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Ill
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. ,
■Ori
FIGURES AND DESG
/ % A
EYEEI NATIVE SPECIES,
WITH AN ACCOUNT OF
BUTTERFLY DEVELOPMENT, STRUCTURE, HABITS, LOCALITIES,
MODE OF CAPTURE AND PRESERVATION, ETC.
BY W. S. COLEMAN,
MEMBER OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON,
AUTHOR OF
OUR WOODLANDS, HEATHS, AND HEDGES.”
JllttstraUb bg % Qnfyox.
LONDON :
LOUT LEDGE, WARNE, & ROUTLEDGE,
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NEW YORK : 56, WAI.KER STREET.
1860.
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
BY W. S. COLEMAN.
A. superior Edition of this Work, printed in the best manner, on a fine
Paper, with the Illustrations printed in Colours, and bound in Cloth, is
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1
PREFACE.
A DESIRE to extend the knowledge of, and by so doing to extend
the love for, those sunny creatures called Butterflies, has prompted
the author to undertake this little work, which, though making no
pretence to a technically scientific character, will, it is hoped, be
found sufficiently complete and accurate to supply all information
needful to the young entomologist as to the names, appearance,
habits, localities, &c. of all our British Butterflies, together with a
general history of butterfly life — the mode of capture, preservation,
and arrangement in cabinets — the apparatus required, &c. At the
same time it is so inexpensive as to be accessible to every schoolboy.
The subject is one which has formed the delight and study of the
author from early boyhood, and butterfly-hunting still preserves
its fascinations, redoubling the pleasure of the country ramble in
summer.
Should this volume be the means of inciting some to seek this
source of healthful enjoyment, and to join in the peaceful study
which may be so easily pursued by all dwellers in the country, it
will have succeeded in its purpose.
The whole of the illustrative portraits of the butterflies have been
drawn from nature by the author, and with one exception from
specimens in his own collection. At least one figure of each species
(of the natural size) is given ; but in very many instances, where
the sexes differ considerably from each other, both are figured, and
the under sides are also frequently added.
The greater number of the caterpillars and chrysalides, however,
being rarely met with, the figures on the first piate are nearly all
borrowed from the splendid and accurate wrorks of Continental
authors — chiefly from Hiibner and Duponchel.
With great pleasure, the author here acknowledges his obligations
for many biographical facts relating to butterflies, to those highly
useful periodicals, the Zoologist and the Entomologist' s Weekly In-
telligencer, the former devoted to general natural history, the latter
especially to entomology, and whose pages register a mass of in-
teresting and original communications from correspondents, who,
living in wide-spread localities, and possessing varied opportunities
of observation, have gradually brought together, under able editor-
ship, a store of facts that could never have come within the personal
experience of any one man, however industrious and observant.
The capture during the past year of a new and interesting butterfly
for the first time in this country, is recorded in this volume, in
which the insect is also figured and described.
Bays water, April, 1860.
INDEX
PAGE
Antennas 20
Apollo Butterfly 121
Apparatus 30
Arran Brown B 121
Artaxerxes B 115
Artist and Butterfly 28
Bath White B 65
Black veined White B 58
Blues, The(GenusPoZ//cwma£ws) 108
Blue B., Adonis 112
Azure 109
Bedford 109
Chalk-hill Ill
Common 112
Holly 109
Large 110
Mazarine 110
Silver-studded 113
Tailed ( Beeiicus ) 122
Boxes 32
Brimstone B 50
Brown Argus B 114
Butterfly Emblems .. 26
hunting 30
Cabinets * 42
Camberwell Beauty B 88
Caterpillar 5
Chrysalis 9
Classification 44
Clouded Sulphur B 56
Yellow B 53
Comma B 92
Copper B., Large 106
Purple- edged. 121
Small 106
Eggs of B 2
Eye of B 20
Fritillary B., Dark Green 94
Duke of Burgundy 101
Glanville 98
Greasy 100
High-brown 95
Pearl-bordered 97
Pearl-border. Likeness 99
Queen of Spain 95
Silver-washed 93
Small Pearl-bordered.. 97
Weaver’s (Dia) 121
Garden White B., Large 59
Small 62
Grayling 73
PAGE
Green-veined White 64
Heath B., Large 75
Small 81
Hair-streak B., Black 103
Brown 102
Green 105
Purple 104
White-letter.... 103
Ichneumon 13
Imago 14
Larva *... 5
Latin names 45
Legs of B 23
Marbled White B 70
Meadow Brown B 74
Nets 30
Orange Tip B 67
Pain in Insects 38
Painted Lady B 85
Pale Clouded Yellow B 56
Peacock B 87
Purple Emperor B 83
Red Admiral B 87
Reputed British Species 120
Ringlet B., Common 76
Mountain 78
Small 80
Scotch Argus B 77
Skippers (Family —
H os per idee ) 116
Skipper B., Chequered 117
Dingy 117
Grizzled 116
Large 119
Lul worth 118
Small 119
Silver-spotted 119
Speckled Wood B 72
Swallow-tail B 47
Scarce 120
Tongue of B 19
Tortoiseshell B., Large 90
Small 91
Wall B 72
White Admiral B 82
Wings of B 15
Wood Argus B 72
Wood White B 69
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
CHAPTEE I.
INTRODUCTION.
WHAT IS A BUTTERFLY — BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS — BUTTERFLY-
LIFE — THE EGG STAGE — SCULPTURED CRADLES — BUTTERFLY
BOTANY — THE CATERPILLAR STAGE — FEEDING UP — COAT CHANG-
ING— FORMS OF CATERPILLARS — THE CHRYSALIS — MEANING OF
PUPA, CHRYSALIS, AND AURELIA — FORMS OF CHRYSALIDES —
DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSFORMATION — INFLUENCE OF TEMPERA-
TURE.
Occasionally a missive arrives from some benevolent
friend, announcing the capture of a “ splendid butterfly/7
which, imprisoned under a tumbler, awaits one’s accept-
ance as an addition to the cabinet. However, on going
to claim the proffered prize, the expected “ butterfly 77
turns out to be some bright-coloured moth (a Tiger moth
being the favourite victim of the misnomer), and one’s
entomological propriety suffers a shock ; not so much
feeling the loss of the specimen, as concern for the
benighted state of an otherwise intelligent friend’s
mind with regard to insect nomenclature.
It is clearly therefore not so superfluous as it might
at first otherwise seem, to commence the subject by
defining even such a familiar object as a butterfly , and
more especially distinguishing it with certainty from a
moth , the only other creature with which it can well be
confounded.
B
2
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
The usual notion of a butterfly is of a gay fluttering
thing, whose broad painted wings are covered with a
mealy stuff that comes off with handling. This is all
very well for a general idea, but the characters that
form it are common to some other insects besides but-
terflies. Moths and hawk-moths have mealy wings,
and are often gaily coloured too ; whilst, on the other
hand, some butterflies are as dusky and plain as pos-
sible. Thus the crimson-winged Tiger, and Cinnabar
moths get the name of butterflies , and the Meadow
brown butterfly is as sure to be called a moth. So, as
neither colouring nor mealy wings furnish us with the
required definition, we must find some concise combina-
tion of characters that will answer the purpose. But-
terflies, then , are insects with mealy wings , and tvhose
horns ( called “ anteiinae”) have a clubbed or thickened
tip , giving them more or less resemblance to a drum-stick.
So the difference in the shape of the antennae is the
chief outward mark of distinction between butterflies
and moths, the latter having antennae of various shapes,
threadlike or featherlike, but never clubbed at the tip.
Having thus settled how a butterfly is to be recog-
nized at sight, let us see what butterfly life is ; how
the creature lives, and has lived, in the stages preceding
its present airy form.
In like manner with other insects, all butterflies com-
mence their existence enclosed in minute eggs ; and these
eggs, as if shadowing forth the beauty yet undeveloped
whose germ they contain, are themselves such curi-
ously beautiful objects, that they must not be passed
over without admiring notice. It seems, indeed, as if
nature determined that the ornamental character of the
butterfly should commence with its earliest stage ;
form, and not colour, being employed in its decoration,
sculpture being here made the forerunner of painting.
Some of these forms are roughly shown on Plate II.
(figs. 1 — 7), but highly magnified; for as these eggs
are really very tiny structures, such as would fall easily
through a pin-hole, the aid of a microscope is of course
BUTTERFLY CRADLES.
3
necessary to render visible the delicate sculpture that
adorns their surface. The egg (fig. 1, Plate I.) of the
common Garden white butterfly ( Pieris Brassicce) is
among the most graceful and interesting of these forms,
and also the most easily obtained. It reminds us of
some antique vessel, ribbed and fluted with consummate
elegance and regularity.
Others — such as those of the Large Heath butterfly
(fig. 3), and the Queen of Spain Pritillary (fig. 2), simu-
late curious wicker-work baskets. The Peacock butter-
fly has an egg like a polygonal jar (fig. 4), while that of
its near ally, the large Tortoise-shell (fig. 5), is simply
pear-shaped, with the surface unsculptured and smooth
(fig. 5). The eggs of the Meadow Brown (fig. 6), and
the Wood Argus (fig. 7), are globular — the former with
lines on its surface like the meridian lines on a geogra-
phical globe, and a pretty scalloping at the top that
gives a flower-like appearance to that portion ; the
latter has the whole surface honey- combed with a net-
work of hexagonal cells. Such are a few of the devices
that ornament the earliest cradle of the butterfly ; but
probably those of every species would well repay their
examination to any one who possesses a microscope.
Prompted by a most remarkable instinct, and one
that could not have originated in any experience of
personal advantage, the female butterfly, when seeking
a depository for her eggs, selects with unerring cer-
tainty the very plant which, of all others, is best fitted
for the support of her offspring, who, when hatched,
find themselves surrounded with an abundant store of
their proper food.
Many a young botanist would be puzzled at first
sight to tell a sloe-bush from a buckthorn-bush. Hot
so, however, with our Brimstone butterfly : passing by
all the juicy hedge-plants, which look quite as suitable,
one would think, she, with botanical acumen, fixes upon
the buckthorn ; either the common one, or, if that is
not at hand, upon another species of rhamnus: — the
berry-bearing alder — which, though a very different
4
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
looking plant, is of the same genus, and shares the
same properties. She evidently works out the natural
system of botany, and might have been a pupil of
Jussieu, had she not been tutored by a far higher
Authority.
This display of instinct would seem far less wonderful
did the mother butterfly herself feed on the plant she
commits her eggs to. In that case, her choice might
have appeared as the result of personal experience of
some peculiar benefit or pleasure derived from the plant,
and then this sentiment might have become hereditary ;
just as, for example, the acquired taste for game is
hereditary with sporting dogs. Whereas the fact is,
that a butterfly only occasionally, and as a matter of
accident rather than rule, derives her own nectareous
food from the flowers of the plant, whose leaves nourish
her caterpillar progeny. So that this, as well as num-
berless other phenomena of instinct, remains a mystery
to be admired, but not explained by any ordinary rule
of cause and effect.
Having thus efficiently provided, as far as board and
lodging are concerned, for the welfare of the future
brood, the mother seems to consider them settled for
life, takes no further care of them, nor even awaits the
opening of the sculptured caskets that contain their
tiny life-germs; but, trusting them to the sun’s warmth
for their hatching, and then to their own hungry little
instincts to teach them good use of the food placed
within their reach, she sees them no more.
But though abandoning her offspring to fate in this
manner, it must not be imagined that the butterfly
mother takes her pattern of maternity from certain
human mothers, and in a round of “ butterfly’s balls,”
and such like dissipations, forgets the sacred claims of
the nursery. TsTo, she has far other and better excuses
for absenting herself from her family ; one of which is,
that she usually dies before the latter are hatched ; and
if that is not enough, that the young can get on quite
as well without her ; for probably she could not teach
THE CATERPILLAR.
5
them much about caterpillar economics, unless, indeed,
she remembered her own infantile habits of lang syne,
so totally different from those of her perfected butterfly
life.
The space of time passed in the egg state varies
much according to the temperature — from a few days
when laid in genial summer weather, to several months
in the case of those laid in the autumn, and which
remain quiescent during the winter, to hatch out in
the spring.
The eggs of butterflies, in common with those of
insects in general, are capable of resisting not only
vicissitudes, but extremes of temperature that would
be surely destructive of life in most other forms. The
severest cold of an English winter will not kill the
tender butterfly eggs, whose small internal spark of
vitality is enough to keep them from freezing under a
much greater degree of cold than they are ever sub-
jected to in a state of nature. Eor example, they have
been placed in an artificial freezing mixture, which
brought down the thermometer to 22° below zero — a
deadly chill — and yet they survived with apparent
impunity, and afterwards lived to hatch duly. Then as
to their heat-resisting powers, some tropical insects
habitually lay their eggs in sandy, sun-scorched places,
where the hand cannot endure to remain a few mo-
ments; the heat rising daily to somewhere about 190°
of the thermometer — and we know what a roasting one
gets at 90° or so. Yet they thrive through all this.
Eor a short time previous to hatching, the form
and colour of the caterpillar is faintly discoverable
through the semi-transparent egg-shell. The juvenile
Caterpillar, or Larva, gnaws his way through the
shell into the world, and makes his appearance in
the shape of a slender worm, exceedingly minute of
course, and bearing few of the distinctive marks of
his species, either as to shape or colouring. On find-
ing himself at liberty, in the midst of plentiful good
cheer, he at once falls vigorously to work at the great
6
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
business of his life — eating ; often making his first
meal — oddly enough — off the egg-shell, lately his cradle.
This singular relish, or digestive pill, swallowed, he
addresses himself to the food that is to form the staple
fare during the whole of his caterpillar existence — viz.
the leaves of his food-plant, which at the same time is
his home-plant too.
At this stage his growth is marvellously rapid, and few
creatures can equal him in the capacity for doubling his
weight — not even the starved lodging-house “ slavey,”
when she gets to her new place, with carte blanche
allowance and the key of the pantry; for, in the course
of twenty-four hours, he will have consumed more than
twice his own weight of food : and with such persevering-
avidity does he ply his pleasant task, that, as it is stated,
a caterpillar in the course of one month has increased
nearly ten thousand times his original weight on leaving
the egg ; and, to furnish this increase of substance, has
consumed the prodigious quantity of forty thousand
times his weight of food — truly, a ruinous rate of living,
only that green leaves are so cheap.
But the life of a caterpillar, after all, is not merely
the smooth continual feast he would doubtless prefer it
to be ; it is interrupted, several times in its course, by
the necessity nature has imposed upon him of now and
then changing his coat — to him a very troublesome, if
not a painful affair.
For some time previous to this phenomenon, even
eating is nearly or quite suspended, — the caterpillar
becomes sluggish and shy, creeping away into some
more secluded spot, and there remaining till his time of
trouble is over. Various twitchings and contortions of
the body now testify to the mal-aise of the creature in
his old coat, which, though formed of a material capable
of a moderate amount of stretching, soon becomes out-
grown, and most uncomfortably tight-fitting, with such
a quick-growing person inside it : so off it must come ;
but it being unprovided with buttons, there's the rub.
However, with a great deal of fidgeting and shoulder-
CHANGING COATS.
7
shrugging, he manages to tear his coat down the hack,
and lastly, by patient efforts, shuffles off the old rag ;
when, lo ! underneath is a lustrous new garment, some
what similar, but not exactly a copy of the last, for our
beau has his peculiar dress for each epoch of his life, —
the most splendid being often reserved for the last.
This change of dress (“moulting” it is sometimes
called) is repeated thrice at least in the creature’s life,
but more generally five or six times. Not only does
the outer husk come off at these times, but, wonderful
to relate ! the lining membrane of all the digestive pas-
sages, and of the larger breathing tubes, is cast off and
renewed also.
After each moult, the caterpillar makes up for his
loss of time by eating more voraciously even than
before, in many instances breaking his fast by making
a meal of his “ old clo’ ” — an odd taste, first evinced, as
we have seen, in earliest infancy, when he swallowed
his cradle.
On Plate I. are shown the chief varieties of form
taken by the caterpillars of our British butterflies,
and a glance at these will give, better than verbal
descriptions, a general idea of their characteristics.
Their most usual shape is elongated and almost
cylindrical, or slightly tapering at one or both ends.
Of these, some are smooth, or only studded with short
down or hairs ; such are the caterpillars of the Swallow-
tail butterfly (fig. 1), of the Brimstone (fig. 2), Clouded
Yellows, and Garden, and other white butterflies.
Others, of the same general form, are beset with long
branched spines, making perfect chevaux-de-frise ; such
are those of the Peacock, Eed Admiral, Painted Lady,
and the Silvery Pritillaries.
The caterpillars of another large section have the
body considerably thicker in the middle (rolling-pin
shaped), and the tail part two-forked, or bifurcate .
This form belongs to the numerous family that includes
the Meadow-brown (fig. 3), the Ringlets, and many
others.
8
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
The bizarre personage, at fig. 4, turns to the graceful
White Admiral butterfly.
The Purple Emperor begins his royal career in the
curious form shown at fig. 5 — a shape unique among
British butterflies, as beseems that of their sovereign ;
and he carries a coronet on his brow already.
All those beautiful little butterflies called the Hair-
streaks (fig. 9), the Blues (fig. 10), and the Coppers,
have very short and fat caterpillars, that remind one
forcibly of wood-lice — a shape shared also by that small
butterfly with a big name, the Duke of Burgundy
Eritillary (fig. 8), an insect very distinct from the Fritil-
laries above mentioned with thorny caterpillars. '
The legs of a caterpillar are usually sixteen in num-
ber, and composed of two distinct kinds, viz. of six true
legs , answering to those of the perfect insect, and placed
on the foremost segments of the body; and of ten
others, called “prolegs;” temporary legs, used princi-
pally for strengthening the creature’s hold upon leaf or
branch.
Like the rest of its body, the caterpillar’s head widely
differs in structure from that of the perfect insect, being
furnished with a pair of jaws, horny and strong, befit-
ting the heavy work they have to get through, and
shaped like pincers, opening and shutting from side to
side, instead of working up and down after the manner
of the jaws in vertebrate animals. This arrangement
offers great convenience to the creature, feeding, as it is
wont to do, on the thin edge of a leaf. It is a curious
sight to watch a caterpillar thus engaged. Adhering
by his close-clinging prolegs, and guiding the edge of
the leaf between his forelegs, he stretches out his head
as far as he can reach, and commences a series of rapid
bites, at each nibble bringing the head nearer the legs,
till they almost meet; then stretching out again the
same regular set of mouthfuls is abstracted, and so on,
repeating the process till a large semi-circular indenta-
tion is formed, reaching perhaps to the midrib of the
leaf ; then shifting his position to a new vantage ground,
THE CHRYSALIS.
the marauder recommences operations, another sweep is
taken out, then another, and soon the leaf is left a mere
skeleton.
But a change, far more important than mere skin-
shifting, follows close upon the animal's caterpillar-
maturity, complete as soon as it ceases to grow.
The form and habits of a worm are to he exchanged
for the glories and pleasures of winged life ; hut this
can only he done at the price of passing through an
intermediate state; one neither of eating, nor of flying,
but motionless, helpless and death-like.
This is called the Chrysalis or Pupa state.
Pupa is a Latin word, signifying a creature swathed,
or tied up ; and is applied to this stage of all insects,
because all, or some, of their parts are then bound up,
as if swathed.
The term Chrysalis is applicable to butterflies only,
and, strictly, only to a few of these — Chrysalis1 being
derived from the Greek ypwoQ ( chrysos ), gold — in
allusion to the splendid gilding of the surface in certain
species, such as the Vanessas, Britillaries, and some
others.
In the older works on entomology we frequently meet
with the term Aurelia applied to this state, and having
the same meaning as chrysalis, but derived from the
Latin word Aurum, gold.
Here the reader is again referred to Plate I. for a
series of the principal forms assumed by the chrysalides
of our native butterflies, and as these for the most part
represent the next stage of the caterpillars previously
figured, an opportunity is afforded of tracing the insect’s
form through its three great changes; the whole of the
butterflies in their perfect state being given in their
proper places in the body of the work.
The complicated and curious processes by which
various caterpillars assume the chrysalis form, and
suspend themselves securely in their proper attitudes,
Plural Chrysalides.
10
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
have been most accurately and laboriously chronicled
by the French naturalist, B6aumur ; but his memoirs
on the subject, which have been frequently quoted into
the larger entomological works, are too long for inser-
tion here in full, and any considerable abbreviation
would fail to convey a clear idea of the process, on
account of the intricacy of the operations described.
So I can only here allude to the difficult problems that
the creature has to solve, referring the reader to the
above-mentioned works for a detailed description of the
manner of doing so ; or, better still, I would recommend
the country resident to witness all this with his own
eyes. By keeping a number of the caterpillars of our
common butterflies, feeding them up, and attentively
watching them when full-grown, he will now and then
detect one in the transformation act, and have an oppor-
tunity of wondering at the curious manoeuvres of the
animal, as it triumphs over seeming impossibilities.
By reference to the figures of chrysalides on Plate I.
it will be seen that there are two distinct modes of sus-
pension employed among them ; one, by the tail only,
the head hanging down freely in the air : — in the other,
the tail is attached to the supporting object ; but the
head, instead of swinging loosely, is kept in an upright
position by being looped round the waist with a silken
girdle.
To appreciate the difficulty of gaining either of the
above positions, we must bear in mind that, before
doing so, the caterpillar has to throw off its own skin,
carrying with it the whole of its legs, and the jaws too
— leaving itself a mere limbless, and apparently help-
less mass — its only prehensile organs being a few
minute, almost imperceptible hooks on the end of the
tail ; and the required position of attachment and
security is accomplished by a series of movements so
dexterous and sleight-of-hand like, as to cause infinite
astonishment to the looker-on, and, as Biaumur justly
observes, “ It is impossible not to wonder, that an
insect, which executes them but once in its life, should
EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE.
11
execute them so well. We must necessarily conclude
that it has been instructed by a Great Master; for He
who has rendered it necessary for the insect to undergo
this change, has likewise given it all the requisite means
for accomplishing it in safety.;;
If we examine a chrysalis we are able to make out,
through the thin envelope, all the external organs of
the body stowed away in the most orderly and compact
manner. The antennae are very conspicuous, folded
down alongside of the legs ; and precisely in the centre
will be seen the tongue, unrolled and forming a straight
line between the legs. The unexpanded wings are
« visible on each side — very small, but with all their
veinings distinctly seen; and the breathing holes,
called spiracles, are placed in a row on each side of the
body.
The duration of the chrysalis stage, like that of the
egg, is extremely variable, and dependent on difference
of temperature. As an instance of this, one of our
common butterflies has been known to pass only seven
or eight days in the chrysalis state ; this would be in
the heat of summer. Then, in the spring, the change
occupies a fortnight; but when the caterpillar enters
the chrysalis state in the autumn, the butterfly does
not make its appearance till the following spring.
Furthermore, it has been proved by experiment, that if
the condition of perpetual winter be kept up by keep-
ing the chrysalis in an icehouse, its development may
be retarded for two or three years beyond its proper
time ; while, on the other hand, if in the middle of
winter the chrysalis be removed to a hothouse, the en-
closed butterfly, mistaking the vivifying warmth for
returning summer, makes its debut in ten days or a
fortnight.
12
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
CHAPTER II.
u COMING OUT” — ICHNEUMONS — THE BUTTERFLY PERFECTED —
ITS WINGS LEPIDOPTERA MEANING OF THE WORD MICRO-
SCOPIC VIEW NEW BEAUTIES — MAGNIFIED t( DUST ” THE HEAD
AND ITS ORGANS — THE TONGUE — THE EYES THE ANTENNAS —
THEIR USES— INSECT CLAIRVOYANCE — AN UNKNOWN SENSE —
FORMS OF ANTENNAS — THE LEGS.
We now arrive at the last stage, the consummation of
all this strange series of transformations ; for veritable
transformations they are to all intents and purposes ;
though some learned naturalists have discovered — or
imagined so — that the butterfly, in all its parts, really
lies hid under the caterpillar’s skin, and can be distin-
guished under microscopical dissection; and that, there-
fore, the so-called transformations are merely the throw-
ing off of the various envelopes or husks, as they become
in turn superfluous, as a mountebank strips off garment
after garment, till lastly the sparkling harlequin is
discovered to view ; or, in more exact language, they
consider these changes in the light rather of successive
developments and emancipations of the various organs
than as their actual transformations. Still, it seems
to me, the difference is chiefly one of terms. The
real wondrous fact remains undiminished and unex-
plained ; that a creeping wormlike creature, in process
of time, is changed into a glorious winged being, differ-
ing from the former in form, habits, food, and every
essential particular, as widely as any two creatures can
well differ, as widely as a serpent from a bird, for
instance.
As the imprisoned butterfly approaches ^ maturity, a
change is observable in the exterior of the chrysalis,
the skin becomes dry and brittle, usually darkens in
COMING OUT THE BUTTERFLY.
13
u
colour, and if the enclosed butterfly be a strongly
marked one, the pattern of its wings shows through,
often quite distinctly.
When the fulness of time arrives, the creature breaks
through its thin casings, which divide in several places,
and the freed insect crawls up into some convenient
spot to dry itself, and allow the wings to expand.
All the organs are at first moist and tender, but on
exposure to the air soon acquire strength and firmness.
At the moment of emergence, the wings are very
miniature affairs, sometimes hardly one-twentieth of
their full size when expanded ; but so rapid is their
increase in volume, that they may actually be seen to
grow, as the fluids from the body are pumped into the
nervures that support the wing-membrane, and keep
it extended.
In the more strongly marked, or richly coloured
species, it is a wonderfully beautiful sight to watch this
expansion of the wings, and to see the various features
of their painted devices growing under the eye and de-
veloping gradually into their true proportions.
Generally within an hour the development is com-
plete, and the wings, having gained their full expanse
and consistency by drying in the sun, are ready for
flight, and the glad creature wings his way to the fields
of air, and enters on that life of sunshine and hilarity
which is associated with the very name of “ Butterfly .”
