing box, you will find them still
pliant the following morning. ‘Intelligis-ne.’?
The mention of the small moths brings me to the third kind of box
required. This, or rather these, for you should have two or three, or
aI
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA,
more of them, is, or are also to be made of tin; and if lacquered or
japanned, their appearance will be rather more neat. They are to be
made of small size, say four inches long by three wide, and about three-
quarters of an inch in depth. Fill them with small pill boxes, each
with the lid perforated with a number of pin holes to admit the air,
and the fumes of sulphur when applied, as about to be explained.
Instead of putting any minute moths you may catch into the pocket
box, put one into each pill box, enclosing them by holding the box,
with the lid off, against the part of the net where you have confined
them for the purpose, and then, “‘stealing a march” upon them, putting
the lid on again: all this a little practice will explain. Thus you have
not touched them at all; and on your arrival at home, or wherever
you want to set them, pile the pill boxes under a tumbler near the
edge of a table, only do not let it be your best one; light two or
three brimstone matches; draw part of the glass over the edge of the
table; hold the matches underneath, so that the fumes of the brimstone
can ascend into the glass, taking care not to touch the glass with the
light, or it will be cracked; and as soon as you see, or rather when
you can see nothing in the glass for the smoke, replace it entirely on
the table, to confine the vapour, and in a few seconds all the moths
will be apparently dead, and by leaving them there for a little while they
will become entirely so. Then is the time to set them, and to sct them
well, uninjured in the smallest degree by the touch of your hand.
These pill boxes will often be found very useful for bringing home
the smaller caterpillars in; and for the larger ones, any small boxes
will do. I have found the round-turned lucifer-match boxes to answer
admirably for this or any other kindred purpose. But it is getting on
towards midnight, and I must for the present conclude.
“‘, TRAP TO CATCH A MOONBEAM.”
Avotuer mode of capturing moths—‘unde a quo abi redeo’—is by
means of a light—to which, in the dusk of the evening, they are
attracted. I proceed to give two or three different methods of procedure.
One plan, of primitive simplicity, and which was adopted by us at
school, was to place a candle near an open window; tie a long string
to the handle of the frame—they were old-fashioned lattice ones—get
comfortably into bed, and when a moth made his ‘entree,’ pull the
window instantly to, thus securing him within.
8 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA,
The following is a much more elaborate method, invented and adopted
by my friend, the Rev. Francis Lockey, of Swanswick Cottage, near
Bath, to whom, knowing how successful he had formerly been in its
practical operation, I wrote for particulars, which he has obligingly
furnished me with, as follows:—
“Many years have elapsed since I have engaged in entomological
pursuits, but I most readily reply to your inquiry as to the mode
adopted of moth-capturing at night.
The windows of my study, partly for this purpose, and partly to secure
more equable temperature, are double. Each window consists of two
pair of sashes, with a light mullion of wood between the «terior pair.
To make it more clear I have sketched an horizontal section, wherein
A represents part of the thickness of the wall of the apartment; B and
c are sections of the outer window-frame; and p and & are sections of
the inner window-frame. (See plate at end.) The outer window opens
outwards, and the inner window inwards, as indicated by the arrows near
c and zw. At F and eG two small rings are fixed, and to these are
fastened cat-gut strings, marked by the dotted lines which pass through
the mullion u, and enable one to open and close these exterior windows
without the inconvenience of opening the interior. I ought to explain
that when the cat-gut strings are set free, (in the room,) the windows
open freely under the influence of a weight and lever, not shewn in the
sketch, and in fact concealed in a trunk or box in the thickness of the
wall at a. The space between the two windows is about six or seven
inches.
Evening having arrived, the outer windows were allowed to open, as
in the sketch Fig. 2, and a lamp ut placed on a shelf within the
inner window. This lamp was an Argand, and moreover furnished with
a powerful Parabolic Reflector, about sixteen inches in diameter.
The moths usually announced themselves by striking against the interior
window, p or E. The cat-gut string at u was then pulled, (uF, HG,)
and the capture being thus enclosed in the space between the windows was
readily reduced to a closer captivity either for examination or possession.
On a few occasions the window has been perfectly besieged by moths,
and ‘at one haul, I think it was at the beginning of one July, some
hundreds of moths were enclosed.
To effect this second or closer capture it was of course necessary to
use only one hand, which was armed therefore with a gauzed forceps,
or, which I found more convenient, a large bell wine glass fitted up
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA,. 4
for the purpose in the following manner:—The glass B having had its
foot broken off, is cemented to a box-wood handle, a. Opposite to a a
slot is made about an inch in length, and wide enough to let the wire
frame, presently mentioned, traverse it freely.
A wire frame, A, D, Cc, E, is formed, following the outline of the |
glass and handle, and bearing at the rectangular end c a dise of card-
board, blackened. This disc, which is rather larger in diameter than
the mouth of the glass, is attached to the straight part of the wire by
a sort of continuous staple, formed by glueing over it a strip of paper.
The disc therefore is moveable about the line c as an axis, whilst the
part of the wire moveable in the slot a enables one readily to remove
the dise from the mouth of the glass, as in Fig. 3; or, when the glass
has been placed over the captive, to close it as in Fig. 4.
If the capture was intended to be retained, the closed glass was
removed to a small stand, beneath a hole in which was a bottle con-
taining the very strongest ammonia, or other more effectual vapour
destructive of life.
The thin cardboard disc being now slipped aside, the insect was
exposed to the vapour. In a short time all consciousness having been
destroyed, it seemed the safer plan to make sure of the extinction of
life.
You will perceive that by this system the insect was never touched
by the fingers, and its perfection was unimpaired.”
“IN EX'TENSO.”
If one ever thinks at all about the various facts with which we are
necessarily conversant in every-day life, it can hardly fail to occur to
the mind, that not only the origin of many of the most useful of the
“appliances and means” with which we are even the most familiar, is
lost in the mists of antiquity, but that the very names of the discoverers
and inventors of the most useful and beneficial sciences and arts are
for ever buried in oblivion, if indeed it was at any time their lot to rise
from the obscurity which too often shrouds the most meritorious and
deserving benefactors of the human race.
