This is one of our earliest Butterflies, sometimes making its appeai’ance even in winter, should the sun happen to shine brightly. I see, by reference to my notes, that I took it at Oxford in February. These early specimens are, in fact, the Butterflies which are developed in the autumn of the preceding year, and which had retired to some secluded spot wherein to hibernate. The warmth and light of a bright, sunshiny day awake them from their torpor, and tempt them into the open air.

I believe that such early Butterflies only live a few hours, because the exertion of flight causes them to need food, and no food is to be found at that time of year. It is a remarkable fact, noticed by Mr. Newman, that, although both sexes of the Brimstone Butterfly are developed in the autumn, they take no notice of each other unless they happen to survive to the following spring. The larva of this Butterfly feeds on the buckthorn (Rhamnus), from which it derives its specific name of Rhamni. The colour of the larva is green, but the surface of the body is thickly covered with tiny black projections or warts, each tipped with a slender white point.

On Woodcut XL. Fig. 2, is represented one of the prettiest of our Butterflies, the Clouded Yellow {Colias edusa).

All those who have sbidied the Lepidoptera must have been struck mth the marvellous variety and contrast of colour that can be produced by one or two hues. This insect is nothing more than black and orange, and yet is a singularly handsome one. The upper wings are warm orange, edged with a deep bolder of black, in which are a few pale orange spots in the female, the black band of the male being unspotted. There is also a bold black spot near the uppei* edge. The lower wings are coloured in much the same way, except that the oiang'e is pale, and approaching to yellow. There is, however, a warm orange spot on the disc. Both pairs of wings are edged with a very warm border of orange, brighter and warmer in the upper than in the lower pair. Beneath, the colour is yellow, warming into orange on the disc of the upper wings, and the spot on the lower wings is bro^vn, with a white centre.

This handsome Butterfly is widely spread, and occasionally occurs in considerable numbers, especially in and near our Southern coasts. I have a number that were taken by my brother at Sheerness, and others taken by myself in Oxfordshire and Wiltshire. It is found in best condition at the end of summer, ana through tlie autumn ; but, as it is a hibemator, individuals are seen in the early spring, somewhat shabby and worn in appearance, and lacking the brilliancy which distinguishes the newly-developed insect.

The larva is grass-green in colour, and is covered wth a great number of tiny bristle-bearing warts. It feeds on the clover, and consequently clover fields are much haunted by the perfect insect. The eggs are long and narrow, and have been compared to ninepins in shape. They are affixed to the leaf by one of the ends, so that they stand upright. The larvae are hatched about Midsummer. One of them is shown on Woodcut XL. Fig. d. The chrysalis, or pupa, is attached by its tail and a belt, like that of the Cabbage Butterfly, and does not seem to be very particular as to its position, generally being upright, but sometimes horizontal.

We now come to the beautiful family of the Vanessida?, which includes some of our liandsomest and best-known Butterflies. Among other distinctions, in all these insects, the first pair of legs are very small, and not used in walking.

Our first example is the Dark G-reen Fritillary {Argynnis aglaia), a figure of which is given on Woodcut XLI. Fig. 3. The Butterflies belonging to this genus are popularly known as Fritillaries, and all of them have the under surface of the lower wings adorned with metallic spots and markings which look as if made of bmmished silver. The generic name Argynnis, which

Vanessa Antiopa. 2. Grapta C. album. 3. Argjmnis Aglaia. a. Argynnis, larva. b. Argynnis, pupa.

is taken from the Greek, signifies ‘ brilliant ’ or ‘ shining,’ and is given to the insects in consequence of this peculiarity. The colour of the present species is bright warm brown in the male, marked with a dark bronze-green in the female. The wings are profusely spotted with black on the upper surface, and on the under surface of the lower wings are a number of round bright silver spots, and near the margin of the wing is a row of seven semicircular silver spots.

This insect is generally spread over England, and is plentiful in many parts of Kent, especially on the downs which lead towards the sea. Mr. Newman remarks that hilly, ferncovered ground is the best locality for this Butterfly. The larva, which is shown at Fig. a, feeds on the dog violet (^Viola cauina). Its colour is very dark shining grey, mottled with black. When full-fed, which takes place about the middle of July, it selects a suitable spot, and there changes into a pupa, suspending itself by its tail, which is very strongly curved. One of these pupse is shown at Fig. 6. It remains in the pupal state about eighteen days, and then emerges in its perfect form.