But not every chrysalis arrives at this happy consum-
mation of its existencea Supposing that you have
reared and watched a caterpillar to apparently healthy
maturity, that it has duly become a chrysalis, and you
are awaiting its appearance in butterfly splendour —
peeping into your box some morning to see if the bright
expected one is “ out,;; be not surprised if in its stead
you find the box tenanted by a swarm of little black
flies — an impish-looking crew. Whence came all
these ? Why they and the empty chrysalis shell are
all that remains of your cherished prize ; so look no
more for the fair sunny butterfly, devoured ere born by
14
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
that ill-favoured troop of darklings who have just
now issued from the lifeless shell.
The truth is, that long since, perhaps in early larva- .
hood, the creature’s fate was sealed ; a deadly enemy to
his race is ever on the alert, winging about in the shape
of a small black fly, in search of an exposed and de-
fenceless caterpillar. Having selected her victim, she
pierces his body with a sharp cutting instrument she is
armed with, and in the wound deposits an egg; the
caterpillar winces a little at this treatment, but seems
to attach little importance to it. Meanwhile his enemy
repeats her thrusts till some thirty or forty eggs, germs
of the destroyers, are safely lodged in his body, and his
doom is certain beyond hope. The eggs quickly hatch
into grubs, who begin to gnaw away at the unhappy
creature’s flesh, thus reducing him gradually, but by a
profound instinct keeping clear of all the vital organs,
as if knowing full well that the creature must keep on
feeding and digesting too, or their own supply would
speedily fail ; as usurers, while draining a client, keep
up his credit with the world as long as they can.
Weaker grows the caterpillar as the gnawing worms
within grow stronger and nearer maturity. Sometimes
he dies a caterpillar, sometimes he has strength left to
take the chrysalis shape, but out of this he never comes
a butterfly — the consuming grubs now finish vitals and
all, turn to pupae in his empty skin, and come out soon,
black flies like their parent.
But, supposing that it has escaped this great danger,
we now see the creature in its completest form, as the
IMAGO, OR PERFECT BUTTERFLY.
The first term, Imago , is a Latin one, merely signify-
ing an image, or distinct unveiled form ; as distin-
guished from the previous larva , or masked state, and
the pupa , or swathed and enveloped state. The word
imago then, in works on entomology, always means the
perfect and last stage of insect life, and is applied to all
insects with wings — for it must be borne in mind that
BUTTERFLY WINGS. 15
no insect is ever winged till it reaches the last stage of
its existence.
If the progressive development of these lovely
beings is* so marvellous, no less so is their structure
when perfected, and of this some general description
must now he attempted.
In contemplating a butterfly, one feels that the mind
is first engaged by that ample spread, and exquisite
painting of the wings that form the creature’s glory ;
let therefore these remarkable organs have our first
attention.
Wherein do these wings chiefly differ from all other
insect wings ? Certainly in being covered thickly with
a variously coloured powdery material, easily removed
by handling. This apparent dust is composed, in
reality, of a vast number of regularly and beautifully
formed scales — feathers they are sometimes called, but
they are more comparable to fish scales than to any
other kind of natural covering. The general term
Lepidoptera , applied to all butterflies and moths, is
derived from these scalp-wings ; Lepis 1 being the Greek
for a scale , and ptera meaning wings in the same lan-
guage.
The use of a tolerably powerful pocket lens will af-
ford some insight into the exquisite mode of painting
employed in these matchless pieces of decoration ; but
the possessor of a regular microscope may, by applying
it to some of our commonest butterflies, open for himself
a world of beauty, and feast his eyes on a combination
of refined sculpture with splendour of colouring ; now
melting in softest harmony, then relieved by boldest
contrast — a spectacle, the first sight of which seldom
fails to call forth expressions of wonderment and warm
delight ; and, truly, little to be envied is the mind un-
touched by such utter beauty as here displayed.
As an example of the method by which this ad-
mirable effect produced, let us take a small portion of
Making Lepidos in genitive.
16
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
the wing of the Peacock, a very beautiful, though an
abundant species, and one admirably adapted for
microscopic examination, and to illustrate the subject,
from the great variety of rich tints brought together in
a small space, the part selected being the eye-like spot
at the outer corner of each upper wing. Even to the
naked eye this appears as a very splendidly coloured
object, yet but little of its exquisite mechanism can be
discovered by the unassisted organ. Something more
is brought out by a moderately strong lens : we then,
see the colours disposed in rows, reminding us of the
surface of Brussels carpet, or of certain kinds of
tapestry work.
How let us place the wing on the stage of a good
microscope, with the root of the wing pointing towards
the light (that is the best position for it) ; we shall then
first perceive that the whole surface is covered, or, so
to speak, tiled over with distinct, sharply cut scales ,
arranged as in fig. 16, with the outer or free edges of
one row overlapping the roots of the next. These roots
being all planted towards the base of the wing, if we
place that end next the light (as above directed), the
free edges of the scales throw a strong shadow on the
next row, which brings out the imbricated effect most
strikingly.
Beginning our observations at the outer edge of the
wing, we first notice a delicate fringe of scales or plumes,
more elongated and pointed than the surface scales, and
of a quiet brown colour. This tint is continued inwards
for a short space, gradually lightening, when (as we
shift the field of view towards the centre of the wing)
the colour of the scales suddenly changes to an intense
black ; then a little further, and the black ground is all
spangled with glittering sapphires, then strewed deep
with amethyst round a heap of whitest pearls. Golden
topaz — (jewels only will furnish apt terms of comparison
for these insect gems) — golden topaz ends the bright
many-coloured crescent, and in the centre is enclosed a
spot of profoundest black, gradating into a rich un-
BUTTERFLY PAINTING.
17
nameable red, whose velvet depth and softness contrast
deliciously with the adjacent flashing lustre; then conies
another field of velvet black, then more gold, and so on
till the gorgeous picture is complete.
Subject a piece of finest human painting to the scru-
tiny of a strong magnifying glass, and where is the
beauty thereof? Far from being magnified, it will have
wholly vanished : its cleverest touches turned to coarse,
repulsive daubs and stains.
Now, bring the microscope’s most searching powers
to bear upon the painting of an insect’s wing, and we
find only pictures within pictures as the powers in-
crease ; the very pigments used turn out to be jewels,
not rough uncut stones, but cut and graven gems, bedded
in softest velvet.
If by gentle rubbing with the finger-tip the scales
be removed from both sides of the wing (for each side
is scale-covered, though generally with a very different
pattern), there remains a transparent membrane like
that of a bee’s or fly’s wing, tight stretched between
stiff branching veins, but bearing no vestige of its late
gay painting, thus showing that the whole of the colour-
ing resides in the scales, the places occupied by th§
roots of the latter being marked by rows of dots.
Hitherto we have been looking at these scales as the
component parts of a picture, like the tesserae of mosaic
work ; but they are no less interesting as individual
objects, when viewed microscopically. To do this, deli-
cately rub off a little of the dust or scales with the
finger ; then take a slip of glass, and pressing the
finger with the adhering dust upon it, the latter will
come off and remain on the glass, which is then to be
placed under the microscope. These* scales may be
treated either as opaque or transparent objects, and in
both conditions display exceeding beauty, some of these
single atoms showing, by aid of the microscope, as
much complexity of structure as the whole wing does
to the unassisted vision.
A few of the highly varied forms they present are
c
18
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
shown on Plate I. Pigs. 23 to 38 are selected from
among the commoner forms, as seen by a comparatively
low power. The small stalk-like appendage is the
part by which the scale is affixed to the wing : it may
be called the root. Pigs. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, show some
very remarkable forms, which are, so far as has been
ascertained, peculiar to butterflies of the male sex,
though the use or reason of this masculine badge, only
visible to highly magnifying optics, is neither known
nor probably to be known at present ; but singularly
beautiful and curious they are to look at. The little
balls at the end of threads are the root portion, and fit
into cup-like sockets, placed here and there among the
ordinary scales. The surface of these scales is beauti-
fully ribbed and cross-ribbed, and at the upper end is
a plume-like tuft of delicate filaments. The curious
scale aptly called, from its shape, the Battledore scale,
and shown at fig. 22, also belongs to the male of
various butterflies, especially those pretty little ones
known as the “ Blues.” Its surface is most curiously
ornamented with rows of bead-like prominences.
Probably one would imagine that in such wee specks
as are these scales, one single layer of substance would
suffice for their whole thickness (if we can talk of thick-
ness, with objects almost immeasurable in their thin -
ness). But such is not the case, for when scales have
been injured by rubbing we now and then find a part
with the sculptured surfaces torn off on each side,
showing a plain central layer, so that at least three
layers — two ornamented and one plain — go to form a
filmy body, only a small fraction of the thickness of
paper.
But there are other portions of a butterfly to claim
our interest besides its wondrous wings.
On the creature’s head are grouped together some
most beautiful and important organs. The most pecu-
liar of these is the long spiral “ sucker,” which extracts
the honied food from the blossoms to which its wings so
gracefully waft it. This organ is shown, slightly magnified,
THE HONEY-SUCKER.
19
at fig. 8, Plate II., and a most delicate piece of animal
mechanism it is. Any human workman would, to a
certainty, be not only puzzled, but thoroughly beaten,
in an attempt to construct a tube little thicker than a
horse-hair, yet composed throughout its length of two
distinct pieces, capable of being separated at pleasure,
and then joined again so as to form an air-tight tube.
This redoubtable problem, however, is solved in the
construction of this curious little instrument that every
butterfly carries.
The junction of the two grooved surfaces that form
the tube is effected by the same contrivance that re-
unites the web of a feather whep it has been pulled
apart. We all know how completely it is made whole
again, and on examining by what means this result is
brought about, we find that it is by the interlacing of a
number of small fibres or hairs, just as, on a larger scale,
a pair of brushes adhere when pressed face to face ; and
so in the butterfly’s sucker, the two edges that join to
form the tube are closely set with minute bristles that,
when brought together, interlock so closely as to make
an air-tight surface.
Pig. 9, Plate II., is a transverse section taken near
the base of the sucker, the small opening at the top
being the food passage, those at the side the air-tubes
that supply air for respiration and perhaps assist in
suction.
The tube is probably made with separable parts in
order that if its interior should become at any time
clogged by grosser particles drawn up with the flower
nectar, it may be opened and cleansed by the insect ;
otherwise, the tube once rendered impassable, the
insect would speedily starve, as this narrow channel
is the only inlet for the creature’s nourishment — its
only mouth, in fact, for no butterfly possesses jaws to
bite with, or can take any but the liquid food pumped
up by suction through this pipe.
At the end of the proboscis— or, as it is called scien-
c 2
20
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
tifically, the Haustellum1 — there are visible in some
butterflies a number of small projections, of the form
shown at fig. 10, Plate II., which is a highly magnified
figure of the end of the Eed Admiral’s proboscis. These
appendages are generally supposed to be organs of taste,
and to aid in the discrimination of food when the pipe
is unrolled and thrust down deep into the nectary of a
flower.
The compound eye of a butterfly, wonderful as its
structure is, does not greatly differ from that of many
other insects, being like them composed of an immense
number of little lenses set together to form a hemisphere
large in comparison with the insect’s head. A portion
of one of these eyes forms a pretty and interesting
object for the microscope, presenting a honey-comb ap-
pearance, the hexagonal lines that mark the division of
the lenses being most beautifully geometrical and regu-
lar in their arrangement. More than seventeen hundred
of these lenses have been counted in a single eye, and
each of these is considered to possess the qualities of
a complete and independent eye. If this be true, the
butterfly may be said to be endowed with at least
thirty-four thousand eyes !
There exist also, as in other insects, two simple eyes,
placed on the top of the head, but so buried in down
and scales as to be neither visible, nor useful for vision,
as far as we can perceive ; probably the creature finds
that his allowance of thirty-four thousand windows to
his soul lets in as much light as he requires.
Every one looking at a butterfly must have remarked
its long horns, called antennae ,2 which project from
above the eyes, like jointed threads, thickening — in some
species gradually, in others suddenly — into a club or
knob at the extremity ; a peculiarity which, it will be
remembered, was pointed out at the commencement, as
1 A word derived from the Latin, and meaning literal^ a
(t sucker.”
2 Antenna in the singular number.
FUNCTIONS OF ANTENNJE. 21
a prominent mark of distinction between butterflies and
moths.
Very graceful appendages are these waving antennae ,
and evidently of high importance to their owner ; but
still, their exact office or function is unknown, notwith-
standing that many guesses and experiments have been
made with a view of settling that question.
Investigators have perhaps erred, by assuming at the
outset that these antennae must be organs of some sense
that we ourselves possess ; whereas, I think that there
is much evidence to show that insects are gifted with a
certain subtle sense, for which we have no name, and
of which we can have as little real idea, as we could
have had of the faculty of sight, had all the world been
born blind.
For example ; if you breed from the chrysalis a
female Kentish Glory Moth, and then immediately
take her — in a closed box, mind — out into her native
woods, within a short space of time an actual crowd of
male “ Glories come and fasten upon, or hover over,
the prison-house of the coveted maiden. Without this
magic attraction, you might walk in these same woods
for a whole day and not see a single specimen, the
Kentish Glory being generally reputed a very rare
moth; while as many as some 120 males have been
thus decoyed to their capture in one night, by the
charms of a couple of lady “Glories,” shut up in a
box.
Kow, which of our five senses, I would ask — even if
developed into extraordinary acuteness in the insect—
would account for such an exhibition of clairvoyance as
this 1
May not, then, this undiscovered sense, whatever
may be its nature, reside in the antennae h for it is a
remarkable fact, that the very moths, such as the
Eggers, the Emperor, the Kentish Glory, &c., which
display the above-mentioned phenomenon most signally,
have the antennae in the males amplified with numerous
spreading branches, so as to present an unusually large
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
22
sensitive surface. This seems to point to some con-
nexion between those organs and the faculty of dis-
covering. the presence, and even the condition, of one
of their own race, with more, perhaps, than a mile of
distance, and the sides of a wooden box, intervening
between themselves and their object.
Whilst writing this, the current number of the
“Entomologist’s Weekly Intelligencer’7 has arrived,
and I there read that Dr. Clemmens, an American
naturalist, has been lately experimenting on the an-
tennae of some large American moths, for the purpose
of gaining some information as to their function. The
article, though very interesting, is too long for quotation
here ; but it appears that with the moths in question,
a deprivation of the whole, or even part of the antennae,
interferes with, or entirely annihilates the power
of flight, so that the creature when thus shorn, but
not otherwise injured, if thrown into the air seems to
have no idea of using his wings properly, but with a
purposeless flutter tumbles headlong to the earth. Still
this merely goes to prove that the antennae are the in-
struments of some important sense, one of whose uses
is to guide the creature’s flight ; but as many wingless
insects have large antennae, this evidently is not their
only function.
The antennae are also often styled the “feelers but
with our present incomplete knowledge of their nature,
the former term is preferable, as it does not attempt to
define their use as the word “ feelers ” does.
Considerable variety of form exists in the clubbed
tip of the antennae in various butterflies, as will be seen
by reference to Plate II., where three of the most dis-
tinct forms are shown considerably magnified. Eig. 12
is the upper part of the antenna of the High-brown
Eritillary ( Argynnis Adippe ), the end suddenly swelling
into a distinct knob. Eig. 13 is that of the Swallow-
tail Butterfly ( Papilio Machaon ), the enlargment here
being more gradual ; and fig. 1 4 is that of the Large
Skipper Butterfly ( Pamphila Sylvanns), distinguished
LEGS.
23
by the curved point that surmounts the club. These
differences in the forms of the antennae are found to be
excellent aids in the classification of butterflies, and I
shall therefore have occasion to refer to them more
minutely in describing the insects in detail.
The stems of these organs are found to be tubular,
and at the point of junction with the head the base is
spread out (as shown at fig. 15), forming what engineers
call a “ flange,” to afford sufficient support for the long
column above.
The legs are the last portions of the butterfly frame-
work that require especial notice, on account of a
peculiar variation they are subject to in different family
groups.
It may be laid down as an axiom, that all true in-
sects have six legs , in one shape or another ; and butter-
flies, being insects, are obedient to the same universal
rule, and duly grow their half-dozen legs ; but in certain
tribes the front pair, for no apparent reason, are so short
and imperfect as to be totally useless for walking pur-
poses, though they may possibly be used as hands for
polishing up the proboscis, &c. So the butterfly in
this case appears, to a hasty observer, to have only four
legs.
This peculiarity is a constant feature in several natural
groups of butterflies, and therefore, in conjunction with
other marks, such as the veining of the wings and the
shape of the antennae, its presence or absence is a most
useful mark of distinction, in classifying or searching
out the name and systematic place of a butterfly.
24
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
CHAPTER III.
WHAT BUTTERFLIES NEVER DO — GROUNDLESS TERROR — A MISTAKE
USES OF BUTTERFLIES MORAL OF BUTTERFLY LIFE — PSYCHE
— THE BUTTERFLY AN EMBLEM OF THE SOUL — -THE ARTIST AND
THE BUTTERFLY.
Among the negative attributes of butterflies, I may state
positively, that no butterfly whatever can either sting or bite
in the least degree; and from their total harmlessness to-
wards the person of man, conjoined with their outward
attractiveness, they merit and enjoy an exemption from
those feelings of dread and disgust that attach to many,
or, I may say, to almost all other tribes of insects ; even to
their equally harmless near relatives the larger moths.
At least, it has never been my misfortune to meet with
a person weak-minded enough to be afraid of a butter-
fly, though I have seen some exhibit symptoms of the
greatest terror at the proximity of a large Hawk-moth,
and some of the thick-bodied common moths — “ Match-
owlets,” the country folk call them.
Once, also, I listened to the grave recital — by a
classical scholar too — of a murderous onslaught made
by a Privet Hawk-moth on the neck of a lady, and how
it “ bit a piece clean out ” Of course I attempted to
prove, by what seemed to me very fair logic, that the
moth, having neither teeth nor even any mouth capable
of opening, but only a weak hollow tongue to suck
honey through, was utterly incapable of biting or in-
flicting any wound whatever. But, as is usual in such
cases, my entomological theory went for nothing in face
of the gentleman's knock-down battery of facts — ocular
facts; he had seen the moth, and he had seen the wound:
WHAT BUTTERFLIES ARE GOOD FOR.
25
surely, there was proof enough for me, or any one else.
So, I suppose, he steadfastly believes to this day, that
the moth was a truculent, bloodthirsty monster ; whilst
I still presume to believe, that if any wound was caused
at the moment in question, it was by the nails of the
lady attacked, or her friends, in clutching frantically at
the terrific intruder ; who, poor fellow, might have been
pardoned for mistaking the fair neck for one of his
favourite flowers (a lily , perhaps), while the utmost
harm he contemplated was to pilfer a sip of nectar from
the lips he doubtless took for rosebuds.
Utilitarians may, perhaps, inquire the uses of butter-
flies— what they do, make, or can be sold for ; and I
must confess that my little favourites neither make
anything to wear, like the silkworm, nor anything to
eat, like the honey-bee, nor are their bodies saleable by
the ton, like the cochineal insects, and that, commer-
cially speaking, they are just worth nothing at all,
excepting the few paltry pence or shillings that the
dealer gets for their little dried bodies occasionally ; so
they are of no more use than poetry, painting, and
music — than flowers, rainbows, and all such unbusiness-
like things. In fact, I have nothing to say in the
butterfly7 s favour, except that it is a joy to the deep-
minded and to the simple-hearted, to the sage, and, still
better, to the child — that it gives an earnest of a better
world, not vaguely and generally, as does every a thing
of beauty,77 but with clearest aim and purpose, through
one of the most strikingly perfect and beautiful analo-
gies that we can find throughout that vast Creation,
where —
“ All animals are living hieroglyphs.” 1
The butterfly, then, in its own progressive stages of
caterpillar, chrysalis, and perfect insect, is an emblem
of the human soul’s progress through earthly life and
death, to heavenly life.
Even the ancient Greeks, with their imperfect lights,
1 Bailey’s “ Festus.”
26
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
recognised tliis truth, when they gave the same name,
Psyche (tyvxv), to the soul, or spirit of life, and to the
butterfly, and sculptured oyer the efflgy of one dead the
figure of a butterfly, floating away, as it were, in his
breath ; while poets of all nations have since followed
up the simile.
And this analogy is not only a mere general resem-
blance, but holds good through its minute details to a
marvellous extent ; to trace which fully would require
volumes, while in this place the slightest sketch only
can be given.
First, there is the grovelling caterpillar-state, em-
blematical of our present imperfection, but yet the state
of preparation and increase towards perfection, and that,
too, which largely influences the future existence.
Many troubles and changes are the lot of the cater-
pillar. Repeated skin-shiftings and ceaseless industry
in his vocation are necessary, that within his set time
he may attain full growth and vigour.
Then comes a mighty change : the caterpillar is to
exchange his worm-like form and nature for an exist-
ence unspeakably higher and better. But, as we have
seen, to arrive at this glory there is only one condition,
which is, that the creature must pass through another,
and, as it might seem, a gloomy state — one anything
but cheerful to contemplate; for it must cease to eat, to
move, and — to the eye— to live. Yet, is it really dead
now, or do we, who. have watched the creature thus far,
despair and call it lost % Do we not rather rejoice that
it rests from its labours, and that the period of its
glorification is at hand %
In the silent chrysalis state then our Psyche sleeps
away awhile, unaffected by the vicissitudes around it;
and, at last, when its appointed day arrives, bursts from
its cerements, and rises in the air a winged and joyous
being, to meet the sun which warmed it into new
life. Now it is a butterfly , — bright emblem of pleasure
unalloyed.
This happy consummation, however, is only for the
PSYCHE.
27
chrysalis which has not within it the devouring worm,
the fruit of the ichneumon’s egg, harboured during the
caterpillar state — and emblem, in the human soul, of
some deadly sin yielded to during life, and which after-
wards becomes the gnawing “ worm that dieth not.”
For in this case, instead of the bright butterfly, there
issues forth from the chrysalis-shell only a swarm of
black, ill-favoured flies, like a troop of evil spirits coming
from their feast on a fallen soul.
If a caterpillar were gifted with a foreknowledge of
his butterfly future, so far transcending his inglorious
present, we could imagine that he would be only im-
patient to get through his caterpillar duties, and rejoice
to enter the chrysalis state as soon as he was fitted for
it. How short-sighted then would a caterpillar appear
who should endeavour, while in that shape, to emulate
the splendour of the butterfly by some wretched tem-
porary substitute, adding a few more, or brighter stripes
than nature had given it ; or, again, if one whose great
change was drawing near, should attempt to conceal its
visible approach by painting over the fading hues of
health, and plastering up the wrinkles of its outward
covering, so soon to be thrown off altogether * instead of
striving for inward strength and beauty, which would
never decline, but be infinitely expanded in the but-
terfly— and regarding the earthly beauty’s wane as the
dawn of the celestial.
With these and similar reflections before us (which
might be multiplied ad infinitum ), we shall no longer
look upon the caterpillar as a mere unsightly and
troublesome reptile, the chrysalis as an unintelligible
curiosity, and the butterfly as a pretty painted thing
and nothing more ; but regard them as together forming
one of those beautiful and striking illustrations with
which the book of Nature has been so profusely en-
riched by its Great Author ; not to be taken as sub-
stitutes for His revealed Word, but as harmonious
adjuncts, bringing its great truths more home to our
understandings, just as the engravings in a book are
28
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
not designed as substitutes for tbe text, but to elucidate
and strengthen the ideas in the reader’s mind.
While the poet draws from the butterfly many a
pleasant similitude, and the moralist many a solemn
teaching, the artist (who shoidd be poet and moralist
too) dwells upon these beings with fondest delight, find-
ing in them images of joy and life when seen at large
in the landscape, and rich stores of colour-lessons when
studied at home in the cabinet.
The owners of many a name great in the arts have
been enthusiastic collectors of butterflies. Our distin-
guished countryman, Thomas Stothard, was one of their
devotees, and the following anecdote, extracted from his
published life, shows how he was led to make them
his special study : —
“ He was beginning to paint the figure of a reclining
sylph, when a difficulty arose in his own mind how
best to represent such a being of fancy. A friend who
was present said, ‘ Give the sylph a butterfly’s wing,
and then you have it.’ ‘ That I will,’ exclaimed
Stothard ; ‘ and to be correct I will paint the wing
from the butterfly itself.’ He sallied forth, extended
his walk to the fields, some miles distant, and caught
one of those beautiful insects ; it was of the species
called the Peacock. Our artist brought it carefully
home, and commenced sketching it, but not in the
painting room ; and leaving it on the table, a servant
swept the pretty little creature away, before its portrait
was finished. On learning his loss, away went Stothard
once more to the fields to seek another butterfly. But
at this time one of the tortoise-shell tribe crossed his
path, and was secured. He was astonished at the com-
bination of colour that presented itself to him in this
small but exquisite work of the Creator, and from that
moment determined to enter on a new and difficult
field — the study of the insect department of Natural
History. He became a hunter of butterflies. The
more he caught, the greater beauty did he trace in their
infinite variety, and he would often say that no one
THE ARTIST AND THE BUTTERFLY.
29
knew what he owed to these insects— they had taught
him the finest combinations in that difficult branch of
art — colouring/’
The above doubtless has its parallel in the experience
of many artistic minds, whose very nature it is to ap-
preciate to the full the perfections set forth in a butterfly,
admiring —
“ The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie.
The silken down with which his back is dight.
His broad outstretched horns, his airy thigh,
His glorious colours and his glistening eye.”
Spenser.
30
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
CHAPTER IY.
BUTTERFLIES IN THE CABINET — HOW TO CATCH THEM — APPARATUS
— GOING OUT — WEATHER — LOCALITIES — LOCAL BUTTERFLIES
— INCOGNITOS— FIELD WORK — FAVOURITE STATIONS— BEWARE
OF THE BRAMBLE.
The mention of butterflies “ in the cabinet ” leads at
once to the question, how to get them there ; or, in
other words, How to catch a Butterfly.