Who then was the inventor of the mode of setting insects that I
am about to mention and explain, I am utterly unable to say, and
perhaps no one may now know. Possibly the “ephemeral” nature of
the subject may have been thought to have imparted a derived un-
10 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA,
worthiness of fame to the individual; but the society of entomologists
should not be, and it is to be hoped will not be, blind to his merits,
and, at all events, so far as the pages of the ‘‘Aphorismata Entomologica”
can throw lustre on whomever or whatever they treat of, the invention
shall be duly chronicled, even though the inventor’s own .name cannot be
handed down with it to future admiring generations, but he must remain,
perhaps for ever, “the Great Unknown.”
On second thoughts, I think I will adopt the plan of beginning with
the more simple mode, from which we shall advance, by one intermediate
stage, to the more ‘recherche’ one. The analytical and the synthetical
method has each its separate advantages.
Now the old procedure was -to extend the butterfly or moth with
one card brace impressed over each wing. Of course there were very
many different degrees of excellence in the exercise of the art of doing
this, the great thing being to have the wings exactly corresponding in
extension on each side, and also, if I may so express myself, flat, in
a sloping direction, namely, sloping down from the body of the insect
to the surface on which it might be placed. This is accomplished by
slanting the brace when stuck into the cork. In very many instances
it answers well, and the ‘tout ensemble’ is good; but on the other
hand, in by no means a few cases, and this not to be guarded against,
the wings become hollowed down in the middle, causing at the same
time a turning uy of their edges, the effect of which, to the entomological
eye, is exceedingly bad. For a sample of this mode of extension, see
the plate. To remedy the defect caused by the practice of this mode,
it occurred to some ingenious person—the date of the discovery I do
not know—to support the wing from underneath by means of a supple-
mental card brace, before pressing it down with the one from above,
this latter being placed more towards the edge than the lower one,
thus pressing down the outside of the wing from the middle part, which
is raised by the brace beneath; the effect of the whole being to give
it an elegant and graceful rounded appearance. For an illustration of
this, also, see the plate.
But here “I maun premecse” that in both these ways of extending
lepidopterous insects, as well as in the third, to be yet discoursed of,
the great thing, at least it is a ‘sine qua non, is to have the pin
put perfectly straight into the insect, for if it is not, the fly, though
ever so well set, will not look well; and it should also be put a good
way through, for a reason to be hereafter mentioned when treating of
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. 14k
the subject of entomological pins. ‘“TItem,’—The pins used for the card
braces should be either the long lace ones, which hold tight in the
eork, and are very sharp pointed, or the large common ones, which I
find even still better.
“Au revoir.” The third, the “grand climacteric,” is to be essayed as
follows:—If you can turn, I mean turn wood, in a lathe, yourself, you
can make the required apparatus for yourself; but, if not, you can
readily have it made for you by any turner: see the plate.
There are different modes of turning these pieces of wood, but the
choice of these you must leave to the turner; suffice it to say, that if
turned in the first instance in an oblong oval shape, each of these may
be cut into four pieces of the proper sort for the extending woods.
There is also a way of making them without employing a turner at all.
Go into a carpenter’s shop, or into your own if you have one, and
plane down flat strips of wood round on each side: this in the various
stages is depicted in the plate. Then, with a “plough” plane, run a
groove along the centre of it, next cut it into suitable lengths, and
finally, with a “spoke-shave,” shade it off down to one side—the one to
be next you when setting the insect—cutting off all the edges square,
as presently to be described in the case of the turned pieces of a
similar shape. They must moreover, in whichever way they are made,
be of different sizes, say two inches long by one and a half wide, three
by two wide, four by two and a half, and so on.
They may be made of any wood, but common deal is the best, for
several reasons: first, it is the cheapest; secondly, it is the most easily to
be procured; thirdly, it is soft, and will admit of a pin being easily
stuck into it; and fourthly, it is, though perfectly smooth when turned,
rather rough when sawn through, which as presently shewn will have to be
done. The advantage of the last-named particular is, that the threads,
when wound round the insect, have a hold, and do not slip. If the
wood is hard, fine-grained, and smooth, the edges must have little notches
filed or cut into them, all the way round, to hold the threads. So
also as to a pin being easily stuck into it: this has an advantage, or,
it may be, a double advantage; as thus:—If the wood be very soft
and the pin a strong one, you can extend the insect on the rounded
wood with ordinary card braces, as if on a piece of cork, and the wings
will thus, when dried, preserve the curved appearance so much admired
by English collectors. Also, if threads be used, you will find that un-
less very great care be used to wind the thread round as lightly as
d
12 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
possible, it will leave marks of its bandage on the wings, and even with
the greatest care it is hardly possible with some species to avoid this;
as for instance, with the Whites and the Blues. To avoid this, therefore,
some collectors first fix the wings on the (deal) wood with a pin in each
of the two fore ones to the desired extent, and then by placing a small
piece of silver paper on them, the thread is wound round and round them
without any detriment.
But to return; the pieces of wood when first turned, will of course
be rounded down to the edge, but you will find that, if left so, it will
be very difficult to take them up from any flat surface on which they
may happen to stand; and to remedy this defect, you must have them
cut off with a saw or a chisel on the other three sides besides that on
which they have already been dissevered from the oblong turned piece:
also, a narrow piece will have to be cut out transversely in the middle
of each, to about half their depth, and a proportionate strip of cork
be glued at the bottom of the cleft, fillmg it up half way again, and
be shaved off to the shape of the wood on the side towards you: on
this the insect is to be placed, and placed upright, with the pin
straight—perfectly straight, through it, that is to say, through the middle
of the thorax: otherwise, let me again and again impress on you, the
insect will never look well, no, not though ever so well set.
Let thus much then suffice for the ground work: now for the further
illustration, by way of clue to the “‘net-y-covered” labyrinth.
“YORKSHIRE EXTENSIONS.”
Tue thread to be procured is some that is used in ‘crochet work,”
and commonly known by the name of “Moravian thread.” It is not
generally obtainable at a draper’s, but is to be sought for at one of
those shops in which Berlin wool and the materials for ladies’ fancy
work are sold. Thread of the same kind, or at least one that appears
to be so, being in fact the single “strands” that compose a thread
before they are twisted together into one, is to be procured in the
manufacturing districts, being there known by the name of “Cop thread.”
If this is wound in a single thread on a spool, place the spool on a
bar of wire or wood, as in the plate, and the means for extending a
lepidopterous insect will, so far, be always ready to your hand. If it
be not wound in a single thread, but two or three together, not indeed
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. 13
twisted, but singly, so to speak, you will probably have some kind
female friend, some ‘‘neat-handed Phyllis,’ who will unravel the diffi-
culty for you, and accomplish the work to your entire satisfaction. This
I speak of the Moravian thread, but if you cannot have any wound
singly, “French Embroidery Cotton,” if equally fine, will be found equally
excellent for the purpose.
Next, then, having fixed the pin which holds the insect—always,
“Be it remembered,” carefully and completely killed in the first instance
of all—straight in the cork in the groove, into which the body is just
allowed to enter, holding the end of the cotton thread at the lower
side, the one next you, of the wood, with your left hand, wind it once
round the right hind wings of the insect; then, holding the thread
round the lower part of the upper end of the wood, and also with
the left hand, just, and only just, sufficiently tight to keep the wings
in place, adjust the wings with the point of a large common thick
pin, held in your right hand, to the desired extent, and then “lightly
t(h)read” a sufficient number of times round in the same way, so as
to keep all parts of the wings close to the shape of the wood; then,
but not till then, completing, namely, first the right hand side—
for otherwise if the threads be crossed and re-crossed there will be
great danger, in taking them off, of breaking the antennz, or in some
way damaging the specimen—perform the same operation over the left
hind wings.
Be, I say, very careful in again unwinding the thread, or woe betide
the antennz of your specimen, and with them will go its especial value
in the eyes of the collector. The best way, however, is to “cut the
Gordian knot,” namely, cut the threads with a penknife against one
side of the wood, or, better still, against both sides, and then the fly
is at once taken off without further trouble. The whole spool of cotton
costing only two or three pence, the time that would be required for
saving the thread is gained, and amply repays the cost of a new one;
and indeed even if the different short threads were to be preserved,
you would find that they cannot well be kept without becoming entangled
together.
“ANOTHER MODE.”
Tue turned pieces of wood answer most admirably when you are
quietly stationed at home, or fixed for a time sufficient in any other
14, APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
place, but they by no means suit the “locomotive department,” or, rather,
it does not suit them. ‘To meet this difficulty, you can have recourse
to either of the three following expedients:—First, when out collecting,
and especially if you catch a large number of specimens, do not attempt
to set any of your insects at all: on the whole I recommend _ this
plan. You will find by the adoption of the method of relaxing herein-
after mentioned, that insects may be set quite as well, one may almost
say even better, than when quite fresh caught. By keeping them also
till the winter, or against a “rainy day,’ you will have the “Use of
sunshine” for collecting, and be able to perform that afterwards leisurely,
which cannot be well done in haste. Secondly, by having your ex-
tending boards, of which more anon, narrow in width, you can tye a
number of the woods on each of them, and then extend your insects
with the threads in a row the same as if singly and loose. Or, thirdly,
you can have your extending boards and pieces of wood, so to call them,
in one, as it were, combining the excellencies of both: as thus—on the
board, made in the ordinary way, namely, a thin piece of cork, which,
by the way, you can procure at any good shoemaker’s, glued on to a
piece of deal, and papered over, add a second piece of cork, fastened
on the first in the same manner: round off this top piece in suitable
lengths on each side cross-wise, and also cut out a strip in the centre
of it, and you then have a series of the rounded woods of cork, on which
you can extend the insects you catch, either with thread, or the ordinary
card braces, and can place them in safety in the case which I proceed
to describe.
“PUNDED SECURITIES.”
Ir your extending boards are left lying loosely about, it is ten to
one but that some damage will accrue to the specimens that may from
time to time be placed thereon. There are various accidents to which
they may be exposed, to say nothing of dust, which is an unfailing
source of damage and injury. To guard therefore against this, “Ne
quid detrimenti res entomologica capiat,” have a case made of oak, or
any other wood, say one foot three inches high, one foot one inch wide,
and nine inches deep; with a door to it, and inside a series of slides on which
the boards can run, so as to be easily taken in and out. I had my
extending boards made of narrow width, so as to have two on each tier,
sufficient height being left of course between each for the pins of the
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. 15
insects and the card braces, and I have lately had them again further
divided into two each, so as to have four of them one inside the other.
The advantage of their being narrow is that you can set the insects
one after the other in a row, either side ways or length ways, and you
thus avoid the various “‘moving accidents’ which otherwise the setting
of one in the way of another exposes each and all to.
“SECOND THOUGHTS ARE BEST.”
Aut that I have said as to the desirableness and necessity of having
a cabinet, and that a good one, for the preservation of your specimens,
I still keep to; but I have since been made cognizant of another
kind of receptacle for them, which is equally good in most respects,
though not quite in all, and better in some. The Rev. William Bree,
of Polebrook, near Oundle, Northamptonshire, first shewed me this plan.
It is to have cases made, such as backgammon or chess boards, resem-
bling large folio books, corked and glazed inside, covered with leather,
and lettered on the outside, at least they may be, “as you like it,”
29 66 ”
“British Enromornoey,” “volume 1,” “volume ii.,” and so on.
Since I saw the Rev. Mr. Bree’s, I perceive that Dr. Baikie, of
the Naval Hospital, Haslar, has written about these blank volumes in
“The Naturalist,” vol. il., page 207, and, which is better, has told us
where they may be procured, well-made by a person in the habit of
making them, namely, Mr. Robert Downie, of Barnet, Hertfordshire.