This is a question often less difficult to answer in
words than in action, for many of our butterflies are
gifted not only with strong prejudices against the inside
of a net, but with very strong powers of escaping from
that unpleasant situation. Still, by aid of proper ap-
paratus, a sure eye and hand, and often, of a good pair
of legs, there is no butterfly, however fleet and wary,
that we may not feel ourselves a tolerable match for.
Firstly, then, as to the out-door apparatus required.
This is simple enough, a net and pocket-boxes , with a
few pins, being the only essentials. 1
Yariously constructed nets are used, according to
fancy, but the choice may lie between two chief forms :
the Clap-net and the Ring-net.
The former certainly gives more power in a fair
chase, but the latter has the advantage of being the
lighter, more portable, and less conspicuous of the two.
Both of these instruments are shown in the accompany-
ing figures.
(1) As beginners in entomology are, I know, often glad to be informed of
some reliable dealer from whom to procure the apparatus required for the
pursuit, I have pleasure in here giving the name of Mr. T. Cooke, of 513,
New Oxford Street (a central and accessible situation), where all the
apparatus mentioned in this work, and numerous other natural history
articles, are to be found, good and cheap, I believe. For the guidance of
young amateurs, I will mention the prices of a few of the more necessary
articles I have myself purchased or examined at the above establishment.
Cane ring-nets, with stick, and ready for use, 2s. ; ring-net, with three-
jointed metal ring and screw-socket, 4s. 6d ; pocket collecting-boxes, corked,
3d to Is. each ; store-boxes, 14 in. by 10 in. corked top and bottom, 2s. 6d ;
drying houses, for securely keeping setting-boards when in use, and con-
taining eleven corked setting-boards and drawer for pins, <Src. 10s. Gd ;
sheet cork, for lining cabinets, 7 in. by 3^ in. Is. doz. sheets ; entomological
pins, three sizes, mixed, Is. oz. &c. &e.
NETS.
31
The clap-net (fig. 1) usually has the sticks that com-
pose the framework made
each in three separate pieces,
joined by ferrules — a couple
of light fishing-rods will do
excellently, a piece of bent
cane being substituted for
the top joint. The manner
in which the gauze is ex-
tended between, and fitted
on, these rods will be suffi-
.ciently obvious on looking
at the cut, which represents
the net half open. In tak-
ing an insect, one handle is
held in each hand, the net
opened wide, and thrown
over, or made to intercept
the insect, when, by sud-
denly closing the handles
together, a closed bag is
made, and the little pri-
soner is secured.
The ring - net (fig. 2),
which is the implement
most generally in vogue, may be constructed in several
ways. The cheapest, and at the same time a highly
serviceable one, is made by getting from a tinman a tin
“ socket ” of this form, the larger end
fitting on to the end of a straight stick,
and the two smaller tubes receiving the
ends of a hoop of cane, which carries the
net, it being passed through a loose hem
round the top of the latter. The cane,
taken out of the socket, can be rolled
up closely with the net and carried in
the pocket to the scene of action, while
the handle may be a strong common
walking-stick, a most useful auxiliary
32
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
in getting across country, and thus this net becomes
really no incumbrance to the tourist, who may have
other matters in hand besides butterfly hunting — perhaps
sketching and botanizing — when the larger clap-net be-
comes quite embarrassing.
Another form of this net has the ring made of metal ,
wadi jointed in several places, so as to fold within a small
pocketable compass, and arranged to screw into a brass
socket on the top of the stick. This is a very com-
mendable net — not so easily home-made as the last,
certainly, but it can be readily procured complete from
the London dealers (or “ naturalists/’ as they style
themselves).
A net that has been a good deal used of late opens
and shuts on the umbrella principle, and with the same
celerity, forming a ring-net when open — when shut
going into a case like that of an umbrella.
Some entomologists, nervously sensitive to public
opinion, are, however, somewhat shy of sporting these
umbrella nets, for should rain perchance come down
while he is on the road, the villagers may be astonished
at the insane spectacle of a man scuttling along through
the torrent and getting drenched through, while he car-
ries a good-looking umbrella carefully under his arm for
fear it should get wet ; and if, on the other hand, the
weather be fine, the carrying such a protective would
seem an equally eccentric whim. But only the very thin-
skinned would be driven from the use of a good weapon
by such a harmless contingency as I have here supposed.
Other necessary equipments for the fly-catcher are
two or three light wooden boxes , as large as can conve-
niently be carried in the pockets, and having either the
bottom, or, if deep enough, both bottom and top lined
with a layer of cork, about one-eighth of an inch in
thickness.
A pin-cushion, well furnished with entomological
pins, should also be carried, and will be found to be
most accessible when suspended by a loop and button
(or otherwise) inside the breast of the coat.
BUTTERFLY HAUNTS.
33
Tlie pins here mentioned, which, are an important
item among butterfly-collecting requisites, are of a
peculiar manufacture — very small-headed, long and
thin, hut strong. Any good London dealer will supply
them on application, or send them by post into the
country.
Armed with the above simple paraphernalia , viz.
net to catch, boxes and pins to contain and detain, the
insect hunter may sally forth on any fine summer’s day,
with a pretty sure prospect of sport, and the chance, at
least, of a prize. Much depends, however, on the
choice of a day, and the nature of the locality that is
to form the hunting ground.
As to weather, it must he remembered that winged
insects have a great objection to face a north, or north-
east wind, during the prevalence of which you will
probably find hardly one stirring, however prolific the
locality may at other times be.
Butterflies, as a rule, do not appear to be at all in-
fluenced by an eye for the picturesque and romantic
in the choice of their favourite haunts. Often have I
been disappointed in this way, finding a delicious spot,
basking in sunshine, and bedight with all manner of
flowers such as a butterfly loves, yet with scarcely a
stray butterfly to enliven it ; while, on the other hand,
a piece of the most unpromising flat waste land will
be all alive with insect beauty. Those, for example,
who would see those splendid creatures, the Swallow-
tail butterfly and the large Copper (if this exists with
us at all now), must go to the dreary fen districts that
form their almost exclusive haunts.
It is, in fact, very hard to say what influences bripg
a swarm of butterflies together, to populate one parti-
cular spot, to the utter neglect of others close at hand,
and, to all appearance, just as eligible.
Some species are most remarkable for their excessive
localness (as it is called), or, limiting their range to an ex-
ceedingly small circumscribed space ; so much so, that
some rare species have been known to haunt just one
D
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
corner of one particular field, year after year, while not a
single specimen could be found in all the neighbouring
fields, though precisely similar, to all appearance. This'
phenomenon is quite inexplicable with regard to insects
endowed so pre-eminently with locomotive powers as
butterflies are.
The local nature of his game should, however, induce
the collector to leave no nook or corner unexplored
when he is “working” a district; as the passing over
(or rather, neglecting to pass over) a single field may
lose him the very species it would joy him most to
find.
I would also advise the beginner — and, indeed, all
hut the very experienced hands — to catch, not necessa-
rily for slaughter, but for inspection, every attainable
individual whose species he cannot positively declare to
when on the wing, lest he pass by some rarities un-
awares. Thus the valued Queen of Spain, and the
much-disputed Dia Pritillaries, the Melitceas , the Brown
Hair-streak, and (on the mountains) the rare Prebias,
perhaps some new to this country, — any of these might
be mistaken by a novice for some of the commoner brown
species. Among the “ Whites,” too, the Black- veined
White, that great prize, the Bath White, and the
wdiite varieties of the Clouded Yellow and Clouded
Sulphur, might share the same fate, or fortune rather,
of being reckoned as “ Cabbage Whites.”
Then, with the “ Blues.” Who is there that could
at once distinguish with certainty the very rare Maza-
rine Blue (P. Acts) from the common Blues when on
the wing ? Perhaps it would turn out to be less rare
than supposed, if all the Blues in a fresh locality were
netted as they came near, and set at liberty after passing
muster.
Why, only last season a very curious Blue,1 never
before observed in this country, was captured near
Brighton by a collector, who, at the moment, thought
Polyommatus Bcieticus.
FAVOURITE PERCHES. 3 5
it was only a Common Blue, so precisely similar did it
look when flying.
As to the manipulation of the net, it will he better
to leave the young collector to find that out for himself ;
which, if he has the use of his hands, he will quickly
do when he gets into the field. He will soon perceive
that with most of the swdfter butterflies, it is of no use
to make a rush at them. A surprise answers better
than a charge ; for they easily take alarm at open
violence, and then go off straight ahead at a pace that
renders pursuit, over bad ground especially, most
trying, if not hopeless work. So the “ suaviter in modo ”
principle is best here as elsewhere : — gently follow up
and watch your butterfly till he pauses over or settles
upon a flower, or whatever it may be; then, with
caution, you can generally come within striking dis-
tance without giving alarm, and one vigorous, well-
aimed stroke usually settles the matter ; if, after that,
he is outside of your net instead of in, you will find it a
difficult matter to get another chance, at least, with most
of the larger and strong-flying kinds. But there is much
diversity of disposition among these creatures, and some
are unscared by repeated attacks. These points of cha-
racter the collector will soon learn when he has been
among these lively little people for a season.
The different species have also their own favourite
positions, on which they delight to perch.
Thus the Clouded Yellow loves the low flowers of
the railway-bank and the down ; often seen toying with
a breeze-rocked flower as yellow-coated as himself, as
though he had mistaken it, in its fluttering, for one of
his mates.
Then the Peacock and Eed Admiral are attached to
several plants of the composite order, such as the
thistles, teazle, and above all (as far as I have observed),
to that fine, stalwart plant that frequently abounds in
thickets, &c., and known as Hemp Agrimony (. Eupato -
rium cannabimim). I seldom, at the proper season,
visit a clump of this growing in a sunny opening,
d 2
36
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
without finding, besides a store of other insects, one
or both of these grand butterflies enthroned on the
ample purplish flower-heads, and fanning their gorgeous
wings, after the custom of their genus, then launching
into the air, and, after a few circling evolutions in that
element, returning to the self-same flower-heads, their
chosen seats.
Both of these flies are easily captured when in this
position, as they allow a near approach, and can be
without hindrance swept off by a rapid side-stroke of
the net.
The glorious Purple Emperor is celebrated for his
predilection for a throne on the oak, though some other
lofty trees, such as the ash, are occasionally honoured
by the imperial presence ; but his habits and locale will
be referred to more particularly hereafter.
That lovely butterfly, the Silver- washed Eritillary,
has a penchant for settling on the bramble, which jus-
tifies the preference by proving itself the insect’s best
friend ; but withal a most provoking opponent to his
would-be captor, who may get him safely within the
net’s mouth at the first stroke, when, ten to one, the
trusty bramble-hooks clutch into the gauze, and effec-
tually prevent the quick turn of the net that should
close it, while the prisoner, seeing his chance, darts out
with a sharp rustle that one’s irritated feelings easily
interpret into a derisive laugh.
But experience will in time teach the fly-catcher the
required adroitness to avoid this humiliating defeat.
HOW TO KILL A BUTTERFLY.
37
CHAPTER Y.
HOW TO KILL A BUTTERFLY — AN APOLOGY — A TEST FOR LUNACY
— CHARGE OF CRUELTY AGAINST ENTOMOLOGISTS — THEIR JUSTI-
FICATION ATTEMPTED PAINLESS DEATH CHLOROFORM
SETTING BUTTERFLIES — CABINETS AND STORE BOXES — CLASSIFI-
CATION— LATIN NAMES — SAVING TIME AND MONEY.
Having complied with the old adage, “ First catch,
your hare/’ the next point naturally is — how to cook it.
So, having caught our butterfly, what are we to do with
him ? — a question that generally resolves itself firstly
into
HOW TO KILL A BUTTERFLY.
This truculent sentence may, I fear, look like a blot
on the page to some tender-hearted reader, and, in
truth, this killing business is the one shadow on the
otherwise sunshiny picture, which we would all gladly
leave out, were it possible to preserve a butterfly’s
beauty alive ; but this cannot be done, and yet we have
made up our minds to possess that beauty — to collect
butterflies, in short ; there is but one way for it, and
so a butterfly’s pleasure must be shortened for a few
days, to add to our pleasure and instruction, perhaps for
years after.
In the time of the great Hay, in suck mean repute
was the science of entomology held, mainly, I believe,
on account of the small size of its objects, that an action
at law was brought to set aside the wall of an estimable
woman, Lady Glanville, on the ground of insanity , the
only symptom of which that they could bring forward
in evidence was her fondness for collecting insects !
38
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
But this was some two centuries ago, and matters
have greatly mended for the entomologist since then.
Now he may collect butterflies, or other flies, as he pleases,
without bringing down a commission “ de lunatico ”
on his head , but still the goodness of his heart is some-
times called in question, and he has to encounter the
equally obnoxious charge of cruelty to the objects of his
admiration — that, too, from intelligent and worthy
friends, whose good opinion he would most unwillingly
forfeit.
He, therefore,, is naturally most anxious that those
friends should be led to share his own conviction, that
the pursuit of entomology — the needful butterfly killing
and all included — may be not only not cruel, but actually
beneficent in theory and practice.
So I will briefly try to act as apologist for the
“ brotherhood of the net,” myself included.
In the first place, I will state roundly my sincere belief
that insects cannot feel pain . This is no special plead-
ing, or “ making the wish the father to the thought,”
but a conviction founded on an ample mass of evidence,
on my own observations and experiments, and strength-
ened by analogical reasoning. I wish I had space to
lay this evidence in full before the reader ; but this
being here impracticable, I will not damage the argu-
ment by taking a few links out of a chain of facts which
depend on their close connexion with each other for
their strength and value.
There is, however, one fact which may be taken by
itself, and goes a long way in our favour, that I must
mention here.
Insects, when mutilated in a way that would cause
excessive pain and speedy death to vertebrate animals,
afterwards perform all the functions of life — eating,
drinking, &c. with the same evident gusto and power
of enjoyment as before. Plenty of striking instances of
this are on record, and, as an example, I have seen a
wasp that had been snipped in two, afterwards regale
himself with avidity upon some red syrup, which, as he
OUR RIGHT OVER INSECT LIFE.
39
imbibed, gathered into a large ruby bead just behind
the wings (where the stomach should have been) ; but
really the creature’s pleasure seemed to be only aug-
mented by the change in his anatomy, because he could
drink ten times his ordinary fill of sweets, without, of
course, getting any the fuller. I could almost fancy a
scientific epicure envying the insect his ever fresh ap-
petite and gastronomic capabilities.
After all that can be said on this subject, there will
still probably be misgivings in the mind of many, both
as to the question of insect feelings and also as to our
right to shorten their existence, even by a painless
death.
As to the first point, we have now the means of
giving any insect an utterly painless quietus, be it capable
of feeling pain or no.
In regard to the second, I think few will deny that
man enjoys a vested right to make use of any of the
inferior animals, even to the taking of their life, if
the so doing ministers to his own well-being or plea-
sure, and practically every one assumes this right in one
way or another. Game animals are shot down (and
they assuredly do feel pain), not as necessaries of life,
but confessedly as luxuries. Fish are hooked, crabs,
lobsters, shrimps perish by thousands, victims to our
fancies. Unscrupulously we destroy every insect whose
presence displeases us, harmless as they may be to our
own persons. The aphides on our flowers, the moths
in our furs, the “ beetles ;; in our kitchens — all die by
thousands at our pleasure. Then, if all this be right,
are we not also justified in appropriating a little butterfly
life to ourselves, and does not the mental feast that their
after-death beauty affords us at least furnish an equal
excuse for their sacrifice with any that can be urged in
favour of any animal slaughter, just to tickle the palate
or minister to our grosser appetites ? To this query
there can be, I think, but one fair answer, so we may
return with a better face to the question, “ How to kill
a butterfly.”
40
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
I have alluded above to a painless mode of doing so,
doubtless applicable to all insects. I know it answers
admirably with the large moths, so tenacious of life'
under other circumstances. This potent agent is chloro-
form, whose pain-quelling properties are so well known
as regards the human constitution.
There is a little apparatus1 constructed for carrying
this fluid safely to the field, and letting out a drop at a
time into the box with the captured insect, taking care
that the drop does not go on to the insect. Or a wide-
mouthed bottle may be used, having at the- bottom a
pad of blotting-paper, or some absorbent substance, on
which a few drops of chloroform may now and then be
dropped. The insect being slipped into this, and the
stopper or hand being placed over the bottle’s mouth,
insensibility (in the insect) follows immediately, and in
a few minutes, at most, it is completely lifeless.
But the usual and quickest mode of despatch is by
a quick nip betiveen the finger and thumb applied just
under the wings , causing, for the most part, instantaneous
death : and this can be done through the net, when the
inclosed butterfly shuts his wings, as he usually does
when the net wraps round him.
blow take one of your thin pins, and pass it through
the thorax of the butterfly, while open or shut, and put
it into the corked lining of your pocket-box. So secured,
the butterfly will travel uninjured till you reach home ;
but a heap of dead butterflies in a box together will, in
the course of a long walk, so jostle together, a s to
entirely destroy each other’s beauty, rubbing off all
their painted scales, when, of course, they are as butter-
flies no longer.
1 A very ingenious and neat contrivance — the invention of
my friend, Dr. Allchin, of Bayswater. It may be procured from
Mrs. Foxcroft, of 3, Union Yard, Oxford Street (near Orchard
Street), the widow of an assiduous collector and dealer in in-
sects, who, I regret to state, has lately fallen a victim to his
entomological labours in the deadly climate of Sierra Leone.
Mrs. F. also keeps a stock of excellent entomological apparatus
and specimens of all kinds.
rift
/L
*1
r
/ i
/Jf
SETTING-OUT.
41
tc
When you get home, take out all the pins, excepting
such as may be stuck perpendicularly through the
middle of the thorax , and as soon as possible proceed to
“set” your captures.
Preparatory to this, some articles called setting -boards
must be provided. A section of one of these is shown
in the accompanying cut ; but in reality they are made
much longer, so as to accommodate a column of half-a-
dozen butterflies or more : the breadth may vary, ac-
cording to the width of the butterflies that are to be
set thereon.
The bottom is usually a thin slip of deal, on which
are glued two strips of cork, bevelled off towards the
edges, with a slightly curved face. Sometimes, how^-
ever, the whole board is made of soft pine, with a groove
planed down the middle, and with care will answer
pretty well ; but the corked board is far preferable.
The mode of “ setting” the insect with card “ braces ”
transfixed with pins, which retain the wings in their
proper position, will be also readily seen by reference to
the figure.
A great point in “setting” is to take care that all the
wings are symmetrically arranged, or diverging from
the body at equal angles on each side. Let the antennae
also be carefully preserved, as on their integrity much
of the specimen's value depends.
It will be needless to say that any handling of the
wings is to be avoided, as a touch will sometimes
destroy their bloom.
42
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
The setting-board, when filled, should be put away
into a secure, dust-proof, and dry place ; and in a few
days, more or less, according to the dryness or otherwise
of the atmosphere, the butterflies will have dried and
set in their positions, and are then ready for transference
to the store-box or cabinet.
The choice of this receptacle is a serious question for
the beginner, who is often in want of a guide to the
judicious expenditure of his money, if money he means
to spend in this pursuit. To preserve insects, it is not
absolutely necessary to have either a cabinet or the
regularly-made stqre-boxqs ; for, with a little contriv-
, ance, any close-sliutting, shallow box may be extem-
porized into a store-box. The bottom may either be
lined with sheet-cork (such as is used by shoemakers) —
which, however, is a rather dear commodity — or com-
mon wine-corks may be sliced up, and cut into little
square patches that may be attached in straight rows to
the bottom of the box with strong gum or other cement.
The first specimens, the nucleus of the future great col-
lection, can be kept here well enough, till a real cabinet
can be compassed.
A cabinet, hqwever, need not be bought all at once ;
it may be arranged to grow with the collection — and, it
may be, with the collector too — by having one or two
drawers made at a time ; till, in course of time, a suf-
ficient number is obtained, when the whole may be
fitted into a case at a small additional expense, and
then there is a first-rate cabinet complete ; for, to make
this plan really advantageous, the drawers should be
well made and of good material. Of course, all the
drawers must be made to the same “ gauge/’ to insure
perfect fitting when the cabinet is made up.
These drawers may be made by any clever joiner, but
as their construction is peculiar, and not easily described,
it is necessary, either that the maker should be accus-
tomed to this speciality, or that he be furnished with
a pattern, either by buying a single drawer at a dealer’s,
where that can be done, by borrowing one out of a
SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENT. 43
friend's cabinet, or by making therefrom a good work-
ing drawing (in section, &c.).
The glasses which cover in the drawers should always
have separate frames for the more perfect exclusion of
dust and mites.
Well seasoned mahogany or deal may be the material
for the drawers, but on no account let them be of cedar,
a material often used by ignorant or unprincipled makers,
to the great detriment of the collection, and mortifica-
tion of the collector, as resinous matter after a short
time exudes from the pores of this wood, dropping
down on to the glasses below in a gummy shower, and.
the effluvium seems to condense upon the contained
insects, whose wings are gradually discoloured and dis-
figured by greasy looking blotches. The drawers are
lined at bottom with cork, covered -with pure white
paper, which should be attached with thin paste.
The butterflies are then to be arranged in the drawers
in perpendicular columns, and in accordance with some
system of classification. If there be room it is well to
have a considerable number of specimens of each species,
especially when it is one liable to much variation. At
least one of each sex should always be given, and also
one of each sex showing the under surface. When the
chrysalis can be procured, that also should be pinned
down with its fellow-butterfly, and a good coloured
drawing of each caterpillar would be a valuable addition
to the series. Between the columns, lines should be
ruled varying in distance according to the breadth of
the butterflies, and small labels should be pinned down
at the foot of each species giving its specific name ; the
name of the genus being placed at the head of the first
species of the genus. The names of the families and
sub-families under which the genera are classed are also
generally given in their respective places.
I have in this little work followed the system of
classification used in the public collection of British
butterflies at the British Museum, which seemed to me
more intelligible and natural when applied to our very
44
British butterflies.
limited number of butterflies, than did the system of
Doubleday adopted in the great world-wide collection
which exists in the private entomological room of the
British Museum.
The following table gives the first-mentioned arrange-
ment of all the British species under their respective
genera, sub-families, and families. The most authentic
of the reputed species are also here inserted in their
proper places.
Fam. PAPILIONIDiE.
Sub-fam. PAPILIONIDI.
Papilio Machaon.
— Podalirius.
Sub-fam. PIERIDI.
Gonepteryx Rhamui.
Colias Edusa.
— Hyale.
Aporia Crataegi.
Pieris Brassicae.
— Rapae.
— Napi.
— Daplidice.
Euchloe Cardamines.
Leucophasia Sinapis.
Fam. NYMPHALIDiE.
Sub-fam. SATYRIDI.
Arge Galathea.
La sio'mmata Egeria.
— Megaera.
Hipparchia Semele.
— Janira.
— Tithonus.
— Hyperanthus.
Erebia Blandina.
— Ligea.
— Cassiope.
CjENonympha Davus.
Pamphilus.
Sub-fam. NYMPH ALIDI.
Limenitis Sybilla.
Apatura Iris.
Sub-fam. VANESSIDI.
Cynthia Cardui.
Vanessa Atalanta.
— Io.
— Antiopa.
— Polychloros.
— Urticae.
Grapta C. Album.
Sub-fam. ARGYNNIDI.
Argynnis Paphia.
— Aglaia.
— Adippe.
— Lathonia.
— Euphrosyne.
— Selene.
— Dia.
Melitjea Cinxia.
— Athalia.
— Artemis.
Fam. ERYCINIDH3.
Nemeobius Lucina.
Fam. LYOENID^E.
Thecla Betulae.
— Pruni.
— W. Album.
— Quercus.
— Rubi.
Chrysophanus Phlaeas.
— Chryseis.
— Dispar.
Polyommatus Bceticus.
— Argiolus.
— Alsus.
— Acis.
— Arion.
— Corydon.
— Adonis.
— Alexis.
— JEgon.
— Agestis.
— Artaxerxes,
Fam. HESPERIDiE.
Pyrgus Alveolus.
Nisionades Tages,
Steropes Paniscus.
Pamphila Actaeon.
— Linea.
— Sylvanus.
— Comma.
It will be seen by the above list that seventy species
are given as British. Of these, five species, viz. Papilio
LATIN NAMES.
4 5
Podalirius , Erebia Ligea , Argynnis Dia , Chrysophanus
Chryseis, and Polyommatus Boelicus , have been so rarely
taken as to be refused a place among the regular denizens
of our island. So that we can only reckon up the small
number of sixty-five species of true British butterflies.
These it now remains to describe individually, but,
prior to entering on that task, I would say a few wosds
on the acquirement of scientific nomenclature and sys-
tematic arrangement, a knowledge of which will facili-
tate even our recreations in natural history, while it is
absolutely essential to carrying out the really scientific
study of any department.
It is true, that the painting of a butterfly and the
fragrance of a flower can give deep pleasure to a mind
quite unconscious of their Latin names, their genus,
order, or anything of the kind ; but the interest of
natural objects is, I am sure, greatly augmented when
we acquire some insight, however dimly, into the won-
derful mechanism of creation’s plan, its infinite grada-
tion of forms, and their curious, subtle relationships,
to which a good system of classification serves, in some
degree, as an index. I say, “ in some degree? as a sys-
tem framed in perfect accordance with that of nature
is a discovery rather to be desired than hoped for, with
the limited knowledge at present permitted to us.
Though these Latin names are generally considered
as unwelcome excrescences on the pages of popular
natural history works, I would yet advise the young
entomologist to master them for once, and accustom
himself well to their use. He will not find the task a
very difficult one, if I may judge from the repeated
instances in which I have heard the almost infantile
progeny of my naturalist friends glibly mouthing these
redoubtable words, and applying them with the most
precise accuracy.
Among collectors it is customary in familiar conver-
sation to use only the second, or specific name of the
insect’s Latin title ; thus, in speaking of the common
Swallow-tailed Butterfly, they call it “ Machaon ” only,
46
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
which, at once distinguishes the one they mean from the
other, or scarce Swallow-tailed Butterfly, which they
would speak of as “ Podalirius” The Pearl-bordered
Likeness Pritillary may he called “ Athalia ,” and so on.