To him [I lost no time in writing for further information, and I give
the result to the readers of my “Apuortsmara”—‘‘Aphorismi,” by the
way, my brother told me it should have been; but as he took his “‘First
Class” at Oxford in 1849, “Term: Pasch:” and I my “Second” so long
ago as “Term: Mich:” 1853; when, I may here record, I took up part
of “Pliny’s Natural History” for the first time in that learned University,
to the no small astonishment and discomfiture of the Examiners ‘In Literis
Humanioribus,’ I trust my said readers will pardon me the ‘lapsus,’ and
at the same time this lengthened and somewhat involved sentence.
But, ‘ad rem:’ Mr. Robert Downie furnishes me, and through me my
readers, with the following list of apparatus which he is always ready
to furnish, and which, as I truly believe they will be found good and
useful, as well as cheap, I heartily recommend to all who are desirous
of the proper preservation of their specimens. I give the whole of his
e
16 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
catalogue, as well as the part relating to the books, through the desire
to benefit a person who seems to be a deserving man:—
1.— ‘An improved book box, which excludes the air and dust from the
insects, covered with green book cloth, gilt labels, corked top and bottom,
sixteen inches by twelve; the same as those made by me for the British
Museum, and when shut up they resemble two volumes of a book:
twelve shillings each.
2—The next size, finished in the same style, and corked top and
bottom, thirteen inches by nine and a half: seven shillings.
3.—Deal store boxes, corked top and bottom, sixteen inches by
fourteen: eight shillings. If made for foreign insects, one shilling extra.
4.—Mahogany collecting boxes, from four shillings and upwards.
5.—A drying safe or box, with four trays corked, a drawer with
divisions for pins, perforated zinc front and back, lock and key complete:
twelve shillings and sixpence.
6.—-An improved whalebone net, which answers all the purposes of
sweeping, beating, or for collecting insects on the wing: reduced to
twelve shillings and sixpence, It is portable, and shuts up in a case
like an umbrella.
Sheets of prepared cork for cabinet drawers, sixteen inches square:
two shillings each.
All kinds of boxes and apparatus on improved principles made to
order: prices in proportion as stated above.”
I need only remark in conclusion that while a cabinet, especially if
a large one, is rather an expensive affair, the drawers costing ten
shillings each, the books, on the principle of a division of labour, or rather
of spreading an expense over a longer time, cause it to be hardly felt.
One more last word: I recommend the books to be kept upwards, as
if on a shelf, and not on their sides, for otherwise that which is a
detriment to the preservation of insects in ordinary boxes, will exist here
also, namely, the dust will fall from the specimens on the upper side,
and lodge on those on the lower one.
“DEATH IN THE BOTTLE.”
Tus is a true motto—one which it behoves others as well as
Entomologists to bear in mind; it is, however, only with the latter that
I have at present to do. Various opinions have been set forth at
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. Ne
greater or lesser length, on the so-difficult-to-be-decided question, what
is the amount of feeling that insects possess? Into these I shall not
now enter, but shall content myself with enunciating the maxim which
{ promulged in the “Zoologist,” page 1680, namely, “With regard to
the feeling of insects, as much has been said, and much may be said,
on both sides, I would only beg to add that I think there can be no
doubt that, whatever opinion any may form or may have formed on
the subject, it will be the best and safest way for all to act on the
supposition that they have some, if not a very high degree of feeling,
and accordingly to make it an unfailing rule to kill them as instantaneously
as possible.” To this I still adhere, as will, I hope, all my “gentle”
readers likewise; and I have it in my power to make known a simple
and efficacious mode of killing lepidopterous—and I doubt not any
other insects—if not instantaneously, yet almost so, and certainly, at
all events, without any sensation of pain whatever. It is not indeed
my own discovery—‘nee meus hic sermo est,’ but that of a gentleman,
Charles Barron, Esq., who has published the first account of the method
that I am aware of, in the “Zoologist,” page 5455, dating from the
toyal Naval Hospital, Haslar, March the 3rd., 1852. His plan, however,
is rather a complicated one, and the following improvement upon it
will be found well worthy of your especial attention. The agent to be
employed is the well known—though only recently in this application
of it—Chloroform!
Go to a druggist’s, and purchase a strong, wide-mouthed, moderate-
sized glass bottle, namely, large enough to hold a large moth or
butterfly. It should be of one width all the way up, for the reason
to be presently mentioned, and should have a glass stopper, so as to
make it air-tight, or as nearly so as possible. Fill the bottom of this
bottle with sponge, and over the sponge place a piece of perforated
zinc, which you will now see you could not do unless the bottle was
of a uniform width. The use of the zinc is to keep the wings of the
insect from touching the sponge, for it will scon absorb the liquid
residuum of the drug, and so might and would wet and injure the wings.
When you are going out collecting, or if at home you want to kill
any insects that you may have reared or otherwise obtained, pour a
few drops of chloroform into the bottle, which will make its way
to the sponge through the perforated zinc, and immediately “put the
stopper upon it.” ake it off when you want to put an insect into the
bottle, and then, putting it on again, in a few seconds at the most
18 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
the insect will be—apparently at all events—tifeless, and that without
pain to. itself, or injury to it as a cabinet specimen. Observe, however,
that, and especially if you have occasion to remove the stopper at all
often, the spirit, evaporating, will require to be renewed, and you must
therefore carry with you a small phial of it, so as to be able to
replenish the larger one as often as may be necessary. You will find
also that if the bottle be kept upright and not needlessly shaken, a
large quantity of insects can be well and safely brought home in it,
without being transferred to the pocket-box. This at the same time
ensures that care which should always be taken to leave the insects a
sufficiently long time under the irfluence of the narcotic, for otherwise
the state of “coma” would go off, and the anticipated result would not
be gained. I have seen spirit of ammonia applied in the same way, but
the former is decidedly preferable.
“PIN MONEY.”