I think it will he allowed that these Latin names are
not harder to learn, remember, or pronounce, than the
long-winded English titles ; and, when acquired, bring
their possessor the advantage of being able to converse
with precision on their subject with all naturalists,
whether British or Continental ; for these names of
science are current in all European languages.
Another piece of advice is : don't waste time in trying
to puzzle out the meaning , the why or the wherefore of
butterflies’ scientific names. Now and then, certainly,
they have some allusion to the insect’s appearance, or
to the plant on which it feeds ; thus, for instance,
Gonepteryx Rhamni, the entomological name of the Brim-
stone Butterfly, means the “ Angle-winged (butterfly)
of the Buckthorn ,” and this is very appropriate and
descriptive ; but in general there is no more connexion
between the name and the character of a butterfly, than
there is between a ship’s name — the “Furious,” the
“Coquette,” or the u Pretty Jane,” as it may be — and
the moral disposition or personal appearance of the
vessel that bears it.
Also, don’t waste money and encourage dishonesty, by
giving the absurdly large prices put upon British, or
pretended British specimens of butterflies, or other
insects that are rare in this country though common on
the Continent ; when, for all purposes of science, or
the pleasure derived from their beauty, avowed Conti-
nental specimens, at one-twentieth of the price, will do
just as well. In putting these into your cabinet, how-
ever, always attach to the pin underneath the insect a
label, bearing some mark to denote the specimen’s
foreign origin.
SWALLOW-TAIL.
47
A
CHAPTEE YI.
THE BRITISH BUTTERFLIES SEPARATELY DESCRIBED.
THE SWALLOW-TAILED BUTTERFLY. (Papilio Machaon.)
(Plate III. fig. 1.)
There is no possibility of mistaking this noble insect
for any other of our native species, after a glance at its
portrait. Its superior size, conjoined with the pos-
session of a pair of long tails on the hind wings, would
at once mark it distinctly, independently of the peculiar
markings and colour.
In the colouring of the wings, a broad simplicity
prevails, the general ground-tint being a clear creamy
yellow, with the bars and marginal bands of the deepest
velvety black. The broad bands of black on the front
wings are powdered towards the centre with yelloiv
scales, and those on the hind wings with blue scales.
The only other colour on this side is a spot of rust-red
at the inner angle of the hind wings.
The underside is very similar in colouring to the upper,
but the black markings are less decided and sharp, and
there are several additional rust-red spots on the hind
wings.
The caterpillar , which is a very handsome creature, is
found feeding on various umbelliferous plants ; among
which, its chief favourites in this country appear to be
the Wild Carrot ( Daucus Carota\ the Marsh Milk-
parsley (Selinum palustre), and Fennel (. Anethum Foeni-
culiim). In colour it is bright green, with velvet-black
rings, which are spotted with red. A distinguishing
48
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
mark of this caterpillar is*a reddish-coloured forked
appendage just behind its head, which, when the animal
is alarmed, gives out a strong-scented fluid, supposed to
be for the purpose of alarming some of its enemies.
The chrysalis , again, is a very pretty object, especially
when of its ordinary colour, which is a lively green,
shaded in some parts into bright yellow; but there is
a frequent variety marked only with various shades of
brown and buff. Living specimens of both of these are
before me at this moment, and when they assume the
perfect state, I shall be curious to mark whether these
differences are continued in the respective butterflies.
These chrysalides are most interesting objects to keep
during the winter months. As the spring advances, the
colours of the butterfly begin to appear faintly through
their thin green envelope, and the pattern of the upper
wings, which only are visible, becomes at last distinctly
perceptible, of course in miniature. When this is the
case, we should begin to watch for the release of the
beautiful prisoner.
If you visit his cage the first thing every morning
(for his exit most frequently takes place in early morn -
ing), you may be fortunate enough on one of these oc-
casions, to find the creature either actually emerging, or
just out of his case ; cutting an odd figure, and evidently
neither very proud of himself nor much at his ease,
his wings being tiny things, hardly bigger than those
of a humble-bee, and hanging limply from his compa-
ratively ponderous and gigantic body; which they are
nevertheless destined, ere many hours are over, to carry
with most enviable celerity through the air.
The rapid increase in size of these organs is a matter
of marvel ; you can literally see them grow, and within
about an hour they will have reached their full expanse.
The creature attaches itself, back downwards, to the lid
of its cage, or to the under side of any convenient
horizontal surface, that the wings, by their own weight,
may aid in their dilatation, and that they may dry with-
out creasing, as they will sometimes do, when the insect,
SWALLOW-TAIL.
49
being under a slippery bell-glass, for instance, is unable
to reach the desirable point of suspension, which it
always evinces extreme anxiety to do. By the time the
sun is well out, our pet will have his wings thoroughly
plumed for flight ; and here a difficulty sometimes pre-
sents itself to the entomologist. What is to be done
with our new-born Machaon ? It is probably a splendid
specimen for the cabinet, and the collector may long to
grace his “series” with its virgin splendours. But
then there will creep over him the unwelcome sensation,
that it is a somewhat cowardly proceeding to foster a
bright being into a life that might be all joyousness,
and then, taking advantage of his domesticated position,
to cut short that life, almost ere commenced, and to
forbid those wondrous wings to carry their possessor to
even one short day’s enjoyment of sunshine and nectar,
and the doubtlessly exalted pleasure of mere airy motion
itself. Fairly chasing down a butterfly is all well
enough ; but this is quite another thing.
Every one must, however, choose for himself, as to
taking the sentimental or the entomological view of the
matter.
Each probably finds its followers, and to the occa-
sional prevalence of the more tender sentiment, are
probably owing many of those stray Swallow-Tails that
turn up here and there in unlikely places.
The chrysalides, for rearing, may be obtained in the
autumn or winter, either from entomologists resident in
the localities of the butterfly, or more generally and cer-
tainly from the London or Cambridge dealers, who will
send them into the country by post for a few pence each.
The flight of this species is rapid and powerful, and
it has a habit of soaring loftily.
In this country its head quarters are in the fens of
Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Huntingdonshire. It has
been found in some abundance near Cambridge, Norwich,
Yaxley, Whittlesea Mere, Burwell, and Hornsey Eens ;
also singly in Lancashire, at Battersea, Pulborough in
Sussex, near Ashford in Kent, at Balcombe, Isle of
E
50
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
Wight, Hampshire, near Chatham, at Southend, Essex,
and on the Cliffs of the South Coast.
Erom its local character, this is of course one of the
species that the collector can hardly expect to meet
with, except he live in one of the districts given above
as its head quarters. In these, however, it is abundant
enough, and the first sight of a number of these grand
insects on the wing must be enough to gladden the eye
of any naturalist.
This butterfly comes out first in May, and is met
with from that time till August.
THE BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY.
(Gonepteryx RhamnL) (Plate III. fig. 2.)
Though one of the commonest of our native butterflies,
this, like numberless other very common things, is also
one of the loveliest, both in the graceful outline of its
wings, and in the lively hue that overspreads their
surface ; charms the more to be appreciated, as this
insect is one of the few that do not wait for the full
bloom of summer ere they condescend to make their
appearance, but in the earliest, chill months of spring,
and even in the dead winter season, the couiitry rambler
is sometimes gladdened by its gay flight; and in fact
there is not one winter month that is not occasionally
enlivened by this flying flower, when a day of unwonted
mildness and sunshine tempts it from its winter retreat.
Until very recently it had always been stated by en-
tomologists, that the Brimstone Butterfly was “ double-
brooded” (a term meaning that it went through two whole
cycles of existence , from the egg to the perfect insect , in
one year), one brood appearing in May, and the other in
the autumn.
But it is now established, on very satisfactory evidence,
that one brood only is produced , and that , the autumnal
THE BRIMSTONE BUTTERFLY.
51
one. A considerable number of these survive the
winter in some place of concealment, and coming out
again in the spring form the so-called spring brood.
Many of these hybernators are found to be in very fair
condition in the spring, but in general they lack the
perfect freshness and bloom of those taken in autumn ;
the wings of those I have taken at this period are often
semi-transparent, from having lost feather, and fre-
quently are spotted and discoloured, as if by mildew ;
a sign probably of their owners having wintered in
damp lodgings
Mr. Douglas states that they get very fat and full of
honey before consigning themselves to their long win-
ter’s sleep ; evidently an instinctive provision against
the waste of substance that must of necessity accom-
pany all, even the most sluggish vitality : in this respect
following the same instinct that leads bears, and other
hybernating animals, to fatten up to their utmost stretch
before retiring for the season.
The eggs should be sought for in the month of May,
or a little earlier or later, on the buds and young shoots
of the two species of Buckthorn ( Rhamnus Frangula
and R . Gatharticus). When examined with the micro-
scope, these are found to be very pretty objects ol
conical form, with sculptured ribs on the sides..
The caterpillar that results from these, when it grows
up, is of a fine green colour, shagreened over with black
points, and shading off into a paler line along the side.
Its shape is represented at Plate I. fig. 2. It is found
on the young buckthorn foliage that forms its food.
The chrysalis is of the remarkable shape shown on
Plate I. fig. 1 3, — green, marked with yellow. It remains
in this state for about twenty days, when the perfect
butterfly appears.
The general colour of the male Brimstone Butterfly
is a clear, brilliant yellow, much like that of the Daffodil,
its contemporary ; and in the centre of each wing is a
small spot of rich orange-colour. A very beautiful
feature to be remarked in this butterfly is the silken
e 2
52
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
mane, so to speak, composed of long hairs of silvery
gloss and whiteness, which are arranged as if combed
up from the sides of the thorax, so as to meet in a
crested form over the top.
The female chiefly differs from the male in the ground
colour of the wings, which are of a pale and very pe-
culiar greenish white tint, rather more deeply tinged
with yellow at the extremities of the wings.
As the male, from his colour, bears the name of
“Brimstone,” or “ Sulphur,” the complexion of his
mate may be accurately compared to the tint of another
sulphureous preparation, called by druggists “ milk of
sulphur.”
The only noticeable variation this butterfly is subject
to in this country is in the size of the orange wing-
spots, which are sometimes greatly enlarged.
In a well-marked variety, common in the south of
Europe, Madeira, &c., this enlargement reaches a great
development, nearly the whole of the upper wings being
suffused with a deep orange, though in all other respects
the insect does not differ from our common form. This
beautiful variety has been described as a different species
under the name of Gonepteryx Cleopatra ; but M.
Boisduval has proved that they are identical, by rearing
both the ordinary Rhamni and the Cleopatra from the
same batch of eggs.
The female Cleopatra does not differ materially from
Rhamni. I look on this variety as very interesting, as
a probable instance of the direct effect of increased
warmth of climate in intensifying colour.1
1 Cleopatra , as Duponchel observes, is found in France, only in
the hottest parts, and is first seen as we go southwards, about
Avignon, but abounds most on the shores of the Mediterranean.
Why the two varieties Cleopatra and the common Rhamni
fly together we cannot fully explain ; but it is possible there
may be a constitutional difference between individual insects,
just as we see that of two Englishmen going to a hot climate,
one will brown deeply, while the complexion of the other
will hardly alter, though exposed to the very same external
influence.
BRIMSTONE CLOUDED YELLOW.
53
Plentiful as this butterfly is in all the southern
counties, and extending in more or less abundance as
far northwards as the lake district, it there becomes
scarce ; and I can find no instance of its having
occurred in Scotland.
Of course, its prevalence in any district is naturally
regulated by the abundance of its food-plants, the
buckthorns.
Gardens, fields, and lanes are equally the resort of
this favourite insect ; and there the newly-hatched spe-
cimens are to be found on the wing from August to
October.
THE CLOUDED YELLOW, OR CLOUDED
SAFEROK ( Colias Edusa.)
(Plate III. fig. 3, Male ; 3a, Female.)
This richly-coloured and nimble-winged fly is ever the
darling of the collector. Hone make a finer show in
the cabinet, and few tempt pursuit more strongly than
does this golden beauty when on the wing.
For many years past, and up to quite a recent period,
the appearance of this butterfly in any abundance was
a phenomenon only occurring at uncertain periods,
separated by intervals of several years. In one season,
perhaps, hardly a solitary specimen would be seen, and
in the very next, a swarm of them would spread over
the southern counties, delighting the fly-catcher, and
puzzling the naturalist to find a sufficient reason for
this sudden burst of insect-life. Whether the eggs lay
dormant for years, till hatched under peculiarly favour-
able conditions ; or whether every now and then a few
individuals were tempted to cross the Channel from the
Continent by some attraction unknown to us, or were,
i nolens , volens , blown hither by the wind, and then
deposited eggs which produced the next year’s troop of
butterflies ; or, lastly, whether an agency was at work
here, of whose nature we are entirely ignorant, — all
54
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
these are questions that still remain to be answered.
There is, I believe, no foundation for the opinion some-
times held by entomologists, that this species prevails at
regular periods, such as once in four, or once in seven
years. In fact, for the last two or three years its per-
manent residence and appearance among us seems to be
established, while, at the same time, its northward
range has been greatly extended, a considerable number
having been taken even in Scotland — its existence in
that country having been previously quite unheard of.
The environs of London, especially on the south side,
have been abundantly visited by this charming insect ;
but its tastes have a decidedly maritime tendency, and
we find it has a marked preference for the South Coast ;
abounding, again, more especially towards the eastern
end. Its favourite resorts are clover and lucerne fields,
though dry flowery meadows, open downs, and the sides
of railway-banks are also the scenes of its lively flight —
for Edusa has indeed a lively flight, and his pursuer
has need of the “ seven-league boots,” with the hand of
Mercury, to insure success in the fair open race, if that
can be called a fair race at all, between a heavy biped,
struggling and perspiring about a slippery hill-side, such
as Edusa loves, — and a winged spirit of air, to whom
up-hill and down-hill seem all one.
In truth, the best way to get Edusa is to watch and
mark him down on a flower, then creep cautiously up
till within range, raise the net quietly, and strike rapidly
downwards over the insect, who usually darts upward
when struck at ; and, in nine cases out of ten, Edusa
will be fluttering under the net. It is not the most
heroic style of sport, this, but it fills the boxes ad-
mirably.
The caterpillar is of a deep green colour, having on
each side a white line, marked with yellow and orange.
It may be sought for in June and July, on various
plants of the leguminous order, which form its food,
such as Hone-such Trefoil ( Medicago lupulina ), Lucerne
{M. Sativa ), and Clover.
THE CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY. 55
The chrysalis is in shape between that of the Brim-
stone, and Cabbage butterfly, green with a yellow stripe,
and rust-coloured dots.
The butterfly seldom is seen on the wing till July,
but August is its great season ; and it lingers with us
till late in autumn.
I remember the pleasure with which, on a chill,
stormy day in October, I watched the sports of a pair
who were my sole companions while sketching, in a
remote, rocky nook of the South Welsh coast. Very
battered and weather-worn were the pretty creatures,
but still retaining much of the golden bloom of their
summer dress.
The Clouded Yellow has been found hybernating in
the chink of an old wall at the end of February, but I
am not aware of its coming out again in the spring,
like the Brimstone.
The ground tint of the wings is an exceedingly rich
orange-yellow, or saffron colour, surrounded by a border
of very dark brown, sometimes nearly black. This
border is marked, in the male, with thin yellow lines,
and in the female with paler yellow spots. There is a
beautiful rose tint in the fringe of the wings and on
their front edge. Underneath the wings are paler yellow,
taking a citron hue in some parts, and marked with black
and brown ; in the centre of the under wings is a brown-
circled silvery spot.
There is a peculiar and constant variety of the female,
in which all the yellow portion of the upper surface is
replaced by a greenish white tint ; but in every other
respect the insect agrees with the common form of
Edusa. This interesting variety was formerly ranked
as another species, under the name of C. Helice ; but it
is a curious fact that no corresponding variety of the
male has ever been observed ; and last year I captured
a pair together — a white female and common orange
male — who were on those terms of tender intimacy
which are generally supposed to betoken identity of
species.
56
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
Varieties of tlie female are also met with, of various
intermediate shades of colour between the white and
the ordinary orange.
Yet is it not possible that all these varieties may be
mules between C. Edusa and C. Hyale (the next species),
the males of which are often seen pursuing the lady
Edusas ? but if so, as indeed it would be on any other
hypothesis, it is hard to account for the unvarying
character of the male.
This butterfly is also called the Clouded Saffron.
THE CLOUDED SULPHUE, OE PALE
CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTEEELY.
( Colias Hyale .) (Plate III. fig. 4.)
We may, in general, readily distinguish this elegant
insect from the last species — the females of which it
rather resembles in its markings — by the difference in
the ground tint of the wings, which in this vary from
primrose or sulphur yellow to a greenish white.
There is, however, some risk of confounding this
with the white variety of Edusa ( Helice ), a mistake
often committed by young entomologists ; so it will be
well to point out the most prominent distinction between
the two ; and this is easily done, by observing that in
Edusa the dark border of the upper wings is of nearly
equal breadth along the whole of the outer margin, and
at the lower corner is continued inwards for a short dis-
tance ; whilst in Hyale this border narrows rapidly ,
and disappears before reaching the lower corner of the
wing. Also the dark border of the hind wings is much
broader in Edusa than in Hyale . Here we have dis-
tinctive marks, quite independent of the ground colour
of the wings.
The sexes of this butterfly are nearly alike in their
markings, the chief difference being in the yellower
ground tint of the males.
CLOUDED SULPHUR.
57
The same localities — viz. the south and south-east
coast, and the adjacent district — that are most prolific
in its near relative, Edusa , likewise furnish this species
in the greatest plenty ; hut this is by far the rarer
species of the two, and, either by coincidence, or in
obedience to some direct law, several successive periods
of its abundance have been septennial, or have occurred
once in seven years. Thus the years 1821, ’28, ’35, ’42,
’49, and ’56 are noted in entomological records as having
produced it in great numbers.
On the coast of Trance, opposite to our own, it is
one of the common butterflies, and it is not improbable
that it frequently makes the passage of the Channel.
The maritime habits of both this and Edusa are well
known, and I have frequently seen the latter flying out
to seawards, and coquetting with the waves, till the eye
could follow the golden speck no longer. Taking ad-
vantage then of a favouring wind, its naturally strong
and rapid flight would quickly take it across the few
miles of sea that separate us from the Gallic shore.
Hyale , whose flight is at least as strong as Edusa7 s,
and whose salt-water tastes are similar, doubtless acts
in the same manner.
The northward range of this species is more limited
than that of Edusa , but it has been taken singly near
York, Manchester, and a few other northern localities.
In the lucerne fields near Brighton, a dozen or more
have been sometimes captured in one day.
The caterpillar is of a sea-green colour, with four
yellow' lines, two along the back and one on each side ;
and is to be found, in June and July, feeding on lucerne
and other plants of the same natural order.
The chrysalis is very similar to that of Edusa , green,
with a yellow stripe.
In this country, the butterfly first appears in August;
but on the Continent it seems to be double-brooded,
being found in May as well as in August.
58
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
THE BLACK-VEINED OK HAWTHORN
BUTTERELY. [Aporia Cratcegi.)
(Plate IV. fig. i.)
When on the wing, this species might easily he mis-
taken by the inexperienced for the common Cabbage
White ; and, by virtue of this incognito , does in all
probability often escape from the terrors of the net,
which would' speedily entrap him, were his real cha-
racter known to the young hunter ; for this butterfly is
one of those called, in entomological slang, “ a good
thing ” — a term expressive neither of superior excel-
lence nor beauty, but meaning that the insect can’t be
met with everywhere, or every day, and when seen is
always to be caught.
A closer view, however, shows it to be very distinct
from all the other “ Whites ; ” its decided black veinings
on a milk-white ground , in conjunction with its large
size, being sufficient for its immediate recognition.
The outline of the wings, as well as the play of the
veining lines on their surface, is extremely elegant. It
will be observed, that instead of the feathered fringe
that surrounds the wings of most butterflies, they are
bordered in this species by a stout nervure, forming a
sharp black outline, and giving a peculiarly chaste
finish.
The under side differs in no mentionable respect
from the upper — a very rare circumstance in this tribe.
From being very sparingly coated with scales, the wings
are semi-transparent, differing much in this respect
from those of the Garden White butterflies.
The female generally has the veins of the fore wings
of a browner tint than in the males.
This butterfly is one of the very local species, though
its food plants are everywhere to be found, in more or
less abundance.
The following localities, among others, have been
THE BLACK-VEINED BUTTEEELY.
59
recorded as producing it : — Herne Bay, and other parts
of the Isle of Thanet, plentifully ; near Faversham,
Kent; Horsham, Sussex; Hew Forest; Brington, in
Huntingdonshire ; near Cardiff, South Wales, plentiful.
The caterpillars are gregarious, feeding under cover
of a silken web. The hawthorn and the sloe are its
chief food plants in this country, but it is here too rare
an insect to do much damage. Not so, however, on the
Continent, where it is extremely common, and is classed
among noxious insects, committing great devastation
among various fruit trees, especially the apple, pear,
and cherry.
But even in this country the insect is occasionally
met with in great profusion, but only in isolated spots.
Mr. Drane, writing from Cardiff to the Zoologist , says,
“ In the middle of April (1858) I found the larvae feed-
ing by thousands upon insulated shrubs of Prunus
Spinosa (Common Sloe), eating out the centres of the
unexpanded buds, or basking in the sun upon their
winter webs.”
The body of the adult caterpillar is thickly clothed
with whitish hairs, is leaden grey on the side and un-
derneath, black on the back, and marked with two
longitudinal reddish stripes. Found from the middle
of April to the end of May.
The chrysalis , shown at fig. 14, Plate I., is greenish
white, striped with yellow and spotted with black.
The butterfly appears in June.
THE LARGE GARDEN WHITE BUTTERFLY.
( Pieris Brassicee.) (Plate IY. fig. 2.)
Why this butterfly should so far outnumber every
other native species (excepting, perhaps, the more rural
Meadow Brown), is a question beyond our power to
answer satisfactorily. Certainly, the food plants of the
60
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
caterpillar — cabbages, cresses, and tbeir tribe — are uni-
versally met with ; but then we find there are other
insects whose food plant is equally plentiful and wide-
spread, and yet they are nevertheless very rare or local.
This is pre-eminently the domestic butterfly, abound-
ing in suburban gardens, and at times penetrating into
the smoky heart of London, and then even the young
“ St. Giles’s bird,” whose eyes were never gladdened by
green fields, gets up a butterfly hunt, and, cap (or rag)
in hand, feels for the nonce all the enthusiasm of the
chase in pursuit of the white-winged wanderer, who
looks sadly lost and out of place in the flowerless,
brick-and-mortar wilderness.
This and the next species are the only British butter-
flies who can be charged with committing any appre-
ciable amount of damage to human food and property.
In the winged state, indeed, it is utterly harmless (like
all other butterflies) ; but not so the hungry caterpillar
progeny, as the gardener knows too well when he looks
at his choice cabbage rows all gnawed away into
skeletons.
In some seasons and places they multiply so inordi-
nately and prodigiously as to deserve the title of a
plague of caterpillars, and several remarkable instances
of this phenomenon are on record.
A note in the Zoologist , p. 4547, by the Lev. Arthur
Hussey, gives us the following: — “Lor the last two
summers many of the gardens of this village have been
infested by caterpillars to such an extent that the cab-
bages have been utterly destroyed.” When the time
for changing to the chrysalis state arrived, the surround-
ing buildings presented a curious appearance, being
marked with long lines of the creatures travelling up
the walls in search of a suitable place of shelter for
undergoing their transformation. A great number of
the caterpillars took refuge in a malt-house, from which
they could not escape as butterflies, the result being
that for several weeks the maltster swept up daily many
hundreds of the dead insects.
LARGE GARDEN WHITE.
61
In 1842, a vast flight of white butterflies came over
from the Continent to the coast about Dover, and spread-
ing inland from thence, did an immense amount of
damage to the cabbage gardens ; but so effectually did
the ichneumon flies do their work, that an exceedingly
small proportion of the caterpillars, resulting from this
flock of immigrants, went into the chrysalis state,
nearly all perishing just before the period of change.
Those small, silky, oval objects, of yellowish colour,
frequently found in groups on walls and palings, are
the cocoons of these useful little flies, spun round about
and over the remains of the dead caterpillar their vic-
tim. “ These, ” as Mr. Westwood observes, “ ignorant
persons mistake for the eggs of the caterpillar, and
destroy; thus foolishly killing their benefactors.”
Happily these devastating caterpillars have plenty of
enemies to prevent their continued multiplication, and
to reduce their number speedily when if exceeds certain
limits. Besides the ichneumons, mentioned above, the
feathered tribes do much towards keeping them down.
Mr. Haworth, in his “ Lepidopter a JBritannica says,
with reference to this : “ Small birds destroy incredible
numbers of them as food, and should be encouraged.
I once observed a titmouse ( Parus major ) take five or
six large ones to its nest in a very few minutes. In
enclosed gardens sea-gulls, with their wings cut, are of
infinite service. I had one eight years, which was at
last killed by accident, that lived entirely all the while
upon the insects, slugs, and worms which he found in
the garden.”
The pretty egg of this butterfly is figured on Plate
II. fig. 1 : it may be found commonly enough, with
a little searching, on cabbage-leaves, either at thejend
of May or beginning of August.
The caterpillar , which, besides cabbages, consumes
various other cruciferous plants, — also Tropseolums, or,
as they are erroneously called, “nasturtiums,” — is green,
shaded with yellow on each side, and covered with
black points, on each of which is situated a hair.
62
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
By way of compensation for the damage it inflicts, it
has been suggested that a durable green dye might be
extracted from the caterpillars of cabbage butterflies,
since it is extremely difficult to eradicate the stain made
by a crushed caterpillar on linen. If this strange and
novel dye should ever take its place among the vagaries
of fashion, the shopkeepers could find a familiar French
name, as the word chenille , applied to another commo-
dity, means simply “ caterpillar,” so “ chenille green ”
would be the phrase for the colour afforded by smashed
caterpillars.