’ I nave already briefly touched on this “head,” but it isa subject on
which a few pointed remarks may yet be made with advantage, at all
events to the “tyro.” And, first, where to procure a suitable article
is the most important enquiry. If therefore you can find your way
about London—which is more than I could do until a few years ago,
having never till then even passed through that village—go to Cheapside,
a locality of which you have doubtless heard in connexion with Johnny
Gilpin, and in divergence therefrom, to the right, as you wend eastward,
namely, in a place yelept “Crown Court,” you will find the London
establishment of 2 Birmingham firm, by name “‘Edelsten, Williams, and
Co.” State your requirements, and, for a due consideration, they will
be instantly supplied. You must, however, if you write from a distance,
accompany your order with a post-office one, and you must also specify
that what you want are for Entomological purposes, and indeed write
the word “Entomological” on the outside of your letter, or otherwise
it will be forwarded to the head-quarters at Birmingham, which will
cause a delay; but if thus marked, it will be opened in London. I
recommend the following sizes as the best, as affording an ample selection
for all ordinary uses, but there are many others, the manufactory
being of lace pins, and, as such, not expressly for Entomological
appliances, though they are as good for these as any that I know. The
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. 19
numbers are as follows:—No. 11, price sixpence an ounce; No. 13,
sixpence; No. 5, one shilling and threepence; No. 17, two shillings and
ninepence; No. 15, three shillings and threepence; No. 18, three shillings.
Of these, the largest-sized are only for the largest-sized Sphinges;—
for by all means you should incline to putting a too small in preference
to too large a pin into any insect;—or for putting out the antennz
with; being long and fine, and larger ones being incommodious for the
small interstices that will sometimes be found to be left among the
card braces.
In no case use any but Entomological pins. “A maxim worth re-
membering I assure ye.”
“NOTHING LIKE GLASS.”
Tr will perhaps have been observed that in thefdescription of the
Entomological book-boxes just spoken of, no mention was made of
glass frames to them, which however it is absolutely essential, a ‘sine
qui non,’ that they should have; or otherwise, every time they are
opened, they are liable to all the ordinary injuries from dust and
other sources of evil, to which any common Entomological boxes are
exposed. I wrote therefore to Mr. Downie for a further estimate, which
he has supplied as follows, as a postscript to the former particulars :—
A. five-shilling box with the addition of glass and frame, would be
seven shillings and sixpence; a seven-shilling box with the like would
be ten shillings and sixpence, or in other words, half-a-guinea; a
twelve-shilling box with the like, sixteen shillings.
The glass to be the very best that can be had, flattened as for
picture frames.
“TO BE CONTINUED.”
“Tne most valuable discovery of modern times’—to the Entomologist—
is the “Applicability” of sugar to the capture of moths. The “Suggestive
Hint” to this mode of proceeding was doubtless furnished to some
thoughtful mind, by the observation of the fact, that insects of various
kinds resort to an empty cask in which the “Essence of slave” has
been placed, for the purpose of “sipping the sweets.” Certes, the success
if
20 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
that, at least in some places, and on some occasions, ‘fat the season of
the year,’ attends on this experiment, is, as Dominie Sampson used
to remark, ‘‘Prodigious! Prodigious!! Prodigious!!!” Go to the wood,
and there, if not shot by some truculent gamekecper, in whose eyes
you will certainly cut a strange and very suspicious figure, and who
will have no notion that you are prowling after ‘untaxed and
undisputed game;” there, I say, with a reflector lamp at your girdle,
and a flat brush in your hand, wash on a small portion of the trunks
of an ‘ad libitum’ number of trees, the ‘lotion’ I shall presently
describe the component parts of. ‘Take of the coarsest brown sugar
you can purchase, one pound; of beer, say one pint; boil both well
together, and adda little of the liquor which, “My dear young friend,
if there be one liquor less abominable than another, it is that commonly
called—rum,” each time when used. ‘This decoction will be found
wonderfully attractive to moths; and on returning to the trees after a
proper interval, during which the darkness has come on, yoa will
frequently have both quantity and quality to choose from. You can
best carry the seductive draught in a tolerably large ‘Pocket Pistol,’
made by some handy tinman for the purpose
‘ . ‘ ce any 9
a sort of large “‘quaigh,
with an extra case for its lower part, taking on and off the outside—
into which a necessary portion of the mixed ingredients can be poured
as required,
“RELAXATION.
I save before alluded by anticipation to this part of my subject,
and now proceed ‘in medias res’—relaxation you will find it for yourself,
as well as for your insects, in the winter time, when you have perhaps—
though it is a thing I never have at present—a little leisure on your
hands, in which to set your summer captures to your eyes’ content.
Thus too, having them flexible before you, you, as it were, “fight
your battles o’er again,” and can indulge the “flights” of your Ento-
mological “Fancy” to any extent.
Purchase, which you may do for somewhere about a shilling, at a
druggist’s, a large glass jar, say one foot high, and six inches in
diameter. Let it, if possible, have a glass stopper, which, if you live
anywhere near a glass manufactory, you can easily have made, or, if
not, a well-fitted cork one, which you can procure at a cork-cutter’s.
The mouth of the jar, is to be as nearly as possible of the same
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. 21
width as the rest of it. Till this glass jar with plaster of Paris up
to a sufficient height, namely so far as to leave sufficient depth - for
any insects you may want to relax between the surface and the cork.
Pour on the plaster as much water as it will absorb, any surplus
being poured off, and over it place a round piece of perforated zinc,
the size and shape of the orifice of the jar, the object being to keep
the wings of the insects from touching the wet surface; and at the
same time the holes in the zinc answer admirably for putting the pins
of the insects into, so that they are steadied, and in a manner fixed,
so as not to shake about if the jar is moved.
When you have thus placed the said insects in this way, put the
cork or stopper tightly into the jar, and in a few hours, more or less
according to the size of the specimen, you will have them excellently
relaxed, and that without the slightest detriment or damage; the down
being as perfect as if they had never been subjected to any such pro-
cess at all. A tin canister will answer the purpose, but not so well;
the jar, especially if it have a glass stopper, being so much more air-
tight, and the moisture being therefore the more confined. If a cork
be used, it should have a piece of fine kid leather round it, to make
it fit close; also, I recommend a basket work case to guard the lower
part of the jar.