The chrysalis (Plate I. fig. 15) may be found almost
anywhere, laid up under ledges of garden walls, door-
way, or any convenient projection, not too far from the
creature’s food. Wanting an individual just now, to
sit for his portrait, I had only to step out of my door,
and within a hundred yards espied a candidate for the
distinction, ready to hand, under the coping-stone of a
gate-post.
K. female specimen of the butterfly is figured on Plate
IY. fig. 2. The male may be readily distinguished by
the absence of the black spots and dashes on the upper
side of the front wings.
The winged insect may be seen throughout the warm
season, from April to A.ugust.
THE SMALL GARDEN WHITE.
(Pieris Rapce.) (Plate IY. fig. 3.)
Outwardly resembling the last in almost every respect
but that of its inferior size, this species shares the
gardener’s malediction with its larger, but perhaps less
destructive, relative ; for the caterpillar of Rapce, , though
smaller, bores into the very heart of the cabbage, in-
stead of being content with the less valuable outer
leaves, as Brassicae is. From this pernicious habit the
French call this grub the ver du coeur.
THE SMALL GARDEN WHITE.
63
The colour of this caterpillar is pale green, with a
yellow line along the back, and a dotted one of the
same colour on each side.
The chrysalis is nearly like that of the last in shape,
hut of course smaller, and is of a more uniform brownish
or yellowish tint.
This butterfly occasionally multiplies immensely, and
is given to migrating in vast armies to distant settle-
ments, sometimes crossing the sea to effect this purpose.
Here is an extract from a Kentish newspaper, de-
scribing an occurrence of this phenomenon : —
“ One of the largest flights of butterflies ever seen in
this country, crossed the Channel from Trance to Eng-
land on Sunday last. Such was the density and
extent of the cloud formed by the livng mass, that it
completely obscured the sun from the people on board
our Continental steamers, on their passage, for many
hundreds of yards, while the insects strewed the decks
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 S. W., the
direction whence the insects came/’
A contemporary account states that these were the
small white butterflies ( Pieris Rapce).
The smaller butterfly with more dusky markings,
formerly known as P. Metra, has been recently proved
to be merely a variety of Rapce, a Mr. J. F. Dawson
having reared a brood of caterpillars all exactly similar
in appearance, which eventually produced every variety
of P. Rapce and P. Metra.
Mr. Curtis, in his “ Farm Insects,” mentions the
capture, near Oldham in Lancashire, of a male specimen,
which had all the wings of a bright yellow colour.
Most juvenile butterfly Hunters, unblest by scientific
knowledge of insect life, imagine that this and the last
64
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
owe their difference in size simply to their being old
and young individuals of the same name ; forgetting —
or, rather, never having heard — that butterflies neven
grow in the slightest degree after once getting their
winged form ; only as caterpillars do they grow.
The male is distinguished from the female by having
only one round black spot , or sometimes none, on each
upper wing, whilst the female is spotted as in the
engraving. The under side of the hind wings is dull
yellow, lightly powdered with black scales.
The butterfly is seen during nearly the whole of the
summer, and is found almost everywhere.
THE GREEN- VEINED WHITE BUTTERFLY.
( Pieris Napi.) (Plate IV. fig. 4.)
Is so called from the greenish tint that often borders
the veins or nervures on the under side of the hind
wing ; but the name is not always an appropriate one,
for a large proportion of the specimens met with have
the veinings grey, and not at all green ; but the fact is,
that the ground colour varies greatly, from creamy
white to full buff, or bright clear yellow ; in the latter
case it is, that the minute black scales which border the
course of the nervures, covering over the yellow, pro-
duce a grey-green effect on the eye.
The size also is very variable. I have a specimen
that expands two inches and two lines across, from tip
to tip, and have seen another not larger than a small
Copper butterfly — little more than one inch from tip
to tip. The intensity of the dark markings, on both
the upper and under sides, is also subject to much
variation.
But, under all these circumstances, the presence of
dark cloudy veins on the under side — appearing, but;
GREEN-VEINED WHITE BATH WHITE. 65
less distinctly, on the upper side — will at once distin-
guish it from the last species, the only one with which
it can possibly be confounded.
The male has only one round spot on the front wings ;
the female being marked as in the plate.
Both in woods and cultivated grounds we meet with
this butterfly commonly enough, most abundantly in
May and July, though it may be found from April to
August.
The caterpillar feeds on the same tribe of plants as
the two last, but is supposed to be especially attached
to the Rape (. Brassica Napus ), whence its specific name.
Its colour is green, with yellow spots round each spi-
racle, which is itself tinged with red.
Two varieties of this were formerly ranked as distinct
species, under the name of P. Sabellicce and P. Napoeoe .
THE BATH WHITE. (Pieris Daplidice)
(Plate IV. fig. 5, Eemale.)
Of all the members of this white-winged genus that
inhabit Britain, this is at the same time the most beau-
tiful and the rarest. The capture of a Bath White is
an entomological “ event,” and the day thereof is a red-
letter day in the fortunate captor’s life.
On the opposite coast of France, however, and gene-
rally on the Continent, far from being a rarity, this is
one of the commonest butterflies — a fact difficult for an
English collector, removed by only a few miles of sea,
to realise, or reconcile with the extravagant value and
importance' attached to a true “ British specimen.”
The remark made under the head of the Black-
veined White, as to that eluding the net of the novice,
by its resemblance to a common kind, will apply with
still greater force to this one ; for I suppose there are
few even of the tolerably experienced “ hands” who could
tell this from the two last described insects, at a short
F
66
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
distance. One curious circumstance bearing on this is,
that a large per centage of the Bath White captures in
this country have been made by juvenile beginners,
who hunt and catch everything they see, Common
Whites and all.
This fact should encourage the collector, especially
when at work on the south-east coast, to net all the
middle-sized Whites that come within reasonable dis-
tance— of course letting them off again, if they are not
of the right sort.
The wing markings on both the upper and under
sides are, though simple, extremely elegant and chaste.
The female, , which is the sex figured, has the upper
wings beautifully spotted with black. The hind wings
are bordered with a row of black spots , and clouded
towards the centre with a faint tint of the same.
The male is distinguished by the absence of the
black spot nearest to the lower margin of the front
wing, and of the black marginal spots and grey cloud-
ing of the hind wings. The markings of the under
surface, however, show through their substance rather
plainly.
In both sexes, the ground colour of the wings is
milk-white. But the chief decoration is reserved for
the under surface, which is chequered, in a manner not
easily described, with a soft but rich green tint upon
white, relieved here and there by a few black touches.
We are informed by Lewin, that it was named the
Bath White from a piece of needlework executed at
Bath, by a young lady, from a specimen of this insect,
said to have been taken near that city. But the
south-eastern corner of England, and more especially on
the coast, seems to be the head-quarters of this valued
fly, — lending probability to the supposition entertained
by many, that a large proportion of those taken here
have migrated or been blown across the Channel;
though I believe it sometimes breeds here, and that
the caterpillars have, on one or two occasions, been
found in this country.
BATH WHITE ORANGE-TIP.
67
The butterfly has been taken several times at Dover,
Margate, and other places on the Kentish coast ; at
Lewes; Whittlesea Mere, Cambridge; Worcester, and
near Bristol.
The caterpillar , which is to be found in June and
September, is bluish with black spots, a pale yellow
line on each side, and two of th& same colour on the
back. M. Le Bias trier reared a number of them, feed-
ing them on the leaves of the Wild Mignonette ( Reseda
lutea). It also feeds on Weld ( Reseda Luteola).
The chrysalis very much resembles that of the Small
Garden White, and is totally unlike that of the next,
the Orange-Tip, with which it has been by some ento-
mologist united into another genus (Mancipium).
Daplidice is a slow insect — slower than the Common
Whites — and it is an easy matter to catch it, wdien
recognized, which the peculiarly heavy flight might aid
one in doing.
May and August are the months in which to look
after this gem of the Pontia genus.
THE ORANGE-TIP BUTTERFLY.
( Euchloe Cardamines.)
(Plate Y. fig. 1, Male; la , Female.)
Few vernal ramblers in the country, whether entomolo-
gical or no, can fail to have noticed, and been charmed
by, this merry blossom-like insect, as it gaily Hits along
by hedge-row and wood-side, pausing anon to taste its
own sweet flowers of May, and looking, even when on
the wing, so unlike any other of our native butterflies.
Truly it is an exquisite and loveable little creature, this
Orange-Tip — sometimes styled the Wood Lady ; but this
latter title is somewhat awkward in its application,
inasmuch as the “ lady ” insect is entirely without the
characteristic orange adornment, and would hardly be
f 2
68
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
suspected as being the same species with her handsome
lord.
The male Orange-Tip needs no description, for the
purpose of recognition, beyond that conveyed by his
name ; but as the female is less known, and has been
on several occasions mistaken for the rare Bath White
(. Daplidice ), it will be well to point out her chief dis-
tinguishing characters. The difference between the two
insects certainly is obvious enough, when the two are
seen together, but their written descriptions read rather
alike.
The female Cardamines has the wings white above ,
with a greyish black tip, and a small oval , or crescent-
shaped, black spot (much smaller than that of Daplidice)
near the centre of the front wings ; beneath , a white
ground, with green marblings, that are much more
sharply defined than those in Daplidice. hTear the
centre of the front wing is a clear black spot , corres-
ponding in position with that on the upper surface, and
not shaded off with green , as in Daplidice.
We speak of the green marblings of this species — and,
to the naked eye, they do appear to be of quite a bright
green — but under a microscope or powerful lens that
colour disappears, being resolved into a combination of
bright yellow and pure black scales, which, with the
dazzling snow-white ground scales that surround them,
form a microscopic tableau of extraordinary beauty.
This can, however, only be seen by daylight, for under
artificial light the yellow, on which the whole effect
depends, is entirely lost.
The caterpillar is slightly hairy, and green, with a
white stripe on each side. It has been generally stated
that the Cardamine impjatiens is the common food plant
of this species, apropos of which I will quote the fol-
lowing communication from Mr. Doubleday to the
editor of the Zoologist : —
“ In reply to your query about the food of the larva
of Cardamines, i may say that I have found it upon
several plants. I believe that Cardamine prateneis
ORANGE-TIP WOOD-WHITE.
69
(common cuckoo-flower) is the one on which the eggs
are most frequently deposited, hut the greater part of
the larvae must perish in this neighbourhood, because
the fields are mowed before the larvae are full-grown.
I have very often seen the -larvae on the seed-pods of
Erysimum AUiaria, , and have several times found the
pupae on the dead stems of this plant in winter ; I
think that it is the principal food of Cardamines at
Epping j it also probably feeds on E. barbarea , and
other similar plants. Some years ago we used to have
a quantity of a large single rocket in the garden, and
there was always a number of the larvae of Cardamines
feeding on the seed-pods. Card amine impatiens is so
local a plant that it cannot be the common food of the
larvce of Cardamines .”
The chrysalis is of the very singular shape shown at
fig. 17, Plate I., a shape quite unique among British
butterflies, though that of the next slightly approaches
it. It is to be looked for in autumn and winter on the
dry, dead stems of the plants named in the foregoing
paragraph.
The perfect butterfly, which is very common through-
out the country, is met with from the end of April to
the end of May or beginning of June.
THE WOOD-WHITE BUTTERFLY.
{Leucophasia Sinapis.) (Plate Y. fig. 2.)
A glance at the figure of this graceful little butterfly
(on Plate Y.) will suffice to distinguish it at once, and
clearly, from all our other Whites. The most ordinary
form of the insect is there represented, but there are
specimens occasionally met with that have the blackish
spot at the tip of the wings very much fainter ; and
sometimes, as in one that I possess, this spot is totally
wanting. The shape of the wings in these is also dif-
ferent, being much rounder, and proportionately shorter,
70
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
than in the ordinary shape. This difference in outline
is, I believe, a sexual distinction, the more rounded
form belonging to the female insect.
The slender, fragile wings and the attenuated body
of the Wood- white give it a look of almost ghostly
lightness, and its manners befit its spectral aspect, for
it seems to haunt the still and lonely wood glades,
flitting about slowly and restlessly, and being seldom
seen to settle.
From its weak flight, it is a very easy insect to cap-
ture. It appears to he addicted to early rising, twenty-
six specimens having been taken one morning before
breakfast by a gentleman at Grange, in North Lanca-
shire.
The caterpillar is green, striped on each side with
yellow ; it feeds on the Bird’s-foot Trefoil, and other
leguminous plants.
The chrysalis is shown on Plate I. fig. 18, and in
shape somewhat approaches that of the Orange-tip.
The butterfly appears in May and August, and though
by no means a common or generally distributed insect,
is found — and sometimes abundantly — in many locali-
ties throughout the country, as far north as Carlisle ;
some of these are here given. Woods in neighbour-
hood of Brighton, Horsham (Sussex), Dorchester, New
Forest, Exeter, Epping, West Wickham Wood, Monks-
wood, Huntingdonshire, Plymouth, Wavendon, Wor-
cester, Kent and Surrey, Teignmouth, Gloucestershire,
Carlisle, Lake District, Leicester, Manchester, North
Lancashire. Unknown in Scotland.
THE MAEBLED WHITE BUTTERFLY.
( Arge Galathea.) (Plate Y. fig. 3.)
This highly interesting and elegant insect would, by
the uninitiated, probably be classed among the last
group of Butterflies — the Whites — from the similarity
in its colours ; but from all those it may be readily
MARBLED WHITE.
71
distinguished by baying only four walking legs (instead
of the six which all our other white butterflies possess),
and also by the eye-like spots most visible on the under
side.
The colouring may be described as consisting of
nearly equal quantities of black and creamy-white, or
pale yellow , so arranged as to form a marbled, pattern of
great richness. This description applies to the upper
surface ; on the under, the pale tint very much pre-
ponderates, many of the black masses of the upper side
being here reduced to mere lines.
Many an entomologist, whose hunting ground has
been limited to a small district, has collected for years
without once seeing this pretty creature on the wing ;
and then visiting another neighbourhood, perhaps not
far distant, he will suddenly find it in profusion. I
well remember the feelings of surprised delight with
which, under these circumstances, I first made its
acquaintance. The scene of the event was a grassy
opening in a wooded hill-side in Kent, and here were
literally hundreds visible at once, making the air all
alive as they fluttered about in sportive groups : it was
a sight not to be forgotten ; while a hundred yards
from this spot not a solitary one was to be seen, so
closely limited is the local range of this species.
The caterpillar , which feeds on grasses, like the rest
of its tribe, is green, with yellowish stripes on each
side, and has a reddish head and tail. The form is
shown at fig. 3, Plate I.— a form common to all the
tribe to which this species belongs.
July and August are the months when we should
look for this charming butterfly, in wood clearings and
meadows near woods.
Some of the localities in which it has been observed
are : Isle of Wight, Surrey Hills, Eastwell Park
(Kent), Dover, Lewes, Brighton, Epping, Gloucester-
shire, Kingsbury, Darenth Wood, New Forest, Kock-
ingham Park, Teignmouth, York, Barnwell Wold,
South Wales. Not known in Scotland .
72
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
THE SPECKLED WOOD BUTTERFLY.
(Lasiommata Egeria.) (Plate Y. fig. 4.)
Every one who has wandered through green woodland
ridings, or coppiced paths, must he familiar with a
lively, spotted brown insect that trips along just ahead
of one, in a sociable way, for some distance, finding
time to turn aside into the leafy recesses on either side
without losing ground ; then, having had enough of
our company, mounting overhead, and retracing its
course in the same playful way, and soon lost in the
winding of the path.
This is the Speckled Wood, or Wood Argus Butter-
fly, a very pretty insect on both sides, and receiving
the latter name — Argus, “ the many-eyed ” — from the
rows of rich black eyes that grace its pinions.
Over nearly the whole of England it is to be met
with commonly wherever there is wooded ground ; but
in several parts of Scotland it is quite unknown.
The prevailing colour of the wings is deep brown,
spotted with various shades of buff or lighter brown.
The “ eyes ” are velvety black, with a pure white
centre-spot.
The caterpillar — a grass feeder — is dull green, with
broad white side stripes.
The chrysalis , which is of a beautiful grass-green
colour, may be found in winter, under trees, attached
to blades of grass.
The butterfly is out from April to August.
THE WALL BUTTERFLY. ( Lasiommata Megcera.)
(Plate Y. fig. 5.)
The habits and movements of this pretty species much
resemble those of the last ; but the Wall Butterfly is a
more sun-loving insect, and rather frequents road-sides
WALL — GRAYLING. 7 3
and dry sunny banks. Still, there are many spots
where one sees both the Lasiommatas together.
The colours on the upper side are a rich tawny or
fulvous ground , with dark-brown markings , and pure
black eye-spots. The under side of the hind wings is
pencilled with sober colours, but in a design of great
beauty and delicacy ; and especially to be admired are
the double-ringed “eyes,” a band of which runs parallel
with the outer margin of the hind wings.
The caterpillar feeds on grasses ; is green, with three
pale lines down the back, and one more clearly marked
on each side.
The butterfly appears in May, and again in August
and September; and is everywhere common throughout
the country.
It is called the Wall Butterfly from its frequent
habit of choosing a road-side wall for a perch, wdience,
on the approach of man, it darts off ; returning again,
however, on the departure of the obnoxious person.
THE GRAYLING BUTTERFLY.
(Hipparchia Semele.) (Plate Y. fig. 6, Female.)
This fine insect is the largest British species of the
genus, and also of the family, some of the females mea-
suring two inches and three-quarters from tip to tip
across the expanded wings ; and it also exhibits more
vivacity of colouring than most of its brethren.
Above, the wings are deep brown, marked with
broad patches of paler colour, sometimes making a
bright contrast in the female, but much duller and
more uniform in the male.
The female also exceeds her lord considerably in
stature, and, in fact, by her side he looks rather a mean
and shabby fellow.
The device on the under side of the hind wings,
74
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
though composed of the plainest colours, is very orna-
mental; grey and brown are the prevailing hues, dis-
posed in mottled bars and stripes, reminding one of
agates, or some other ornamental stones.
This butterfly is not everywhere to be found, but
haunts rocky places and hill-sides, on a chalky or lime-
stone soil. At St. Boniface’s Down, in the Isle of
Wight, I noticed it in such exceeding profusion last
August, that I could quickly have caught thousands,
had I been so disposed.
Though a powerful-looking insect, its flight is by no
means swift, and it suffers itself to be captured without
difficulty.
The caterpillar is dull pinkish about the back, with
three obscure grey-green stripes, a dark line on the
sides, and greenish beneath. It feeds on grasses, and has
been said to undergo its transformation to the chrysalis
in the earth ; but this point requires confirmation.
The butterfly is seen from the middle of July till the
beginning of September.
The following are localities for it : — Bembridge and
Ventnor (Isle of Wight), Brighton, Lewes, Hew Forest,
Exeter, Plymouth, Falmouth, Truro, Bristol, Dorset-
shire, Salisbury Plain, Winchester, Worcester, New-
market, Gamlingay, Isle of Arran, Arthur’s Seat (Edin-
burgh), Durham, Darlington, Glasgow, Lake District.
THE MEADOW BROWN BUTTERFLY.
(Hippar cilia Janira.)
(Plate VI. fig. 1, Male; la, Female.)
Perhaps of all our butterflies this is the least attrac-
tive, being too common to excite interest from its rarity
or difficulty of attainment, as other dingy butterflies do,
and too plain and homely to win regard, in spite of its
commonness, as the beautiful “ Small Tortoise-shell V
and the Common Blues do.
MEADOW BROWN LARGE HEATH.
75
This is the sober brown insect that keeps up a con-
stant fluttering, in sunshine and gloom, oyer the dry
pasture land and barren hill-side ; and perhaps it ought
to find favour in our eyes, from this very fact of keeping
up a cheerful spirit under circumstances the most unfa-
vourable to butterfly enjoyment in general.
The colouring of the male, on the upper side, may be
described as a sooty brown , rather lighter about the
eye-spot on the front wing.
The female is a little smarter in her attire, having an
orange-tawny patch on the front wing.
Beneath, both sexes are nearly alike ; the general
colour of the front wing being fulvous, or orange-brown,
with a cool-brown margin. The hind wings are marked
with tints of a duller brown, varying much in distinct-
ness in different specimens.
The caterpillar is green, with a white stripe on each
side. Feeds on grasses.
The butterfly abounds almost everywhere, from June
till the end of August.
THE LABGE HEATH BUTTERFLY.
(. Hipparchia Tithonus.) (Plate YI. fig. 2, Male.)
Though much less abundant than the last, this is
another very common species, and met with throughout
England and the south of Scotland.
The ground tint above is a rich rust-colour , or orange-
brown, bordered with dark-brown; the base of the wings
also slightly clouded with the same ; and on each front
whig, near the tip, there is a black eye-spot , with two
white dots. So far, both sexes are similar; but the
male has, in addition, a bar of dark-brown across the
centre of the rust-coloured space , on the upper wing.
This sex is that figured on the plate.
Underneath, there is a pretty arrangement of sub-
dued colouring ; that of the front wings nearly resem-
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
. 76
bling the upper side ; the lower wings clouded and
spotted with russet-brown on a paler brown ground, the,
dark rounded brown spots having white centres ; but
there are no black eye-spots on the hind wings.
The caterpillar is greenish-grey, with reddish head
and two pale lines on each side and a dark one down
the back.
The butterfly , a feeble flier and easily captured, ap-
pears in July and August ; its favourite resorts being
heaths, dry fields, and lanes.
It is sometimes called the Small Meadow Brown,
and the Gate-keeper.
THE RINGLET BUTTERFLY.
( Hipparchia Hyperanthus.) (Plate YI. fig. 3, Female.)
This is one of those butterflies in which Nature, depart-
ing from her accustomed plan, has reserved the chief
adornment of the wings for the under surface, leaving
the upper comparatively plain and unattractive.
In both sexes the wings, above, are of a deep sepia
brown, surrounded by a greyish white fringe, and bear-
ing several black spots in paler rings, which rings are
much less distinct in the male than in the female, the
sex figured in the plate.
The under surface is of a soft russet ground, adorned
with a wreath of the ringlet- spots from which the insect
takes its common name. These are black eye-spots , white-
centred and set in a clear ring of pale tawny colour, i
The most usual form and proportions of these spots are
shown in the figure (with closed wings), but there are
many varieties met with, the following being the most
remarkable that have come under my notice.
One, and not a very uncommon one, has no light
rings round the black spots on the under side.
Another has the rings reduced to a range of mere
light specks, the black eye-spots being entirely absent
KINGLET SCOTCH ARGUS. 77
Then again, another has the black pupils exceedingly
large and rich, forming a most elegant variety.
The spots on the upper side in the male are some-
times quite imperceptible.
The ground colour of the upper side is occasionally of
a pale drab or fawn colour.
The caterpillar of this species is very like that of the
last in colouring, and feeds on the same grasses.
The butterfly , which is out in June and July, is a
common and widely distributed species, frequenting
woods, shady corners of hedge-rows, &c.
THE SCOTCH ARGUS BUTTERFLY.
( Erebia Blandina.) (Plate YI. fig. 4, Female.)
The genus Erebia , to which this species belongs, is
composed of a group of mountain butterflies, very
numerous in the Alpine regions of the Continent,
seventeen species being described as inhabiting the
Alps ; and, though only two have yet been discovered
in this country (unless we admit Ligea , formerly taken
in the Isle of Arran1), it is not at all improbable that
others may be waiting for us in some of the mountain
districts, if we will but look them up. Both tourists
and, more especially, residents in those localities should
be encouraged by the hope of addxug a new species to
our list to explore thoroughly the hill-sides and summits
at various seasons of the year, as many of the species,
besides being extremely local in their range, are only on
the wing during a very short period of the year.
The Scotch Argus is a pretty, though not brightly-
coloured butterfly.
The colour above is a deep rich brown, with a cop-
pery or orange-red band on each wing, and each band
has several (three or four usually) black eye-spots
thereon.
1 See page 121.
78
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
On the under side, the front wings are nearly the
same as on the upper side, showing the red patcli and.
eyes plainly ; but the hind wings are without the red
patch, and are divided into broad bands of brownish
tints, very variable, having sometimes a tendency to
chocolate colour, sometimes to an olive or russet brown :
but the stripe which is shown as lightest in the engrav-
ing of the under side is almost always greyer than the
rest, having occasionally a purplish ash colour. On
this band are some minute specks, occupying the places
of the upper surface eyes.
The number of eye-spots is very variable on both
surfaces.
The female, which is the sex figured, is both larger
than the male and has the reddish band of a brighter
colour.
The caterpillar , whose food plant is unknown, is
stated by Duncan to be “ light green, with brown and
white longitudinal stripes ; head reddish.”
The butterfly appears in August and September. A
few years ago it was esteemed a rare insect, but it has
since been found in plenty in some of the following
localities, the list of which would doubtless be largely
added to by further research in the northern hilly
districts, its chosen haunts.
[Near Edinburgh ; near Minto, in Roxburghshire ;
Isle of Arran ; Braemar ; near Newcastle ; Castle Eden
Dene ; Durham ; Craven ; Wharfedale.
At Grange, in North Lancashire, this “ rarity ” is a
common garden butterfly, according to Mr. C. S.
Gregson.
THE MOUNTAIN RINGLET BUTTERFLY.
(Erebia Cassiope.) (Plate VI. fig. 5.)
A few years ago this little butterfly was esteemed one
of the greatest of British rarities. The first well i
authenticated specimens were discovered and captured
MOUNTAIN RINGLET.
79
in Westmoreland by that distinguished artist, T.
Stothard, K.A. ; then for several years no more were
taken, and the very existence of the butterfly in
Britain was questioned. Since that time, however, its
peculiar haunts among the mountains of Cumberland
and Westmoreland have been rediscovered, and great
numbers have been captured by various collectors. It
is only found in very elevated situations, flying about
the moist, springy spots that abound on these mountain
sides, and in many spots the insect is very plentiful,
within a limited range.
Mr. Curtis says, “ They only fly when the sun shines,
and their flight is neither swift nor continued, for they
frequently alight among the grass, and failing down to
the roots, their sombre colour perfectly conceals them.”
The following notice of their locality, &c. from per-
sonal observation, is quoted from a communication to
the Intelligencer , by a well-known entomologist, Mr. 11.
S. Edleston, of Manchester. He says : —
U1 and my friend, Mr. Hugh Harrison, in the
middle of June made the ascent to Sty Head Tarn ; for
the first time in my experience, the weather was every-
thing we could desire — calm and sunshine ; this, com-
bined with the dry season of last year and the long
drought for months during this, enabled us to collect on
ground in other years a dangerous morass. The result
was, we captured Cassiope in abundance, some of them
in superb condition, just emerged from the chrysalis.
A very short time on the wing suffices to injure them.
They vary considerably in the development of the
black spots on the fulvous patch, almost obsolete in
some through all gradations to the fullest development ;
the patch varies in like manner, and also in form ;
lastly, they vary in size.”
The caterpillar is yet unknown .
The butterfly has the wings above of a dark brown
colour. Each wing bears near its extremity a bar of
deep but dull red, divided into sections where the
brown veins cross. In each section is usually a black
80
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
spot, but sometimes these are absent, and a few red
spots take the place of the bar. The hind wings ar,e
smoothly rounded in their outline, and not toothed or
scalloped as in the last species ( Blandina ). The males
generally appear towards the end of June, but a few
sometimes earlier. The females, however, come later,
being found in July, and some even as late as August.
The following localities for it are recorded : — Eannoch,
Perthshire ; Lake District ; Sty Head Tarn ; Langdale
Pikes ; Red Skrees Mountains, near Arnbleside ; Gable
Hill. But other stations for it will probably be added
to our list in time.
THE MARSH RINGLET, OR SMALL RINGLET
BUTTERELY.
( Ccenonympha Davus.) (Plate YI. fig. 6.)
This species, which is another North- country butter-
fly, varies so much in its colouring of sober drab or
brown, with black eye-spots, that its varieties have
been described as distinct species under the names of
C. Polydama , Typhon, and I phis, now, however, all
placed together under the name of Davus.
These variations appear to depend in great measure
upon local differences of elevation, latitude, &c.
Erom this excessive variability also it is very difflcult
to give a clear general description of the markings,
though the insect may be distinguished from other
British species that approach it in appearance by the
obscure yellowish- drab tint of the upper surface, marked
with indistinct eye-spots, and more especially by having
on the under surface of the hind wings an irregular
whitish band across the centre, and outside of this a
row of about six clearly defined black eye-spots with
white centres, situated each in a pale ochreous ring.
The butterfly , which appears in June and July, is
exclusively met with in the North (including North
Wales), and inhabits the moors and marshy heaths, or
MARSH RINGLET SMALL HEATH.
81
“ mosses,” in a great many localities in Scotland and
the northern counties. The following are among those
recorded : —
Scotland. — Shetland Isles ; Isle of Arran ; Pent-
land Hills ; Ben Nevis ; Ben Lomond, near Oban ;
Ben More.
England. — Lake-District of Cumberland ; Yorkshire ;
Beverley ; Cottingham ; Hatfield Chase ; Thorne Moor ;
White Moss, Trafford Moss, Chat Moss, near Man-
chester ; Chartly Park, near Uttoxeter ; Delmere
Eorest, Cheshire ; between Stockport and Ashton ;
near Cromer, in Norfolk ; near Clandford Brigg, Lin-
colnshire.
Irel and. — D onegal mountains.
North Wales. — Between Bala and Ffestiniog.
Ashdown Eorest, in Sussex, has been given as a
locality, on doubtful authority, certainly ; but from
what I have seen and know of that district and its
productions, I think it is not at all impossible that
Dctvus may be really found there. We have there, at
any rate, the heath-covered, yet swampy, moorlands
that the insect loves, and also in plenty the plants one
finds most abundant in the northern moorlands ; such
as Yacciniums, Cotton-grasses, the three common Heaths,
&c. &c. with great variety in the elevation, some of
the ground lying very high.
THE SMALL HEATH BUTTERFLY.
(Coenonympha Pamphilus.) (Plate YI. fig. 7.)
This is the pretty little tawny-coloured butterfly that
mixes with the sportive group of “ Blues,” Meadow
Browns, &c. on heaths, downs, and grassy fields.
The general colour of the upper surface is a tawny
yellow or buff, shaded with a darker tint of brown at
the edges and at the bases of the hind wings. On the
under side it may be distinguished from G . Davus by
G
82
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
the absence of the clearly defined black eye-spots which the
latter has. It is usually much inferior in size to the
last.
The caterpillar , which feeds on the common grasses,
is of a bright apple-green colour, with three darker
green stripes bordered with a whitish tint, the largest
stripe being that on the back.
The butterfly abounds ail over the country, from
June till September.
THE WHITE ADMIRAL.
( Limenitis Sybilla.) (Plate VII. fig. 1.)
This elegant butterfly is one of those in which the
choicest ornamentation is bestowed upon the under sur-
face, to the comparative neglect of the upper. Above,
a dark sepia-brown tint, banded and spotted with white,
is all that greets the eye ; but beneath there is a piece
of the most exquisitely harmonious colouring, though
the hues that compose it are still of a subdued and
secondary nature • — silvery blue, and golden brown
blended with a cooler brown and black, are placed in
vivacious contrast with bands and spots of pure silvery
white.
The caterpillar (Plate I. fig. 4), which feeds on the
Honeysuckle, is a pretty and singular looking creature ;
general colour bright green, with reddish branched
spines, and white and brown side-stripes.
The chrysalis (Plate I. fig. 21) is also a very beautiful
and curious object, very knobby and angular, of dark
green general colour, and ornamented with bright silver
spots and stripes.
The butterfly is found from the end of June till the
end of July ; its favourite resorts being oak-woods in
the southern counties.
Localities : — Colchester ; Epping ; Hartley Wood,
near St. Osyth, Essex ; near Rye, and in other parts of
Sussex ; at several places in Kent ; near Winchester ;
WHITE ADMIRAL — PURPLE EMPEROR. 83
and in Black Park, where Dr. Allchin informs me he
took a large number in one day.
The superlatively graceful motions of this butterfly
on the wing, as it comes floating and sailing through
the wood openings, have long been celebrated; and the
story has been often quoted from Haworth, of the old
fly-fancier, who, long after he had become too feeble
and stiff-jointed to pursue or net a butterfly, used to go
and sit on a stile which commanded a well-known resort
of his favourite Sybilla, and there, for hours together,
would he feast his eyes on the sight of her inimitably
elegant evolutions.
THE PURPLE EMPEROR.
( Apatura Iris.) (Plate VII. fig. 2.)
By universal suffrage, the place of highest rank among
the butterflies of Britain has been accorded to this
splendid insect, who merits his imperial title by reason
of his robe of royal purple, the lofty throne he assumes,
and the boldness and elevation of his flight.
A glimpse of this august personage on the wing is
enough to fire the collector with enthusiastic ambition
for his capture ; sometimes a matter of the easiest ac-
complishment, sometimes just as hopelessly impossible,
according to his majesty’s humour of the moment.
Cowardice is not one of his attributes, and if he has
formed a preference for any especial spot, he will risk
loss of liberty and life rather than forsake it.
The old mode of capturing this prize was by a ring
net fixed at the end of a pole some twenty or thirty
feet long, and so sweeping him off as he sat on his
leafy throne, or in one of his evolutions when he
quitted his seat for a turn in the air.
This method still is practised, and succeeds occa-
sionally, but the weapon is an unwieldy one, both in
use, and for carriage to the place of action ; and science
has now placed in our power another plan, by means of
g 2
84
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
which I believe that by far the greater number of
recent captures have been made.
The plan alluded to, is to take advantage of the
creature’s royal taste for game — for in that light I take
his predilection for decomposing animal matter, now a
matter of notoriety ; and so potent is the attraction of
the haut-gout for the royal palate, that if any animal,
or part of one, not too recently slaughtered, be sus-
pended near the known haunts of the insect, ten to one
but its savour will bring him down to earth to taste the
luxurious morsel, and so engrossed does he become when
thus engaged, that he may be swept off by the net
without difficulty. In the space of two or three days
large numbers of Emperors have been caught by means
of this novel and singular trap, and the seemingly
coarse and unbutterfly-like taste that leads them to it.
The wings of the male only have that splendid glow
of changing purple that gives him his name and
honours, the empress having in its place a sober garb
of brown ; she, however, considerably exceeds her lord
in dimensions and expanse of wing. From her stay-at-
home habits, sitting all day in her oak-leaf bower, she
is comparatively seldom seen or captured. I believe
collectors generally take about ten males to one female.
On the under side the colouring of both sexes is
similar, and affords a striking contrast to the dark
upper surface, having the white markings arranged as
on the upper side, but rather broader ; and, instead of
the dark brown or purple, a lively pattern of orange-
brown, greyish brown, and black. On the front wing is
a purple-centred eye-spot, and a smaller one is seen
near the lower angle of the hind wing.
The firm, muscular appearance of the wings, gives
promise of great strength in those organs, fully borne
out in the powerful and bird-like flight of the creature,
who has also a habit of soaring, about midday, to vast
heights in the air, and there engaging in contests,
sportive or pugnacious, with his brother, or rival,
Emperors.
PURPLE EMPEROR — PAINTED LADY. 85
In the caterpillar state also the Purple Emperor is a
remarkable creature, of the form shown in Plate 1.
tig. 5, bright green, striped with yellow on each side,
and bearing on his head a pair of horns or tentacles.
Though the perfect insect is chiefly found on the oak,
the caterpillar feeds generally on the broad-leaved
Sallow, though it has been occasionally found on the
Poplar.
The chrysalis , which may be found on the same trees,
suspended to the under side of a leaf, is shown at Pig. 22,
Plate I. and is of a light green colour.
The butterfly appears in July, and is found in oak
woods in many localities of the South. The following
are a few of these : — Hear Colchester, extremely abun-
dant, Epping, Great and Little Stour Woods; Ketter-
ing, Barnwell Wold, Northamptonshire ; Bourne, Lin-
coln; Leicester; Reading, Newbury, Berks; Hereford-
shire ; Eorest of Dean, Monmouthshire ; Warwick-
shire ; Suffolk ; Monkswood, Hunts ; Clapham Park
Wood, Beds ; Darenth Wrood, Chatham, Tenterden ;
Ticehurst, Balcombe, Tilgate Eorest, Arundel, near
Brighton ; Lyndhurst ; Stowmarket ; Isle of Wight.
THE PAINTED LADY.
( Cynthia Cardui.) (Plate VII. fig. 3.)
We now come to a very natural group of butterflies,
rich, and often gorgeous, in their colouring, and having,
both in their perfect and preparatory states, many cha-
racteristics in common, in point of habits, as well as of
appearance and construction. The caterpillars are all
thorny, and the chrysalides are adorned with brilliant
metallic (generally golden) spots, from which appearance
was derived the name “ chrysalis ” 1 since applied, but
somewhat improperly, to the pupae of all butterflies.
This golden effect is produced by a brilliant white
1 See the meaning of Chrysalis and Aurelia, on page 9.
86
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
membrane underlying the transparent yellow outer
skin of the chrysalis, and it may be imitated, as dis-
covered by Lister many years ago, “5by putting a small
piece of black gall in a strong decoction of nettles ; this
produces a scum which, when left on cap-paper, will
exquisitely gild it, without the application of the real
metal/’
The present species is a highly elegant insect, well
named the Painted Lady, and in Prance the “ Belle
Dame.”
The colouring of the upper surface is composed of
black and very dark brown, with irregular markings of
an orange red, tinged partially with a rosy hue. Near
the tip of the front wings are several pure white spots.
Beneath, the great beauty lies in the delicate pen-
cilling of the hind wing with pearly greys and browns,
and contrasted with this, the warm roseate blush and
aurora tint on the upper wing.
The caterpillar is thorny and brown, with yellow
stripes down the back and sides. It feeds on various
species of thistle, but sometimes also on the nettle and
other plants.
The chrysalis is brown and grey, with silver spots.
The butterfly first appears about the end of July, and
is seen till the end of September, and occasionally in
October. I took a beautiful fresh specimen in October ,
while strolling through a nursery garden at Wands-
worth. <*£ Ci - , * ; J •> L -
Those seen in early spring are hybernated specimens.^
The appearance of this butterfly in any given locality
is a matter of great uncertainty, though it capriciously
visits, and even abounds occasionally in almost every
place.
It is a bold insect, and, though agile in its move-
ments, not difficult to catch, for, if disturbed or missed
at the first stroke, it returns to the charge quite fear-
lessly.
RED ADMIRAL PEACOCK.
87
THE RED ADMIRAL.
( Vanessa Atalanta .) (Plate VIII. fig. 1.)
In grand simplicity and vividness of colour, the Red
Admiral perhaps surpasses every other British butter-
fly, and reminds one forcibly of some of the gorgeous
denizens of the tropics. Intense black and brilliant
scarlet in bands and borders are the two chief elements
of this splendour, relieved delightfully by the cool
white spots at the outer and upper corners, and by the
choice little bits of blue at the inner and lower angles
and near the margins. The painting of the under sur-
face entirely beggars description. There is, in addition
to the red band, a good deal of blue on the upper wing,
and the lower wing is covered by an intricate em-
broidery of indescribable tints — all manner of browns,
and greys, and blacks, with golden and other hues of
metals, are here pencilled and blended with magic effect.
The caterpillar , which feeds on the common nettle,
is thorny, yellowish grey in colour, with light yellow lines
on each side and black markings.
The chrysalis is brownish, with gold spots.
The butterfly usually comes out in August, and may
be met with till early in October. The hybernated speci-
mens of this are more rarely seen than those of any of
ti e other common Vanessas.
like others of its genus, the Red Admiral is familiar,
and even saucy, in its manners, seeming to prefer the
haunts of men to the solitudes that other insects love,
flaunting boldly before our face in gardens and high-
ways, where most we meet it.
It is hund commonly all over the country.
fiflE PEACOCK BUTTERFLY.
( V messa lo.) (Plate VIII. fig. 2.)
The form and-mar kings of this species, so distinct from
every other of ur butterflies, will be seen by reference
to the plate ; aii as to its colouring, I will not do it
88
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
the injustice to attempt a description of its rich perfec-
tion, more especially as almost every reader may hope
to add the insect to his collection during his first year’s
hunting, and then he can study its beauties for himself.
The under side, however, presents a remarkable con-
trast to the splendour of the reverse, being covered with
shades and streaks of funereal blacks and browns. This
affords a strange effect when the insect, sitting on a
flower head, alternately opens and shuts the wings with
a fanning motion, according to its custom.
The caterpillar (Plate I. fig. 6), which feeds grega-
riously upon the nettle, is black, dotted with white, and
thorny.
The chrysalis is greenish, with gold spots.
The butterfly , which is common in nearly every part
of England, comes out in August and September, tie
individuals met with not unfrequently in the spring
having hybernated.
Mr. Doubleday writes thus to the Zoologist regarding
the winter retreats of butterflies of this genus : — “ Last
winter some large stacks of beech faggots, which had
been loosely stacked up in our forest (Upping) the
preceding spring, with the dead leaves adhering to
them, were taken down and carted away, and among
these were many scores of To, Urticce , and Polychloros.”
In Scotland this is generally a very rare butterfjf,
but has latterly been abundant in Dumfriesshire phd
Kirkcudbrightshire. /
THE CAMBERWELL BEAUTY.
( Vanessa Antiopa.) (Plate VIII. fig.
Many years ago, when Camberwell wa's a re/f village,
luxuriating in its willows, the entomologists the day
were delighted by the apparition, in that/suburb, of
this well-named “Beauty/’ whose name si/ce then has
always been associated with Camberwell-Aertainly n°f
a promising place in the present day a butterfly
hunt, for, though it has its “ beauties /still, they are
CAMBERWELL BEAUTY.
89
not of the lepidopterons order, nor game for any net
that the entomologist usually carries. Since then it has
been found at intervals, and in very variable abundance,
in a wide range of localities.
The arrangement of colours in this butterfly is most
remarkable and unusual, by reason of the sudden con-
trast between the pale whitish border and the velvet,
depth of the colours it encloses.
The inmost portion of all the wings is a deep rich
chocolate brown, then comes a band of black, including
a row of large blue spots, and succeeded by an outer
border of pale yellow tint, partially dappled with black
specks.
The caterpillar feeds on the willow (which accounts
for its former appearance in Camberwell). It is thorny,
black, with white dots, and a row of large red spots
down the back.
The chrysalis is very angular, and blackish with
tawny spots.
The butterfly comes out of the chrysalis late in the
autumn, and is seen from August till October; but
a great proportion of those observed in this country
have survived the winter, and have been seen abroad
again in the spring. It has been frequently seen feast-
ing on over-ripe or rotten fruit, and at such times may
be often surprised and captured with ease.
Ho spot can be pointed out where one can expect
to meet with this fine insect; but it has appeared
singly at intervals in the following localities among
others : — Scotland, Ayrshire ; Durham ; Scarborough ;
York ; Darlington ; Sheffield ; Manchester ; Lake Dis-
trict ; Appleby ; Coventry ; Peterborough ; Oxford ;
Burton- on-Trent ; Norfolk ; Lincolnshire ; Suffolk ;
Bristol ; Ely ; Shrewsbury ; Plymouth ; Teignmouth ;
Kent ; Ashford ; Bromley ; Tenterden ; Kamsgate ;
various places in neighbourhood of London ; Epping ;
Hampshire ; Isle of Wight ; Lewes ; Worthing.
On the Continent this is a common butterfly, in many
places being the most abundant of all the Vanessas.
90
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
THE LARGE TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY.
(Vanessa Polychloros.) (Plate IX. tig. 1.)
The beginner often has a slight difficulty in finding
a good and permanent distinction between this species
and the next (V. Urticce). At the first blush, the
superior size of this seems to be a sufficient mark, and
then the orange of the wings has usually a much
browner, or more tawny hue, than that of Urticce ; but
as I have seen specimens of Polychloros absolutely
smaller than some very large Urticce s, and as the colour
of both occasionally varies, so that they approach each
other in this respect also, it is evident we must look for
some better mark of distinction ; and here is one. In
Polychloros , all the light markings between the black
spots on the upper edge of the front wing are yellow ,
whereas in Urticce the outer one next the blue and black
border is pure pearly white. The two other marks on
the front edge are yellow. Polychloros has also, near
the lower corner of the front wing , an extra black spot,
not found in Urticce.
The blue spots on the border are in this species
almost confined to the hind wings.
The caterpillar generally feeds on the elm, whence
the butterfly is occasionally called the “ Elm Butterfly,”
but it has also been found on the willow, and on the
white beam -tree. Mr. Boscher of Twickenham informs
me that the specimens he has bred from caterpillars fed
on the willow have been all far below the average size.
The caterpillar is thorny, and of a tawny colour, broadly
striped with black along each side.
The chrysalis is of a dull flesh colour, with golden spots.
The butterfly makes its appearance in July and August,
hybernated specimens being also frequently seen in the
spring, from March till May.
In some places and seasons it is not rare, but is very
uncertain in its appearance, abounding most in the
southern districts, and being almost unknown in Scot-
land. It is fond of gardens and other frequented places.
SMALL TORTOISESHELL.
91
THE SMALL TORTOISESHELL BUTTERELY.
( Vanessa Urticas.) (Plate IX. fig. 2.)
This pretty species is much, commoner than the last,
being, in fact, the most plentiful of all the genus , and
found everywhere, in gardens, by weedy road-sides and
waste grounds, &c.
Its markings are very similar to those of the last, but
the colouring is much more gay and brilliant.
The distinguishing mark of this species — the pos-
session of a pure white spot near the upper corner of
the front wing — has been already pointed out under
V. Polychloros.
The blue crescent-spots of the border are much more
marked than in the last, and extend along the edge of
the front wing. The orange colour also approaches a
scarlet , and the yellow spots have a brighter hue than
in Polychloros.
The caterpillar , which is found feeding in large com-
panies on the nettle, is of greyish colour, with a black
line on the back, and brown and yellow stripes on the
sides. Thorny, like rest of the genus.
The chrysalis is generally of a brown hue, spotted
with gold, but I have seen it gilded all over, making a
very splendid appearance.
Hybernated individuals of this butterfly are seen
during the spring months, but the first emergence
from the chrysalis takes place in June, and the insect
is seen on the wing constantly from that time till
October.
The following interesting notice of the capture of a
swarm of these butterflies in mid-winter , is quoted,
from the Zoologist, p. 5000. The writer is a Mr.
Banning, resident near Ballacraine, in the Isle of
Man : —
“ Whilst standing in my farm-yard on the day fol-
lowing Christmas-day (1855), it being unusually fine
and warm, I was suddenly astonished by the fall of
92
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
more than a hundred of the accompanying butterflies
(V. U rticce). I commenced at once collecting them, and
succeeded in securing more than sixty. These I have
fed on sugar spread oyer cabbage-leaves and bran until
now, and, to all appearances, those which still survive
(more than forty in number) are thriving well, and in
good condition.”
THE COMMA BUTTEKELY.
(prajota C. Album) (Plate IX. fig 3.)
The singularly jagged outline of this butterfly at once
distinguishes it from every other native species, though,
did we not know it as a distinct species, it might have
been taken for one of the two previous species very
much stunted, deformed, and torn, so similar is it in
colour and the plan of its markings.
The upper surface is deep fulvous, or rusty orange,
and marked with black and dark brown. In different
individuals, the under side varies greatly in its tints
and markings, especially near the border of the wings,
which are sometimes of a deep rich olive brown, some-
times pale tawny. They all agree, however, in bearing
in the centre of the hind wings the character from
which the insect takes its specific name, viz. a white
mark in form of the letter C, which has also been
likened with less justice to a whence its English name
of “ Comma.”
The female is of a paler tint than the male, and the
edges of the wings are less deeply scalloped and cut.
The figure is that of a male.
The caterpillar is tawny-coloured ; but the back, for
about the hinder half its length, is whitish ; head black.
The body is armed with short spines, and there are two
ear-like tubercles projecting from the side of the head.
It has been found feeding on the elm, willow, sloe,
currant, nettle, and hop.
The chrysalis is of the curious shape shown at fig. 24,
Plate I. ; of a brownish tint, with gold spots.
COMMA SILVER- WASHED FRITILLARY. 93
The butterfly appears in July and August, and hy-
bernated individuals in the spring, up till May. Its
range seems to be nearly confined to the Midland and
Western districts. It was formerly found near London,
and in other places, whence it has now disappeared.
The following localities are given for it : — Carlisle
and the Lake district, York, Green Hammerton (York-
shire), Doncaster, Broomsgrove (Worcestershire), War-
wickshire, Peterborough, Scarborough, Barnwell Wold
(Northamptonshire), Bristol, Gloucester, Dorchester.
I found it very plentiful on the banks of the Wye, in
1858 ; and in the following May I took one in South
Wales, at Pont-y-Pridd. In Scotland, Fifeshire has
been mentioned as a locality.
This is a rapid flyer, and not very easily caught when
fresh on the wing.
THE SILYEE- WASHED EBITILLAEY.
( Argynnis Paphia.)
(Plate IX. fig. 4, Male; 4 a, Female.)
The beautiful genus to which this butterfly belongs is
distinguished by the adornment of silvery spots and
streaks with which the under side of the hind wings is
bedight; while the upper surface is chequered with
black, upon a rich golden-brown ground, the device
reminding one of those old-fashioned chequered flowers
called “ fritillaries,” whence the common name of these
butterflies.
Of all the British Fritillaries, this is, perhaps, the
loveliest, from the exquisite softness and harmony of
the silvery pencillings on the iridescent green of the
under side ; though some of the others with bright
silver spots are gayer and more sparkling.
The two sexes differ considerably on the upper sur-
face ; the male being marked with black (as in the
engraving) upon a bright orange-brown ground, while
the female is without the broad black borders to the
<J4
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
veins of the front wings, and the ground colour is suf-
fused with an olive-brown tint, inclining sometimes to
green. The black spots are also larger. Beneath, how-
ever, both sexes are marked nearly alike with washy
streaks of silver , and not with defined spots.
The caterpillar (fig. 7, Plate I.), as with all the Eritil-
laries, is thorny, with two spines behind the head longer
than the rest ; black, with yellow lines along the back
and sides. It feeds on violet leaves, also on the wild
raspberry and nettle.
The chrysalis (fig. 16, Plate I.) is greyish, with the
tubercles silvered or gilt.
The butterfly is out in July and August, and is not
rare in the woods of the South and Midland districts,
but it also extends its range into Scotland. On the
banks of Wye, about Tintern and Monmouth, I found
it extremely abundant. It has been seen swarming in a
teasel-field, near Selby, Yorkshire.
Its predilection for settling on bramble sprays has
been alluded to on page 36.
THE DARK-GREEN ERITILLARY.
( Argynnis Aglaia.) (Plate X. fig. 1, Male.)
This is a handsomely-marked insect — orange-brown,
chequered with black, above. Beneath, the front iving
is coloured nearly as above, but bears near the tip several
silvery spots. The hind wing is splendidly studded with
rounded spots of silver, on a ground partly tawny, partly
olive-green and brown. The male is the sex repre-
sented, the female being darker above, both as to the
ground colour and markings.
The caterpillar , which feeds on the dog-violet, is very
similar to that of the last ; as also is the chrysalis.
The butterfly is out in July and part of August, and
may be seen in a variety of situations, from the breezy
tops of heathy downs, to close-grown forest-lands in the
HIGH-BROWN FRITILLARY — QUEEN OF SPAIN. 9 5
valleys ; and it seems to be distributed over tbe whole
of the country, occurring in widely distant localities,
from the south coast to Scotland.
THE HIGH-BROWN ERITILLARY.