“ROTANICAL SPECIMENS.”
Tur “saccharine juices” of the following plants and trees when in
bloom, are more or less attractive to moths, and may be therefore
cultivated for the purpose, as well as for their respective merits, or
examined in their wild state:—
Woodbine, or Honeysuckle, (Lonicera Periclymenum.)
Valerian, (Valertana rubra.)
Petunia, (Petunia violacea and nyctaginiflora.)
Phlox, (Phlox paniculata, suaveolens, ete.)
Aaron’s Rod, (Solidago virgaurea.)
Hop, (Zumulus Lupulus.)
Nettle, (Urtica dioica,)
Pink, (Dianthus caryophyllus and Chinensis.)
Ivy, (Hedera Helix.)
Traveller's Joy, (Clematis vitalba.)
Wild Thyme, (Lhymus serpyllum.)
5
bo
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
Barberry, (Berberis vulgaris.)
Raspberry, (Rubus id@us.)
Pansy, (Viola tricolor.)
Common Sage, (Salvia officinalis.)
Jandied Tuft, (Lberis wmbellata, ete.)
Sweet William, (Dianthus barbatus.)
Lime, (Liha Europea.)
Jessamine, (Jasminum officinale.)
White Verbena, (Verbena ———? var: jl: albo.)
Sweet Scabious, (Scabiosa atro-purpured.)
Thistle, (Carduus, Cnicus, var: sp.)
Laurel, (Prunus Lauro-cerasus.)
Privet, (Ligustrum vulgare.)
Misseltoe, (Viscum album.)
French Marigold, (Zagetes patuia.)
African Marigold, (T'agetes erecta.)
Michaelmas Daisy, (Aster Tradescantia.)
Blackberry, (Ztubus fruticosus, etc.)
Flote Meadow grass, (Glyceria fluitans.)
“THE DIGGINGS.”
Ix the winter time, when the insects of the Lepidopterous orders have
all but entirely disappeared, their successors of the following generation
are to be found in the chrysalis state, or as I recently heard it
called “the crystallized state,” in various situations; but chiefly at the
roots of trees, and especially in those retired “nooks and corners” which
afford the most shelter from the severities of the brumal season, and
where accordingly the soil is loose and crumbling, and easily entered
by the descending caterpillars. By procuring these you frequently obtain
several of the rarest species, which otherwise the sight of would never
gladden your entomological vision.
You should have an implement made for the purpose, of iron, not
too sharp, but sufficiently so, and of any spade-like shape that may
most recommend itself to your judgment. Many insects are at the
same time to be found in the moss on the trunks of the trees; and
these you can look for at more leisure, if you bring a quantity
of the moss home with you, and examine it carefully over a sheet of
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. 23
white paper; giving liberty to any specimens you do not want, and
throwing away the moss again, with the like intent towards any that
it may yet contain.
“THE PROCREANT CRADLE.”
I recommend a large square or oblong case, a foot, or a foot and
a half in diameter, more or less as the case may be, and proportionately
deep, for keeping the chrysalides in, which, during the summer, autumn,
or winter, you may have collected together. The case should be made
of fine wire netting,
that may have come out; and at the same time of close texture, so
so that you can see into it, and discover anything
that it may not come out, in a different sense of the words.
The object of its being thus large is, that during any interval of time
which may elapse, the insects may not damage themselves, as they might
do in a more confined space. I also recommend a little moist sugar
being kept in the case, on which, if they choose, they may feed.
“OMNIUM GATHERUM.”
Wuen you have several thoughts in your head at one and the same
moment, it is somewhat difficult to retain them all sufficiently long to
commit them to paper—a few ‘“‘random recollections” therefore I now
proceed to indite.
The pieces of wood for the extending boards should be of an uniform
shape, in having the curved part tapering for the same length—the
intermediate part between it and the centre being flat, or nearly so.
They may then be all of exactly the same height, and the corners all
squared off to exactly the same depth.
The following sizes are those I have, on mature deliberation, deter-
mined on as the best for myself, and therefore for all other entomologists:
—Five inches and a half, five inches, four and a half and four, three and
a half and three, two and a half and two, one and a half and one; and,
observe, these measurements are from the top of the side cut off to its
opposite, that is to say, the clear part on which the wings can be
extended.
The groove in each of these pieces of wood should be proportionate
to the size of the bodies of the insects, for setting which each size of
wood is intended; namely, the smallest-sized piece of wood should have
o
5
24 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
the smallest groove, the largest-sized the largest, and so on with the
intermediate ones in gradation. Let so much suffice for this mode of
extending insects.
In relaxing insects to remove a bad or too large pin, or to remove
such when relaxed for any other additional purpose, do not push the
insect downwards towards the point of the pin, (which is to be done
against any hard surface,) but press it upwards, at least first, towards
the head of the pin, and then when once shifted it is easily taken out
altogether. Otherwise in pressing downwards against the thorax of the
insect, you can hardly fail to injure the down.
The pieces of silver paper are first to be made of a square shape,
and then one corner should be torn off, which part should be placed .
against the base of the fore wings, and thus they will be found to lie
better upon them, and be more readily kept in place by the first
windings of the thread. ‘Crede experto.”
Another advantage of the silver paper is, that if the wings be completely
covered with it, as they should be, no dust can accumulate upon them
previous to the insects being placed for safety im the cabinet. This is
no small advantage, for, even if ever so carefully kept otherwise, some
amount of the evil so much to be guarded against cannot but befal.
If you are at all in haste to have any relaxed specimens dried, you
can accomplish the object by placing them within your fender, namely,
if the fire in the grate be lighted; but observe, for good effect in this
process, the wings should be completely covered and well held down
in every part with the silver paper, as otherwise they might and would
spring up out of place here and there, in a manner the very reverse
of desirable.
Item.—They should not be taken off too soon, but, to speak scientifically,
the caloric absorbed should be suffered gradually to evaporate; in plain
English, they should be left untouched till quite cool again.
But—Memento—beware of sparks, and do not stir your fire while
the insects are drying before it. If you are a lady, (and I am happy
to know that there are Entomological ladies, and happy to think that
there may be some such among my readers,) take my advice, and never
stir the fire at all. There are several good and weighty reasons for
this advice; one is, if I may be pardoned for saying so, that no woman
ever could stir a fire. Do not, therefore, try—be content with excelling
men in many important particulars; and “assure yourselves of my high
consideration.”
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. 25
N. B.—Do not dry recent specimens in this way—Cardinal Mazarin’s
motto, “I and Time,” should be yours, as it is mine—practically speaking.
“TRANSPARENCIES.”
I uave found by experience that the silver paper over the wings
presents one hindrance, namely, that it prevents your seeing through it
to ascertain whether on their final adjustment the wings are perfectly
even on both sides or not. ‘To remedy this defect, I have adopted the
expedient of procuring transparent silver paper, through which you can
see sufficiently well for the purpose; it should of course be the thinnest
and finest that can be obtained. It is to be had of any bookseller,
and is called Tracing paper; you can, if new>sssrv. make it for yourself,
by slightly oiling common silver paper.
“CLAPTRAP.”
As I have before said, the large net which I have already described
is by far the best for all ordinary purposes; others, however, may be
used with more or less advantage; and a “Sweeping machine” is necessary
for obtaining Water-beetles, and those insects both Coleopterous and
other, which are procurable among the long grass on the bank or hedge-
side. It may be made as follows:—
Get a good strong walking-stick, which will be often found useful in
more ways than one, and have a small round strong wire rim or hoop
made to fit to the end of it with a screw. To the rim attach a pretty
strong canvass net, of any convenient size, say two feet in diameter, and
a foot and a half in depth. You can procure the whole complete ‘‘for
a consideration—say” some five shillings. By reversing it every now
and then, you get rid of all oddments that you do not want, for “all
is not fish that comes to the net.”
To catch the Purple Emperor, and other flies that frequent the tops
of the highest trees, you want a small round net with a handle some
fifty or sixty feet long. This is a very difficult thing to accomplish,
and it is but an unwieldy implement when made in the ordinary way,
but I have built a castle in the air in the shape of a very long fishing-
rod, made of light bamboo, all the upper part to be kept from bending
26 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
7
and breaking by means of shrouds or stays coming from near the top
to a double cross-tree, like those from the royal-mast of a man-of-war.
An illustration will be given with the other engravings, and I hope to
find it as effective in practise, as it is in theory on paper. The net
is to be made of very light open net-work, so as not to catch the air.
“WHAT ’S IN A NAME.”
A coop deal too much in many an Entomological one. Hardly two
“Lists” agree; and, as I can recommend no one in existence, I must briefly
dismiss the subject of nomenclature by expressing the hope that eftsoons
we may be permitted to resort to the primitive simplicity whilom
enjoyed by our Entomological forefathers, and that an insect yclept by
one name may be deemed to be sufficiently denominated, so that the
pride of nomenclators may be no longer fostered by dubbing their
unconscious adoptions with as many titles and “family” distinctions as
would suffice a Spanish grandee, to say nothing of their unpronounceable
barbarisms, which offend against all laws of classical propriety. I have
myself used Mr. Doubleday’s catalogue, price half-a-crown, published by
Mr. Van Voorst, London. It is well printed on good strong paper, and
only on one side, so as to be able to be cut out for labels for cabinets,
and also for marking in the species possessed.
“DE OMNIBUS REBUS ET QUIBUSDAM ALIIS.”
I wave almost exhausted the previous part of this wide subject under
the former heads, but I must endeavour to say something under the latter
part of it; and, first, I may add, that in order to keep the wings
sufficiently down with the silver paper, two or even three pieces will
sometimes be required on each side. Further, the mode just mentioned
of drying the wings before the fire, will be found very effective in
keeping them permanently in the way they are placed, so that they
may be effectually as well as nominally “set.”
A very: good method of procuring many rare Lepidopterous, and indeed
other insects, is by shaking in the day-time any young trees which may
admit of such an effect, the result being to dislodge those which may
be resting under the leaves, from whence they either fly or drop down
i Ee
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. 27
into the grass beneath or at some little distance. In this way, some
years since, I procured a very large number of splendid specimens of the
Tryphena Fimbria, then thought a very rare and valuable insect, and in
“The Naturalist,” old series, volume ii., pages 83-4-5, I gave an account
of the whole mode of procedure and its results, recording how, in plain
prose, when divers entomologists adopted the plan, which, as far as I
know, was the invention of Mr. Hugh Reid, of Doncaster, the coppices
resounded again with the “kicks of the sturdy entomologists”—poetically
speaking—“how bowed the woods beneath their sturdy stroke.”
Another means of relaxing specimens, though, in my opinion, by no
means so effective as that hereinbefore described, is by means of bruised
laurel leaves. ‘The following is the method adopted, as given in the
*““Zoologist,” pages 1343-44 :—
Mr. J. W. Douglas, of 6, Grenville Terrace, Coburg Road, Kent
Road, London, writes, “A quantity of laurel leaves, (thirty or forty,)
is much bruised, put into a bag, and enclosed in an air-tight vessel;
on the bag are placed the insects wished to be relaxed, and they become
flexible in a few hours, more or less, according to their size. The ad-
vantages of this system are, that the insects may be left for any length
of time without getting mouldy, and that moths of a green colour or
delicate texture may be operated upon without injury, none of which
were possible on the old plan. It is somewhat singular that this
relaxing effect should be produced by laurel leaves, which contain a large
amount of prussic acid, because if an insect be killed by that poison,
its membranes become intensely rigid.”