{Argynnis Adippe.) (Plate X. fig. 2.)
On the upper surface, this insect so closely resembles
the last, that it is difficult in a description to discri-
minate between them ; but beneath , the two are dis-
tinguished by the absence in Adippe of the silvery spots
near the tip of the front wing ; and though there is
some similarity in the arrangement of the silver spots
on the hind wing, and in its general colouring, Adippe
is distinguished by a row of rust-red spots, with small
silvery centres, between the silver border spots and the
next row inwards. By comparing the figures of the
undersides of Adippe and Aglaia , these will be readily
made out.
The caterpillar is thorny, greyish, with black spots
on the back, intersected by a white line. Feeds on the
violet.
The chrysalis is reddish, spotted with silver.
The butterfly appears in July, in many open places, in
woods, and on heaths, in various parts of England, but
most plentifully in the south. Like the last species, it
is an active and wary insect on the wing, and requires
considerable agility and dexterity for its capture.
THE QUEEN OF SPAIN ERITILLARY.
( Argynnis Lathonia.) (Plate X. fig. 3.)
This splendid little species is one of the prize-flies of
the collector — that is, if the specimen be an undoubted
native ; for while a “ Queen of Spain 5; taken within our
shores will command a considerable sum of money in
96
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
the market, another, precisely similar, hut brought over
from the opposite French coast, may he bought for a very
few pence ; but the mode of carriage, you see, makes
all the difference, and the value of the insect depends
entirely upon whether its own wings or a steam-boat
have brought it over the Channel. So much for “ the
fancy/’
When figured side by side with the other Frit diaries,
this species looks distinct enough from any of them;
but it has been several times confounded with small
specimens of Adippe and with Euphrosyne , and its
capture has thereupon been erroneously published; but
this must have been the effect of a description imper-
fectly written or read. It will be observed that the
form of the front wings differs in this from the rest of
the Fritillaries, the outer margin being concave in its
outline. The inner corner of the hind wings also is
more sharply angular.
Above, the colouring of the wings is similar to that
of the others of the genus, tawny-brown and black.
Beneath, the front wing has a group of silver spots near
the tip, the ground colour of the hind wing is yellowish,
and the silver spots are proportionately larger than in
the other species ; near the margin of the hind wing ,
and parallel with its edge, are seven dark-brown spots
with silver centres.
The caterpillar is brown, striped with white, and
yellowish tint; head, legs, and thorns, tawny coloured.
It feeds on the wild heartsease, also on sainfoin and
borage.
The chrysalis is tinted with dull-green and brown,
and spotted with gold.
The butterfly is said to be double-brooded — one brood
appearing in June, the other in September. The most
likely places in which to look for it are clover fields in
the south of England, and more especially on the south-
east coast. Though still classed among the rarest of
British butterflies, it has been found in a great many
localities, It has been taken at Brighton ; Shoreham ;
THE SMALL PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY. 97
Eastbourne ; Dover ; Margate ; Ashford ; Chatham ;
Exeter ; Bristol ; ILarleston, near Norwich ; Colchester;
Lavenham ; Peterborough.
THE PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.
(Argynnis Euphrosyne.) (Plate X. fig. 4.)
This very common insect is considerably smaller than
any of the preceding species, though small specimens
of the last sometimes do not much exceed it in size.
The upper surface is lively orange-brown, with black
markings. Beneath, the hind wing is mapped out with
black lines into various irregular spaces, all of which
are filled with tints of dull yellow, ochreous, or reddish
orange ; excepting a row of silver spots on the border,
one silver spot in the centre of the wing , and one triangu-
lar one close to the root of the w7ing.
The caterpillar is black, with white lines ; and the
pro-legs red. It feeds on various species of viola .
The butterdy appears first in May, and there is
another brood in autumn, about August. It frequents
woods and hedgerows, being met with most profusely
in the south ; but its range is extended into Scotland.
In Ireland I believe it is unknown.
THE SMALL PEARL-BORDERED FRITILLARY.
(Argynnis Selene .) (Plate XL fig. 1.)
This butterfly, which is very nearly related to the last,
often so closely resembles it in the marking of the
upper surface, that even practised eyes are sometimes
at a loss to distinguish the two, without a reference to
the under side ; for on this side do the real distinctive
marks lie, and chiefly on the hind wing. In addition
to the silver border and central spots of Euphrosyne,
this species has several other silvery or pearly patches
distributed over the hind wing; and the reddish-orange
colour adjoining the silver border in Euphrosyne is
H
98
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
exchanged for dark chestnut -brown in Selene. In
average size the two insects differ very slightly, though
the name of this expresses an inferior size.
The caterpillar much resembles that of the last, and
feeds on violet- leaves.
The chrysalis is greyish.
The butterfly is double-brooded, appearing first in
May and again in August. It is not so common an
insect as Euphrosyne , but is met with in similar situa-
tions, and has a range nearly co-extensive with that of
the latter.
THE GRANVILLE ERITILLARY.
(Melitcea Ginxia.) (Plate XI. fig. 2.)
Though usually rather abundant where it occurs at all,
this insect is one of the most local of all our butterflies,
and I can only find recorded about a dozen places for it
in the country. Of these, the Isle of Wight is the
great metropolis of the insect, and there, in many places
round the coast, numerous colonies have been established.
This butterfly is distinguished from the next (it/.
Athalia), which it very much resembles, principally by
the characters on the under surface.
The hind wing (beneath) is covered with alternate
bands of bright straw-colour and orange-brown, divided
by black lines ; and possesses in the marginal straw-
coloured band a row of clear black spots. Another
row of black spots crosses the centre of "the wing. It
will also be observed that the hind wings have on their
upper surface a row of black spots parallel with, and not
far from, the margin. The colouring of the upper side
is orange-brown with black markings.
The caterpillar , which feeds on the narrow-leaved
plantain, is thorny and black, with reddish head and
legs. The chrysalis is brownish, marked with fulvous
tint. A highly interesting account of the habits and
history of this butterfly in all its stages has been
sketched from the life by the Rev. J. F. Dawson (who
THE PEARL-BORDERED LIKENESS FRITILLARY. 99
lias made an intimate acquaintance with, a colony of the
insect at Sandown, Isle* of Wight), and will he found in
the Zoologist , p. 1271.
The butterfly first appears about the first or second
week in May, and thence continues till about the middle
of June, seldom enduring till July. It is to be looked
for in rough, broken ground, such as the Isle of Wight
landslips, where plenty of the narrow-leaved plantain
grows.
Other localities for the Glanville Fritillary are, Folke-
stone below West -Cliff' (abundant); round Dover;
Birchwood ; Hartford, Kent ; Stapleford, near Cam-
bridge; Yorkshire; Lincolnshire; Wiltshire; Peterboro;,
Stowmarket; and in Scotland, at Falkland in Fifeshire.
THE PEAKL-BOKDEKED LIKENESS
FBLTILLAKY. ( Melitcea Athcilia.)
(Plate XL fig. 3.)
This is another very local butterfly, though rather more
widely and generally distributed than the last, which,
as before stated, it greatly resembles in appearance,
especially on the upper side.
It may be characterised negatively as not having the
rows of black spots found on both surfaces of Cinxia,
though its colouring is very similar — fulvous (or orange-
brown) and black above ; straw-coloured, fulvous, and
black beneath.
The 'caterpillar is black, with rust-coloured spines ;
and feeds on various species of plantain.
The butterfly is out from May to July, and is met
with (if at all) on heaths, clearings in woods, &c.
Localities, in some of which it is very plentiful, are,
Caen Wood ; Coombe Wood ; Epping ; Halton, Bucks;
Bedford ; Aspley Wood, Beds ; Plymouth, Teignmouth,
Stowmarket, Dartmoor, Devonshire ; Oxford ; Wilt-
shire ; Colchester ; St. Osyth ; Tenterden ; Faversham ;
Deal; Canterbury. Very rare in north of England.
100
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
THE GEEASY OR MARSH EEITILLAEY.
(Melitcea Artemis .) (Plate XI. fig. 4.)
The black markings on the upper side of this but-
terfly closely approach those of the last two species, but
the interstices, instead of being filled up with a uniform
fulvous tint , as in those, are “ coloured in ” with several
distinct shades , some with pale tawny yelloiv , others with
deep orange brown. This latter tint forms a band parallel
to the outer margin of each wing, the band on the front
wings having a row of pale spots in it ; that on the hind
wings a row of black spots. Beneath , the upper wing
has an appearance of the markings having been
“ smudged ” together, and a shining surface, as if it had
been greased, whence the common name of the insect ;
the hinder wings are like those of the two last, yellowish,
banded with brownish orange, the outer band of which
bears a series of black spots each surrounded by a pale
yellowish ring.
The front edge of the front wing is slightly concave
in its outline, about the middle, whereas it is convex in
Ginxia and Athalia.
The caterpillar is black, with reddish brown legs. It
is gregarious, feeding under protection of a web upon
the leaves of plantain, devils-bit scabious, and some
other plants.
The chrysalis is drabbish, with darker spots, and is
said to suspend itself by the tail from the top of a tent-
like structure made of blades of grass spun together at
the top.
The butterfly appears in June (sometimes a little
earlier or later), and frequents marshy meadows, moist
woods, &c., but is a very local insect, abounding most in
the south. The specimens, however, that I have seen from
the north, are much larger, brighter, and more distinctly
marked than the “ southerners.” The nearest localities
to London are, Hornsey, and Copthall Wood at the top
of Muswell Hill ; West Wickham Wood, and High-
Beech (Epping). It is also found near Brighton (plen-
THE DUKE OF BUKGUNDY FKITILLABY.
101
tifully) ; Carlisle ; Durham ; Burton- on-Trent ; York ;
Haverfordwest, S. W. ; Cardiff, S. W. ; Weston-super-
Mare ; Bristol ; and a great number of other places dis-
tributed throughout the country. In Ireland at Ardra-
han, co. Galway. Rare in Scotland.
THE DUKE OE BURGUHDY ERITILLARY.
( Nemeobius Lucina.) (Plate XI. fig. 5.)
Though this little insect bears the name of Fritillary ,
at the end of its lengthy and important title, it
really belongs to a family widely differing from that of
any of the true Eritillaries previously described, and it
only shared their name on account of its similarity in
colour and markings.
The caterpillar (Plate I. fig. 8), instead of being long
and thorny like those of the true Eritillaries, is short,
thick , and wood-louse shaped. Its colour is reddish
brown, with tufts of hair of the same colour. It feeds
on the primrose.
The chrysalis differs from that of the true Eritillaries
as much as the caterpillar does, being of the form, and
suspended in the manner, shown at fig. 25, Plate I.
The butterfly is chequered on the upper surface with
tawny, and dark brown or black. It appears in May
and June, and again in August, being found in woods,
principally in the south, and its range is often confined
to a small spot hardly fifty yards in diameter, within
which it may be quite plentiful. The following are
among its recorded localities : — Carlisle ; Lake District ;
West Yorkshire ; Roche Abbey, Yorkshire ; Peter-
borough ; Stowmarket ; Pern bury ; Barnwell Wold,
Horthants ; Oxford ; Blandford ; Worcester ; Glouces-
tershire ; Bedfordshire ; Epping ; Coombe Wood ; Darenth
Wood ; Boxhill ; Dorking ; Brighton ; Lewes ; Worth-
ing ; Lyndhurst ; Teignmouth.
The males of all the members of the family to which
this butterfly belongs, and of which this is the sole
102
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
European representative — the Erycin hue — have only
four legs adapted for walking, whilst the females have
six.
THE BROWN HAIR- SERE AH
{Thecla Betulce.) (Plate XII. fig. 1, Male; 1 a, Eemale.)
The genus to which this butterfly belongs, contains five
British species, elegant and interesting insects, though
not gaily tinted. They are most obviously distinguished
from other small butterflies by the tail-like projection on
the lower edge of their hind wings (though one of their
number, T. Rubi , has this very slightly developed).
From each other they are best distinguished by the
characters on their under surface, where they all bear a
more or less distinct hair- like streak , whence their com-
mon name — Hair-streak.
The Brown Hair-streak is the largest of the genus,
measuring sometimes an inch and two-thirds in expanse.
The two sexes differ considerably on the upper surface,
the male being of a deep brown colour, slightly paler
near the middle of the front wing, wdiile the female
possesses on the front wing a large patch of clear orange.
Both sexes have several orange marks upon the lower
angles of the hind wings. Beneath, the general colour
is tawny orange with duller bands, and marked with one
white line on the front wing, and two parallel white lines
on the hind wings.
The caterpillar is green, marked obliquely with white ;
it feeds on the birch and also on the sloe.
The butterfly appears in August, continuing into Sep-
tember. It is generally distributed through the south,
but is by no means an abundant insect. Mr. Stain-
ton observes that it has a habit of “ flitting along in
hedges just in advance of the collector ;” but it is also
found in oak woods in company with the Purple Hair-
streak.
Forty were taken in a season in woods near Henfield,
Sussex. Other localities are, Underbarrow Moss, West-
moreland; , North Lancashire, common in some parts ;
THE WHITE LETTER HAIR-STREAK. 103
Preston ; Valley of the Dovey, Montgomeryshire ;
Cardiff, S. W. ; Barnwell Wold; Peterborough ; Col-
chester ; Epping ; Darenth "Wood; Coombe Wood;
Brighton ; Tenterden ; Winchester ; Woolmer Forest,
Hants ; Plymouth ; Dartmoor ; Wallingford, Berks ;
Ipswich ; Dorsetshire ; Norfolk ; Wiltshire ; Monks
Wood, Cambridgeshire.
THE BLACK HAIE-STEEAK.
( Thecla Pruni.) (Plate XII. fig. 2.)
The upper side is very dark brown, sometimes almost
black, and bearing near the hinder edge of the hind,
wings a few orange spots. This character will at once
distinguish this from the next species (IF. Album).
On the under side of the hind wing is a broad band of
orange , having a row of black spots on its inner edge.
The caterpillar is green, with four rows of yellow
spots. It feeds on the sloe.
The butterfly comes out about the end of June or in
July. It is generally a very rare insect, but is occa-
sionally taken in great plenty in certain spots. The
Kev. W. Bree, writing to the Zoologist from the neigh-
bourhood of Polebrook, North Hants, says, “ Thecla
Pruni is very uncertain in its appearance. In 1837
it literally swarmed in Barnwell and Ashton Wolds ; I
do not scruple to say that it would have been possible
to capture some hundreds of them, had one been so
disposed ; for the last few years it has appeared very
sparingly indeed/’ It has also been found in the fol-
lowing localities : — Overton Wood; Brington, Hunting-
donshire ; and Monks Wood, Cambridgeshire.
THE WHITE LETTEE HAIE-STEEAK.
( Thecla IF. Album.) (Plate XII. fig. 3.)
This is very much like the last in appearance, and
has often been mistaken for it by inexperienced eyes.
The points of difference are — on the upper side, the
absence of the orange band at the hinder edge of the
104
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
hind wings, and the presence of a bluish grey circumflex
line at the inner angle ; here also is sometimes a small
orange dot ; — beneath, the orange band forms a series of
arches , hounded on the edge nearest the root of the
wing by a clear black line instead of the rounded black
spots seen at this part in Pruni .
The caterpillar , which feeds on the elm, is wood-
louse shaped ; pea-green, barred with ‘ yellow ; head
black. May be beaten off elm trees in May.
The butterfly appears in July, and is found in various
situations, sometimes flying high up round elm trees,
sometimes descending to bramble hedges, or fluttering
about in weedy fields a foot or two from the ground. It
was formerly a much rarer insect than at present, and
now its appearance in any given locality is a matter of
much uncertainty. Mr. J. F. Stephens writes as follows
to the Zoologist : —
“ For eighteen years I possessed four bleached speci-
mens only of Thecla W. Album , having vainly endea-
voured to procure others, when, in 1827, as elsewhere
recorded, I saw the insect at Ripley, not by dozens only,
but by scores of thousands ! and although I frequented
the same locality for thirteen years subsequently, some-
times in the season for a month together, I have not
since seen a single specimen there ; but in 1833 I
caught one specimen at Madingley Wood, near Cam-
bridge.”
Other localities : — Hear Sheffield ; Roche Abbey ;
York ; Peterborough ; near Doncaster ; Polebrook,
Horthants ; Allesley, Warwickshire ; Brington, Hunt-
ingdonshire ; Yaxley and Monks Wood, Cambridge-
shire ; Heedwood Forest, Staffordshire ; Wolverston,
near Ipswich ; Chatham ; Southgate, Middlesex ; West
Wickham Wood ; Epping ; Bristol.
THE PURPLE HAIR-STREAK.
( Thecla Quercus.) (Plate XII. fig. 4, Male ; 4 a, Female.)
At once the commonest and the handsomest of the
Hair-streaks, being found in almost every part of Eng-
THE GREEN HAIR-STREAK.
105
land where there is an oak wood, and looking like a
small Purple Emperor, with its rich gloss of the im-
perial colour.
The male has all the wings, in certain lights, of a dark
brown colour, but with a change of position they be-
come illuminated with a deep rich purple tint, extend-
ing over the whole surface excepting a narrow border,
which then appears black. The female has the purple
much more vivid, but confined to a small patch extend-
ing from the root to the centre of the front wing.
Beneath, the wings are shaded with greyish tints,
crossed by a white line on each wing, and having two
orange spots at the inner corner of the hind wing.
The caterpillar (Plate I. fig. 9), which feeds on the
oak, is reddish brown, marked with black.
The chrysalis , which is sometimes attached to the
leaves of the oak, and at others is found under the
surface of the earth at the foot of the tree, is a brownish
object, of the lumpy shape shown in Plate I. fig. 28 (a
form shared by the chrysalides of all the Hair- streaks).
The butterfly is seen in July and August, flitting
about in sportive groups round oak trees, and occa-
sionally descending within reach of the net. It also
affects other trees besides oaks, some thirty or forty at
a time having been seen gambolling about one lime
tree. It being so generally distributed, it will be need-
less to particularize its localities.
THE GREEK HAIR-STREAK.
(Theda Bubi.) (Plate XII. fig. 5.)
This pretty little species is at once known from all
other English butterflies by the rich bright green colour
that overspreads its under surface. Above, the wings
are deep, warm brown.
The caterpillar is green, spotted and striped with
white, and feeds on the bramble ; also on the broom,
and other plants of the same order.
The butterfly appears first in May and June, and
IOC
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
again in August, it being double-brooded. It is found
flying about rough brambly hedges, and often settles
on the outer leaves of low trees about a dozen feet from
the ground. It seems to occur generally throughout
the country, and extends into the southern parts of
►Scotland. It has been found in many localities close
to London.
THE SMALL COPPER BUTTERFLY.
{Chrysophanus Phlasas.) (Plate XIII. fig. 1.)
We now arrive at a genus characterized by the splendid
golden or burnished coppery lustre and tint of their
wings ; of which, however, the present little species is
the only one that remains to us, should the “ Large
Copper” be really (as it is feared) extinct.
This little, but lively representative of the genus, is
one of our commonest and most widely distributed but-
terflies, flashing about in the sunshine, joining in a
dance with the no less lively blues, or settling on the
lilac flowers of the scabious, &c., whose soft tones set
off to the best advantage the metallic effulgence of this
little gem.
The caterpillar feeds on sorrel leaves ; is green, with
three red stripes.
The chrysalis and caterpillar both resemble in shape
those of the Hair-streaks.
The butterfly is supposed to be triple- brooded, coming
out in April, June, and August ; and is so common,
that no localities need be given. < « ^
THE LARGE COPPER BUTTERFLY.
( Chrysophanus Dispar .) (Plate XIII. fig. 2.)
A few years ago, this was the pride of British ento-
mology, for we were supposed to have the insect en-
tirely to ourselves, it being unknown on the Continent,
whilst it literally swarmed in some of the fens of
Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire. Then, from
THE LARGE COPPER BUTTERFLY. 107
some cause, never satisfactorily explained, it almost
suddenly disappeared, and, there is reason to fear, has
become quite extinct in this country. Still, hopes are
entertained that it may be surviving in some unexplored
districts, and that it will again “ turn up.”
As comparatively very few persons have ever seen this
splendid creature on the wing, the following commu-
nication from one who has, quoted from the Intelligence!' ,
will be of interest to those who have not read it in that
periodical. It is from the pen of Mr. E. C. E. J enkins,
of Sleaford, Lincolnshire. He writes : “I proceed to give
you some account of my own acquaintance with that most
beautiful insect, which, some thirty years ago, was so
abundant in the unreclaimed fens about Whittlesea
Mere, that I never expected to hear of its utter exter-
mination. Its brilliant appearance on the wing in the
sunshine I shall never forget, and to watch it sitting on
the flower of the Eupatorium cannabinum and show
the under sides of its wings, was something ever to be
remembered. I once took sixteen in about half an hour
on one particular spot, where the above-mentioned plant
was very plentiful ; but unless the sun was very bright
they were very difficult to find. In those days the
larva was unknown, and I attribute the disappearance
of the butterfly to the discovery of the larva, to the
unceasing attacks of collectors, and to the burning of
the surface-growth of the fens, which is done in dry
weather when they are to be reclaimed.”
The two sexes of this butterfly differ very remark-
ably in the appearance of the upper surface. This, in
the male , is of an effulgent coppery colour, narrowly
bordered with black, and having a black mark in the
centre of each win g. The female is larger, has a redder
tinge, with a row of black spots on the front wings,
and the hind wings nearly covered with black, except-
ing a band of coppery red near the margin, extending
also more or less distinctly along the courses of the
veins. Underneath, both sexes are nearly alike, the
hind wing of a general light blue tint , with a red band
near the margin, and spotted with black.
108
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
The caterpillar is green, darker on the back, and
paler at the sides, it feeds on the water dock.
The butterfly used to be found in July and August,
being formerly especially abundant about Yaxley and
Whittlesea Mere, and has been taken also at Benacre,
Suffolk; and Bardolpli Fen, Norfolk.
Various reports of its capture, during the last two or
three years, have been published ; but they all seem to
require confirmation.
This butterfly is now generally considered to be a
large local variety of the continental one called Hippo-
thoe, with which it closely agrees in its markings.
THE BLUES. (Genus Folyommatus.)
We now arrive at a numerous genus of elegant and
lively little insects, collectively known as the “ Blues,”
though some of them are not blue at all. In their
manners, and the localities they inhabit, there is so
much in common, that one description of these will
answer for nearly every one of them ; so that my small
available space will be in great part devoted to pointing
out the marks of distinction between the various species,
ten in number, several of them closely resembling
others in general appearance, and requiring some care
in their discrimination.
Their caterpillars , which are wood-louse shaped, or
onisciform , generally feed on low plants, chiefly of the
papilionaceous order; and the butterflies are found in
dry meadows, on downs, and in open heathy places.
The first species, P. Argiolus, is, however, an exception
to the above, both in its food and haunts.
Several species of this genus are often found toge-
ther. For example, in the Isle of Wight, last August,
I took F. Argiolus , Gory don, Adonis , Alexis , and Agestis,
all within about one hour, and a space of a few yards
square in the corner of a field.
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
109
THE AZURE BLUE BUTTERFLY.
( Polyommatus Argiolus.)
(Plate XIII. fig. 3, Male; 3 a, Female.)
Colouring : — Upper side, beautiful lilac blue — the
male with a narrow black border (fig. 3), the female with
a broad one, sometimes extending over the outer half of
the wing (fig. 3 a). Under side, very delicate silvery
blue , almost white , with numerous small black spots.
No red spots.
Caterpillar , green, with darker line on back. Feeds
on the flowers of holly, ivy, and buckthorn.
The butterfly appears in May, or sometimes in April,
and again in August, frequenting woods and hedges,
especially where holly and iv y abound. I noticed im-
mense numbers about the ivied walls of Chepstow
Castle.
As the name “ Azure Blue ” is in general use, I have
retained it above, but that of “ Holly Blue,” sometimes
applied to it, is preferable, as its colour is much less an
azure blue than that of Adonis.
Localities : — Common in the south, and found as far
north as Durham and the Lake District. Hot known
in Scotland.
THE BEDFORD BLUE, OR LITTLE BLUE.
( Polyommatus Alsus.)
(Plate XIII. fig. 4, Male ; 4 a, Female.)
This is the smallest of British butterflies, specimens
being sometimes seen even smaller than those figured.
Colouring : — Upper side, dark brown, distinctly
powdered with blue near the root of the wing in the
male, without blue in the female. Under side, pale grey-
drab, bluish near the base, marked with rows of black
spots in pale rings. No red spots.
Caterpillar, green, orange stripe down back, and
streaks of same colour on each side.
The butterfly is out in May and June, and is some-
110
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
times seen niucli later. It is generally met with, on
limestone or chalky soils ; arid, from a long list of
localities I have looked over, it seems to be distributed
over England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
THE MAZAEIXE BLUE. ( Polyommatus Acis)
(Plate XIII. fig. 5 , Male ; 5 a , Eemale.)
Colouring : — Upper side, male, deep purple , or maza-
rine blue , with a border of black (fig. 5) ; female, dark
brown (fig. 5 a). Under sides of both sexes similar,
pale greyish drab , tinged at the base with greenish blue,
numerous black spots in white rings. Uo red spots.
Though this elegant butterfly was frequently met
with some years ago, it has lately become one of our
rarest species, and I can give no locality where it can
be now found. It has been reported as taken lately at
Ventnor, Isle of Wight, and somewhere in South Wales,
also in other places, but only singly.
Collectors, on visiting any new district, should net
all the Blues they are not quite sure are common
ones, and this may perchance turn up among them
sometimes.
The caterpillar is said to febd on the flower heads of
common Thrift (Armerici vulgaris).
The butterfly may be looked for in July.
THE LAEGE BLUE.
(Polyommatus Arion.) (Plate XIY. fig. 1.)
This is the largest of all our u Blues,” and, next to the
last, the rarest, though still taken in some numbers
every year.
Colouring : — Upper side, dark blue , granulated with
black scales that give it a dull aspect, having a black
border, and a series of large black spots across the front
wing. Under side, greyish drab, suffused with greenish
blue near the body ; towards centre, many black
spots in indistinct light-coloured rings, and a double
border of the same. No red spots .
THE CHALK-HILL BLUE.
Ill
The caterpillar is unknown.
The butterfly appears in July, frequenting rough,
flowery pasture-grounds, hut is exceedingly local. A
famous place for it is Barnwell Wold, about a mile and
a half from the village of Barnwell, near Oundle,
Northamptonshire, where the insect was discovered by
the Rev. W. Bree many years ago ; but it is less abun-
dant there than formerly, from the repeated attacks of
collectors, who catch all they can find. Other localities,
mentioned in various works, are — Brington, Hunting-
donshire ; Shortwood, and some other spots, near
Cheltenham ; Charmouth, Dorsetshire ; Dover ; Downs
near Glastonbury, Somerset ; Downs near Marlborough,
Wiltshire ; Broomham, Bedfordshire ; near Bedford ;
near Winchester.
THE CHALK-HILL BLUE.
(Polyommatus Corydon .) (Plate XIY. fig. 2, Male ;
2 a , Female.)
Colouring : — Upper side, male , pale silvery greenish
blue , with very silky gloss, and shading off into a broad
black border.
Female, dark smoky brown, with a leaden tinge,
sprinkled near the body with greenish blue scales of the
same colour as the males ; border of orange spots, more
or less visible. U nder side marked as in fig. 2 a , on a
brown ground, with a row of red spots near border of
hind wing.
The caterpillar (Plate I. fig. 10) is green, striped
with yellow on the back and sides.
The chrysalis is brownish, and of the shape shown
at fig. 29, Plate I.
The butterfly is out in July and August, frequenting
chalky downs, especially in the south, and where it
does occur is often extremely abundant. Occasionally
it is found off the chalk , having been seen in Epping
Forest, decidedly not a chalk district. Other localities
are — Croydon ; Brighton ; Lewes ; Dover ; Winches-
ter ; Isle of Wight; Halton, Bucks; Newmarket ;
112
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
Peterborough. ; Norfolk ; Suffolk ; Berkshire ; Oxford-
shire ; Wiltshire ; Gloucestershire. At Grange, North
Lancashire, it is the commonest '“Blue,” not on chalk,
but limestone .
THE ADONIS BLUE.
( Polyommatus Adonis.) (Plate XIY. fig. 3, Male ;
3 a , Female.)
Colouring : — Upper side, male , brilliant sky-blue ,
without any lilac tinge , bordered by a distinct black
line, the fringe distinctly barred ivith blackish. Female,
dark smoky brown, sprinkled near body with pure
blue scales the colour of those of male ; border of orange
spots, more or less visible.
Under side, male, marked as in fig. 3 ; border of red
spots.
Female, almost exactly like that of Corydon (fig.
2 a), but usually has the black spots on the front wing
smaller.
This is a most lovely little butterfly, the blue of its
upper surface being quite unapproachable among native
insects. Mr. Stainton, speaking of the different blues of
Corydon and Adonis, happily observes that, “ Corydon
reminds one of the soft silvery appearance of moonlight ,
whilst Adonis recalls the intense blue of the sky on
a hot summer s day.”
Caterpillar like that of Corydon.
The butterfly is double-brooded, appearing first in
May and again in August. It is found on the same
soils and in most of the localities with the last, but is,
I believe, more confined to the south.
THE COMMON BLUE.
( Polyommatus Alexis .) (Plate XIY. fig. 4, Male ;
4 a, Female.)
Colouring : — Upper side, male, lilac blue. Female,
purplish blue about the centre, brown towards the
margins, but the proportions of blue and brown are
THE SILVER-STUDDED BLUE.
113
very variable — sometimes all the wings have a border
of orange-red spots, sometimes these are absent from
one or both, pairs of wings.
Fringe in both sexes white , uninterrupted by dark
bars.
Under side, male, marked as in fig. 4, and hardly to
be distinguished from under side of male Adonis, except
by the ground colour, which is paler and greyer than in
Adonis. Female, same pattern as male, but coloured
with warmer tints — more like male Adonis.
This very pretty little insect is the blue butterfly one
sees everywhere, abounding in meadows, on heaths and
downs, and not at all confined to chalky soils, like
some other “blues.”
The caterpillar is green, with darker stripe on the
back, and white spots on each side. It feeds on Bird's-
foot Trefoil and other leguminous plants.
The butterfly is to be found almost constantly from
the end of May to the end of September, being double-
brooded.
THE SILVER-STUDDED BLUE.
(j Volyommatus JEgon.) (Plate XIV. fig. 5, male ;
5 a, Female.)
Colouring : — Upper side, male, purplish blue (rather
deeper than that of Alexis), with a rather broad black
margin. Female, dark brown, sometimes slightly tinged
with blue, and bordered on the hind wings with dull
orange spots ; but these are often absent.
Fringe white, not barred with black. Under side,
near the margin of the hind wings, and between that
and the orange border spots, are several metallic spots
of a bluish tint, whence the insect has its name of
“ Silver-studded.”
The caterpillar is brown, with white lines. Feeds on
broom and other plants of the same order.
The butterfly appears in July and August, and is very
frequently met with throughout the country on heaths,
commons, and downs, both on sandy and chalky soils.
i
114
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
In many places it is the commonest of the “ Blues.’'
It has been found at Epping ; Coombe Wood ; Darenth
Wood; Box Hill ; Bipley, Surrey ; Brighton; Lewes;
Deal ; Lyndhurst ; Blandford ; Brandon, Suffolk ; Holt,
Norfolk ; Birkenhead ; Bristol ; Sarum, Wiltshire ;
Lyme Kegis ; Parley Heath, Dorsetshire; Manchester;
York ; several places in Scotland.
THE BLOWN ABGUS.
( Polyommatus Agestis.) (Plate XI V. fig. 6.)
Though this butterfly and the next are classed among
the “ Blues,” from their possessing the same structure
and habits, there is no trace of blue in the colouring of
either sex , as in all the preceding species of Polyommatus .
In this species the colour of both sexes on the
upper side is a warm , dark brown , having on all the
wings a border of dark orange spots. The female hardly
differs from the male, except in having this border
broader, and more extended on the front wing ; where,
in the male, it is sometimes very indistinct. The under
side much resembles that of the female of Alexis , the
border of orange spots being even more distinct on the
front wing than on the hind one. It will be observed
on referring to Plate XIY. that on the under sides of
all the butterflies there figured, there is an irregular
black spot situated near the front edge of the upper
wing and midway in its length — this is called the
u discoidal spot.” It will also be observed that the
common Blue (fig. 4) has, on the area of the wing, be-
tween the discoidal spot and the root of the wing, two
spots, which are absent in this species. This forms a
very ready mark of distinction, though it requires a
good many words to explain it.
The caterpillar , which feeds on Erodium Cicutcirium ,
and perhaps on Ilelianthemum (Pock Cistus), is green,
with pale spots on the back, and a brownish line down
the middle.
The butter fly appears in May and June, and again in
THE ARTAXERXES.
115
August, and is common in very many localities in the
south, being particularly abundant on the downs of the
south coast and the Isle of Wight.
THE ARTAXERXES BUTTERFLY.
(. Polyommatus Artaxerxes.) (Plate XIY. fig. 7.)
Colouring , same as in the last species ( Agestis ) ; hut
on the upper surface, the orange border-spots are often
hardly perceptible on the front wing, and there is a
distinct vjhite spot in the centre of the front wings;
The under side also is precisely like that of Agestis, with
the black spots removed from the centre of the white
rings, which are thus changed into large white spots , as
shown in the figure.
There has been a great deal of discussion among
entomologists, as to whether this be a distinct species ,
or only a variety of Agestis. I believe it to be the
latter, but do not attach much importance to the ques-
tion ; and as this butterfly is found under the name of
Artaxerxes , in almost every cabinet, and is rather a
famous little insect, I have thought it best to give it a
separate heading under its usual title, and collecting
readers may still label it in them cabinet either as
above, or as UP . Agestis , var. Artaxerxes ” and probably
will be equally right either way.
The popular nature and limited extent of this work
will not, however, admit of the subject being entered
into scientifically, and I can only here state that I have
seen specimens from various parts of the country, that
include every intermediate variety between the ordinary
Agestis of the south, and the Artaxerxes of Scotland.
The Durham Argus, formerly called P. Salmacis , forms
one of these gradations.
Against the idea of A gestis and Artaxerxes being one
species, it has been objected, that the former is double,
the latter single brooded. What of that ? Plenty of
species that are double-brooded in the south of Europe
are well known to become single-brooded in a more
northern situation.
l 2
116
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
The caterpillar is said to he exactly like that of
Agestis. It feeds on Helianthemum vulgar e (Bock
Cistus).
The butterfly is found in July and August in several
parts of Scotland, and the north of England. Arthur's
Seat, Edinburgh, has been long noted for producing it.
THE SKIPPEBS. (Family— Hesperidce.)
These curious little butterflies form a very natural
group, in many respects, both of structure and habits,
approaching the moths, and therefore placed at the end
of the butterflies. They are of small size, but robust
appearance, and not brightly coloured. Their flight is
rapid, but of short continuance, and they seem to skip
% from flower to flower : hence their name. They are
chiefly distinguished scientifically from other butterflies
by the form of the antennce , which are more or less
hooked at the tip (see one magnified on Plate II.
fig. 14), by the great width of the head, and the dis-
tance between the roots of the antennae , by their moth-
like habit of rolling up leaves for their habitation
when caterpillars, and by spinning a cocoon for the
chrysalis. The caterpillars are shaped as in fig. 11,
Plate I. ; the chrysalides, as in figs. 26 and 27. There
are seven British species .
THE GBIZZLED SKIPFEE.
( Thymele Alveolus.) (Plate XV. fig. 1.)
The ground colour of this smart little butterfly is very
dark brown , or black , with a greenish hue over it, and it
is sharply marked with squarish spots of creamy ivliite.
The fringe is also chequered with the same colours.
Sexes similar in appearance.
The caterpillar feeds on the wild Baspberry, aBo, it
is said, on Potentilla alba , and'P. anserina , and is
greenish, with white lines.
The butterfly appears in May, and again in August,
THE SKIPPERS.
117
being double-brooded. It appears to be common in
grassy wood-openings all over tlie country, extending
also into the south of Scotland.
THE DINGY SKIPPED.
(Thanaos Pages.) (Plate XY. fig. 2.)
Certainly a rather “ dingy ” butterfly, its colour being
dull grey brown , with confused bands of darker brown ;
near the border a row of ivhitish dots. Sexes similar.
The caterpillar (fig. 11, Plate I.) feeds on Bird’s-
foot Trefoil, and is pale green, with four yellow lines
and rows of black dots.
The chrysalis is shown at fig. 27, Plate I.
The butterfly comes out in May and August, being
double-brooded, and is found on hill-sides, dry banks,
old chalk pits, &c. generally throughout the country,
though it is less common than the last. It is also met
with frequently in Scotland.
THE CHEQUERED SKIPPER.
(Steropes Paniscus.) (Plate XY. fig. 3.)
Sexes similar. Wings chequered with brownish black ,
and tawny orange above ; beneath, in addition to the
above colours, there are on the hind wing several bright
spots of pale buff distinctly outlined with dark brown —
having a much more ornamental effect than we generally
meet with on the under surface in this family — the
colouring on that side being usually faint and blurred
so as to give a washed-out or wrong-sided appearance.
The caterpillar is brown, striped and “ collared ” with
yellow ; head black. It feeds on the Plantain, also on
Dog’s-tail Grass ( Cynosurus cristatus).
The butterfly appears in June, but is very local — being
either found plentifully in a place or not at all. It has
occurred at Barnwell, and Ashton Wold, Northants ;
Kettering ; Sywell Wood, near Northampton ; near
Peterborough ; Clapham Park Wood, and Luton, Bed-
118
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
fordshire; Bourne, Lincolnshire; Monks Wood, Hunts;
White Wood ; Gamlingay, Cambridgeshire ; Stow-
market ; Milton ; Bockingham Forest ; Dartmoor ;
Xetley Abbey ; Charlbury, near Enstone, Oxon.
THE LIJL WORTH SKIPPER (Pamphila Actceon.)
(Plate XV. fig. 4, Male ; 4 a, Female.)
This plainly-coloured little butterfly, prized by collec-
tors for its rarity, has, in the male sex, great general
resemblance to that of the next species — the common
P. Linea — but Actceon may be distinguished by having
the wings clouded over nearly the whole surface with
dull brown, having something of a greenish cast. The
female is, however, very different from that of Linea ,
having all the wings of uniform dingy brown, excepting
a crescent-shaped row of tawny spots near the tip of
the front wing, and a more or less distinct streak of the
same colour near the centre.
The male Actceon is further distinguished from the
female by the possession of a blackish streak near the
centre of his front wing.
Beneath , the wings are clouded obscurely with tawny
yellow and a dingy brownish tint, the yellow tinge pre-
dominating in the male.
The cater pillar is unknown.
The butterfly appears in July and August, but is so
extremely limited in its local range that it is only to be
met with, so far as is known, in three spots — all on the
same line of coast — viz. Lulworth -Cove, Dorsetshire ;
the “ Burning Cliff,” about five miles nearer Wey-
mouth along the coast ; and at Sidmouth, Devonshire.
At the present time I believe the “ Burning Cliff” is
the locality where the insect is found in the greatest
plenty. It is to be looked for on the rough broken
ground covered with weeds that slopes down to the
shore on this coast.
Mr. Humphreys states that in 1835 he saw it in
great abundance at Shenstone, near Lichfield.
THE SKIPPERS.
119
THE SMALL SKIPPER. ( Pamphila Linea.)
(Plate XY. fig. 5 , Male ; 5 a , Female.)
Upper side, uniform orange tawny colour , shaded into
brown at the borders. The male (fig. 5) has an oblique
blackish line near the centre of the front wing ; this is
absent in the female (fig. 5 a). The males of this butter-
fly very much resemble those of the last rare species
(Actaeon), but they may be distinguished by the middle
part of the upper wing not being clouded with brown,
as it is in Actceon. Under side, two shades of tawny
colour, but not spotted.
The caterpillar is green, with four white lines, and
feeds on grasses.
The butterfly appears in July, and is very common
and widely distributed.
THE LARGE SKIPPER. ( Pamphila Sylvanus.)
(Plate XY. fig. 6, Male; 6 a, Female.)
Upper side, dark rich brown, shaded and spotted with
tawny or fulvous tint. The male is known by a dark-
brown, burnt-looking streak near the centre of the front
•wings ; the female being without this mark. Under
side, greenish, with indistinct yellowish spots.
The caterpillar is green (darker on the back), and
dotted with black; spotted with white underneath. It
feeds on various grasses.
The butterfly appears in May, and again in August or
the "end of July; and is very common in almost every
locality, frequenting grassy places in and near woods,
road- sides, &c.
THE SILYER-SPOTTED SKIPPER.
(. Pamphila Comma.)
(Plate XY. fig. 7, Male; 7 a, Female.)
This butterfly closely resembles the last, especially on
the upper side ; which is, however, more brightly and
clearly marked. But the chief distinction is to be found
120
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
on the under side , which is marked, on a greenish
ground, with clear-cut , square white spots. The male, as
in the last species, is distinguished by the thin blackish
bar placed obliquely on the front wing. The outline
of this species also differs somewhat from that of the
last, especially in the males. This difference will be
better understood by comparing figs. 6 and 7 on the
plate, than by description.
The caterpillar is dull-green and reddish, with a
white collar, and spotted with white near the tail-end.
It feeds on leguminous plants.
The butterfly appears in July and August, but is only
found in a limited number of localities, and these chiefly
in the southern counties ; but where found at all, it is
generally abundant. Among its localities are the fol-
lowing : — Croydon ; Brighton ; Lewes ; Dover ; Lynd-
hurst ; Blandford ; Plymouth ; Old Sarum, Wiltshire ;
Barnwell and A shton Wolds, Northamptonshire ; Hal-
ton, Bucks ; Newmarket; Gogmagog Park, Cambridge;
Hull ; Scarborough.
REPUTED BRITISH SPECIES.
On Plate XYI. are grouped together figures of six
species of butterflies which are not admitted into our
regular British lists, on account of the extreme rarity of
their capture, or the fact of their not having been
observed at all for several years past. They are all
common species in various parts of the Continent, and
some of them will probably occur again in this country.
Papilio Podalirius. — The SCARCE SWALLOW-
TAILED Butterfly (fig. 1). — There is no reasonable
doubt that several individuals of this elegant butterfly
were formerly taken in various parts of the country, but
no captures have occurred for many years past. The
caterpillar, also, was more than once found in the New
Eorest District, Hampshire. Generally a common insect
on the Continent.
REPUTED BRITISH SPECIES.
121
Parnassius Apollo. — The APOLLO Butterfly (fig.
2). — I have good reason for believing that a specimen
of this splendid Alpine butterfly was captured in this
country very lately, and it is not at all impossible that
it may be some day found on our north country moun-
tains, or those of the Lake District. It is a most
beautiful insect, with its singular semi-transparent and
partially glazed wings ; the lower of which bear large
eye-spots of crimson-scarlet.
Erebia Ligea. — The ARRAN BROWN Butterfly
(fig. 3). — Of this species, greatly resembling our E.
Blandina , several specimens were formerly taken by
some entomologists in the Isle of Arran, where, as also
in other mountain districts, it may probably still exist ;
but its haunts have to be re-discovered by some enter-
prising butterfly-hunter.
Erom Blandina ;, which it almost exactly resembles on
the upper surface, it may be distinguished by the mark-
ing of the under side of the hind wing, on which is an
irregular, broken band of pure white , and between this
and the margin a row of three distinct black eye-spots.
Argynnis Dia.— WEAVER’S ERITILLARY. —
This species is so nearly like Euphrosyne or Selene , on
the upper surface, that it readily might be, and perhaps
sometimes is, passed by as one of those common insects.
Underneath it is chiefly recognised by the beautiful
blush of silvery purple that extends in a band across
the middle of the hind wings, and more faintly tinges
the front wings near the tip.
There is little reason to doubt that this insect was
really taken by Mr. Richard Weaver at Sutton Park,
near Tamworth ; also by Mr. Stanley, near Alderley,
in Cheshire.
Chrysophanus Chryseis. — 1 The PURPLE-EDGED
COPPER Butterfly. — As this species has been admitted
by that very careful and accurate entomologist, Mr.
Stainton, into his “ Manual,” I cannot refuse it a place
here, though, from all the information I can gain, its
only claim to the name of “ British ;; rests on a tradition
122
BRITISH BUTTERFLIES.
of its having been taken a long time ago in Ashdown
Forest, Sussex ; and since then, by a dealer , in Epping
Forest. It is a beautiful insect, coppery red, bordered
with changeable purple, and I should be glad to see it
fairly established in our lists.
Polyommatus Bjeticus. — The LOFTG-T AILED
BLUE. — This Butterfly has been long known, as a
southern insect, with a very wide range of distribution,
abounding in the south of Europe and thence extending
into India, Java, &c. Then last year it was seen in
Guernsey, and in August of the same year an indivi-
dual was actually captured in this country, the scene of
the event being somewhere on the chalk downs in the
neighbourhood of Brighton, and the fortunate captor
being Mr. McArthur, of that town. My friend and
neighbour, Dr. Allchin, of Bayswater, was on the spot
at the time, and saw the insect alive.
The butterfly , which on the upper side has some-
what of the aspect of a female “ Common Blue/’ will
be at once recognised by its long tail-Ulce appendages to
the hind wings. Beneath, its plan of colouring is totally
distinct from that of any of our native “ Blues 57 (. Poly -
omrnati ), being destitute of the numerous little eye-like
spots, wdiich are replaced by bands of fawn colour and
white ; but at the lower angle of the hind wings are two
spots of glittering metallic green, reminding one, on a*
small scale, of the “eye” of a 'peacock's feather.
The habits of the insect are those of our Common
Blues — skipping about over grassy places, and for a
Common Blue it would on the wing be readily mistaken.
Collectors will in the coming season doubtless search
the south coast district thoroughly, and many a Common
Blue will be apprehended* on suspicion.
Should our little friend Bceticus continue his north-
ward progress (as we have some reason to hope he may),
we may find him regularly enrolled. on the native lists,
and gracing the ranks of that select little company
entitled “ Our British Butterflies.’'
REFERENCES TO PLATES.
PREPARATORY STATES AND DETAILS.
PLATE I.
Caterpillars of —
Fig.
1. Swallow-tailed Butterfly.
2. Brimstone B.
3. Meadow-broivn B.
4. White Admiral.
5. Purple Emperor.
6. Peacock B.
7. Silver-washed Fritillary.
8. Duke of Burgundy Fritillary.
9. Purple Hair- streak.
10. Chalk-hill Blue B.
11. Dingy Skipper.
Chrysalides of —
12. Swallow-tailed B.
13. Brimstone B.
14. Black-veined White B.
15. Large Garden White B.
16. Silver-washed Fritillary.
17. Orange-tip B.
18. Wood-white B.
19. Marbled-white B.
20. Meadow-brown B.
21. White Admiral.
22. Purple Emperor.
‘M. Large Tortoiseshell B.
24. Comma B.
25. Duke of Burgundy Fritillary.
26. Small Skipper B.
27. Dingy Skipper B.
28. Purple Hair-streak B.
29. Chalk-hill Blue B.
PLATE II.
Fig.
1. Egg of Garden White B.
2 — Queen of Snain Fr
2. —
Queen of Spain Fritillary.
3. —
Large Heath B.
4. —
Peacock B.
5. —
Large Tortoiseshell B.
6. —
Meadow-brown B.
7. —
Wood Argus.
8. Head
of Red Admiral B. mag-
nified.
Fig.
9. Section of sucker of ditto, mag-
nified.
10. Papillge on end of ditto, magni-
fied.
11. Portion of Eye of Butterfly, mag-
nified.
12. Antenna of Fritillary, magnified.
13. — Swallow-tailed B.
magnified.
14. — SkipperB.magnified.
15. Base of Antenna, magnified.
16. Arrangement of Scales on Wing,
magnified.
17. Plumed Scale, magnified.
18. Long form of ditto, magnified.
19. Another form of ditto, magnified.
20. — - from Small White B.
magnified.
21. — from Orange-tip B.
magnified.
22. Battledore Scale from Blue B.
magnified.
23. Ordinary Scale from Garden
White B. magnified.
24. Ordinary Scale from Wood
White, magnified.
25. Ditto.
26. Ordinary Scale from Brimstone
B. magnified.
27. Ditto.
28. Ditto.
29. Ordinary Scale from Common
Blue B. magnified.
30. Ditto.
31. Ditto.
32. Ordinary Scale from Small Tor-
toiseshell B. magnified.
33. Ditto.
34. Ditto.
35. Ditto.
3.6. Ordinary Scale from Chalk-hill
Blue B. magnified.
37. Ordinary Scale from Apollo B.
magnified.
38. Form common to Vanessa genus ,
magnified.
124
REFERENCES TO PLATES.
BUTTERFLIES.
PLATE III.
Fig.
1. Swallow-tail.
2. Brimstone.
3. Clouded Yellow, 3 a, female.
4. Pale Clouded Yellow.
PLATE IV.
Fig.
1. Black-veitied White.
2. Large Garden White.
3. Small Garden White.
4. Green-veined White,
5. Bath White.
PLATE Y.
Fig.
1 . Orange Tip, 1 a, female.
2. Wood White.
3. Marbled White.
4. Wood Argus.
5. Wall.
6. Grayling.
PLATE VI.
Fig.
1. Meadow Brown, 1 af female.
2. Large Heath.
3. Ringlet.
4. Scotch Argus.
5. Mountain Ringlet.
6. Small Ringlet.
7. Small Heath.
; PLATE VII,
Fig.
1. White Admiral.
2. Purple Emperor.
3. Painted Lady.
PLATE VIII.
Fig.
1. Red Admiral.
2. Peacock.
3. Camberwell Beauty. '
PLATE IX.
Fig.
1. Large Tortoiseshell.
2. Small Tortoiseshell.
3. Comma.
4. Silver-washed Fritillary, 4 a,
female.
PLATE X.
Fig.
1. Dark Green Fritillary.
2. High-brown Fritillary.
Fig.
3. Queen of Spain Fritillary.
4. Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
PLATE XI.
Fig.
1. Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary.
2. Glanville Fritillary.
3. Pearl-borderedLikenessFritillary.
4. Greasy Fritillary.
5. Duke of Burgundy Fritillary.
PLATE XII.
Fig.
1. Brown Flair-streak, 1 a, female.
2. Black Hair-streak.
3. White Letter Hair-streak.
4. Purple Hair-streak, 4 a, female.
5. Green Hair-streak.
PLATE XIII.
Fig.
J . Small Copper.
2. Large Copper, 2 a, female.
3. Holly, or Azure Blue, 3 a, female.
4. Bedford Blue, 4 a, female.
5. Mazarine Blue, 5 a, female.
PLATE XIV.
Fig.
1. Large Blue.
2. Chalk- hill Blue, 2 a, female.
3. Adonis Blue, 3 a, female.
4. Common Blue, 4 a, female.
5. Silver-studded Blue, 5 a, female.
6. Brown Argus. -
7. Artaxerxes Butterfly.
PLATE XV.
Fig.
1. Grizzled Skipper.
2. Dingy Skipper.
3. Chequered Skipper.
4. Lulworth Skipper, 4 a, female.
5. Small Skipper, 5 a, female.
6. Large Skipper, 6 a, female.
7. Silver-spotted Skipper, 7 a, fern.
PLATE XVI.
Fig.
1. Scarce Swallow-tail.
2. Apollo.
3. Arran Brown.
4. Weaver's Fritillary.
5. Purple-edged Copper.
6. Tailed-Blue (P. Bceticus).
I.
II.
TV.
V,
VI.
VII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII
5
XIII
XIV.
t
*
XV,
-
XYI.
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