In the following article, Mr. Samuel Stevens, of 38, King Street,
Covent Garden, London, says in like manner, “Through the kindness
of Mr. Dale, I have been informed of a most excellent method of
relaxing Lepidoptera and other insects, and having adopted it lately,
and finding it answer uncommonly well, I think it will be a great
benefit to entomologists to make the plan generally known. I procure
about a dozen shoots with the leaves of the common laurel, the younger
the better, put them into a coarse bag or cloth, (a shot-bag I use,)
bruise them well with a wooden mallet till the bag becomes quite
moist, then put it into a jar or other wide-mouthed glass vessel, and
stick the insects on the top of the bag, which must be tied over or
secured in some way, so that it be made perfectly air-tight. Twenty-
four hours are generally sufficient to relax most insects, but one great
advantage is, that if they remain a week or ten days in the laurel
h
28 APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA.
they are not the least injured, so that they can be set out at any
convenient opportunity; it also completely destroys the mites or mould
if the specimens be infected, and it will be found to have a great many
advantages over the old plan of damp sand. I was in hope, from ex-
periments that I made on two or three green species, that the colours
would not fly; but I since regret to find, on further trial, that Hippar-
chus papilionarius, Hemithea vernaria, and Hemithea cythisaria are
considerably changed by it. Mr. Dale informs me that it answers equally
well with the other orders;—he having relaxed nearly the whole of his
Dragon-flies, and it is much used at Bristol for the Hymenoptera.”
Posrscriet.—The following items are extracted from Mr. Edward
Newman’s “Familiar Introduction to the History of Insects:’—‘“‘The
Entomologist should be provided with two wide-mouthed vials; one
empty and perfectly dry, having a quill passing through the cork, and
going a considerable way below it: this quill may be stopped at top
by a second small cork: within the vial some blotting-paper may be
kept, which not only absorbs any moisture, but serves as something to
crawl on for the living insects which are taken from time to time and
dropped through the quill. The other vial should be made very strongly,
well corked, and three parts filled with spirit; common whisky is the
best; pure alcohol injures the colours.” “Quills cut off close to the
feather are very useful for bringing home minute insects of all classes.
The aperture should be most carefully corked, the corks being cut
expressly for the purpose, and should be of sufficient length to go
half-an-inch into the quill, and thus not liable to come out in the pocket.”
'The following, by Mr. T. B. Hall, of Woodside, Liverpool, is from
“The Naturalist,” old series, volume iii., page 159—“Suvstrrurz ror
Cork Lining ix EvvomonocicaL Caxbryers.—Having forwarded the
receipt committed to you by Mr. Morris to a very excellent Entomologist
of Liverpool, A. Melly, Esq., for the purpose of asking his opinion
respecting it, he states that he has always been in the habit of using
composition instead of cork, and that he finds it not only cheaper, but
quite equal to cork, and that on the Continent the plan is generally
adopted. The one he employs is much harder, and is composed of
two-thirds of the best bees’-wax and one-third of the best resin; but
he observes that, in this climate, the addition of tallow cannot do much
harm, and will save something in the cork: the great point is to melt
it well, and to pass the resin through a sieve before the wax is added.”
The pins you want to take out with you when collecting, to put
APHORISMATA ENTOMOLOGICA. 29
through any insects you have “netted,” after they have been perfectly
killed, may be carried either in the pocket-box or in a small thin
pincushion, attached to a “guard.” Two of these, made of velvet, and
exactly resembling butterflies, have been presented to me by Dr. Henry
Moses, of Appleby; I give a figure of one.
One more last word: it has occurred to me that by driving a tin
tack firmly, but not up to the head, on each side of the rounded pieces
of wood, they may, after the insects have been set upon them, be
firmly lashed on to the narrow extending boards by a twine wound
underneath them, as illustrated in the engraving, and thus they may
be carried safe in the setting case without being liable to be shaken about.
Any respectable draper can procure the proper thread for setting the
insects with, from the Messieurs J. and W. Taylor, Leicester, and “made
to order,” wound singly for the purpose.
And now I have given you, and I think sufficiently, natheless not
at an undue length, the results of an experience of many years standing.
I was born an Entomologist, was self-educated one, as the cabinet in
the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, which I found time, amongst other
multiform and deep studies, while there, to arrange, will testify, and
it is nothing but the more serious business of life that now in great
degree hinders a larger amount of the innocent enjoyment which the
science of Entomology so abundantly rewards her votaries with. ‘“Valeas,”
good reader, and may you never “go out” without catching a Purple
Emperor, or a Scarce Swallow-tail, a Large Blue, or a Pale Clouded
Yellow, a White Admiral, or a Camberwell Beauty, and if these pages
shall have assisted you in the chase—“Plaudite.”
Appenpum.—T’o the list of plants attractive to Moths, add the Sweet
Willow, the Larkspur, the Bladder Campion, (Silene inflata,) the Reed,
(Arundo,) and the Saliow, (Salix.)
Nora Benr.—Some kinds of woods are very injurious to specimens con-
tained in cabinets made of them; oak and mahogany are the best. I have
known a good collection much injured by being kept in a cabinet made
of ash or elm, I forget now which: turpentine exudes into the drawers,
and is very prejudicial.
Lastly, in common with all who wish well to their collection or to their
country, I deprecate frequent “Changes in the Cabinet”—‘“Let well
alone” is a good and wholesome proverb, applicable both politically and
entomologically.
PION Si
Wish) A hee,» BU
ny ee VW
* fe
ree AG One d
ay Pe) i a
ay >,
?
iy jt
i AY ae P t
Oe al, ve re
-_ dS a
Wate Rrra
wey yaw : an
5
ar ih tues
ale
alaXs
4 ae Ce
< Se
An Na
Ae
AA
AND
EE
AARAR
AANAN
ave
nnn
4
RA
AA
MAna
Pam
pana
An
AR
Minnnnnn.
AAAAAR
A
a AR
An AA
AAMAS
SAAN
ann
nanan
K A
‘A
a)
1a 4 it 5 i A
\ ‘ew ALATA
2 WX i A \ \
——
vif
y
2.
tr ¢ 4
‘ { €
,
(
wz
. ee
x ac q
Rails t ‘
A <
a
© Sa 4
“<e ~
5
S
R
€
FX
OG C 7
G =
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11