There are five other species of the Fritillary, all of which are very similar in their colouring. As they are liable to variation, the beginner finds great difficulty in identifying them. This, however, can generally be done by means of the silver markings on the lower wings, which in some species form bold, clearly defined spots, like solid silver leaf, and in others take the shape of marks or streaks, just as if a brush had been dipped in silver powder and drawn over the wing. The larvae of all the species are spiny, and feed upon the violets and their kin.

Next we take the typical genus Vanessa, of which we must examine several examples, as they are among the most conspicuous of ovrr insects. In this genus the club of the antennae is short and bold, the first pair of vsdngs are more or less regulated, and the eyes are extremely hairy. If examined with the microscope, it will be seen that the hairs are planted at the angles of the hexagonal facets.

The handsomest and rarest of these Butterflies is drawn on Woodcut XLI. Fig. 1. Its scientific name is Vanessa Antiopa, and it is popularly called the White-bordered, on account of the broad white edging of the wings, or the Camberwell Beaut r, because in 1748 three specimens were taken near Camberwell.

My brother saw one on the banks of a railway cutting in Wales, as he was going to church with his wife. Bare insects are always perverse. You may go to the most famous localities for them, furnished with every appliance, search and watch day

after day, and never even see a specimen. Then, just where

they are least expected, and when no means are at hand for

capturing them, they make their appearance — and generally their escape — in a manner that is calculated to test the temper severely.

In the present instance, the sudden appearance of such an insect at his very feet was too much for the discoverer, and, hat in hand, he dashed down the cutting after the Butterfly. Of course, having taken him to the bottom, it ascended to the top, and so on, giving him a chase of a quarter of an hour perpetually up and down the cutting, and at last getting away over a hedge, leaving its pursuer breathless on the ground, and his hat and clothes generally in a more than dishevelled state. In his letter to me relating the circumstance, he says that if anyone wants to take a Tui’kish hath, and is not within reach of one, he recommends a chase of the Camberwell Beauty in a deep railway cutting with very steep sides.

The colour of this magnificent insect is rich brown, shot with deep purple. The wings are edged with a broad grey-white band, just inside which is a row of blue spots. This is a very plentiful insect in America and on the Continent, and specimens are often taken from France and passed off as English. They can, however, be detected by the colour of the white band, which in genuine English specimens is grey-white, and in foreign specimens yellow-white.

It is a very capricious insect in its appearance in this country. Owing to the great and rapidly increasing number of entomologists in this country, and the many periodicals which are devoted to Natural History, scarcely a specimen of this conspicuous Butterfly can be at large without being seen and recorded. It seldom happens that a single specimen is thus mentioned; but, if one entomologist happens to be fortunate enough to capture an Antiopa on Monday, several others are nearly sure to be caught within the week, and then no more seem to make their appearance. I never had the good fortune to Trnflr. see I one ntiTro’i* of oholl these Butterflies at liberty, and very much suspect

On Woodcut XLI. Fig. 2, seen a profile portrait of the is CoMJLi termed C. alburn^ or tlie Butterfly, scientifically

White C. These names are given to the insect hocanse on the under surface of the lower wings there is a curved mark, verymuch like the letter C in shape, and of the purest white. There is not the least difficulty in identifying this insect, even without taking the trouble to inspect the under surface, for both pairs of wings are so deeply scalloped that there is no possibility of mistake. The upper surface of the wings is warm red-brown, mottled with black, both the ground hue and the markings being subject to considerable variation.

This is considered to be an inland species. In tliose places which it frequents it is common enough. I have taken many specimens in Bagley Wood, near Oxford, in the days when that beautiful little wood was one of the finest insect preserves in England.

The larva is kno^vn to feed on the elm, the hop, and the currant, and in the midland counties is said to be common in the hop-growing districts. It is a thick spine-bearing larva, grey in colour, mottled with chestnut, and having a white stripe along part of its back. The perfect insect appears in the beginning of autumn.

Next we come to the Gtreat Tortoiseshell ( Vanessa polychloros), which is drawn on Plate XIII. Fig. 1.

This handsome insect is well named, as its rich mottlings of black and warm chestnut-brown bear no small resemblance to the colours of the tortoiseshell. In some parts of England this species is tolerably common, while in others it is never found. The first specimen that I ever took I saw in the window of a grocer’s shop at Oxford, one of the very last places where one might have expected such a Butterfly to be found. It was quite plentiful in Bagley Wood, where any number could have been taken, and had evidently been blown into the streets and then attracted by the sugar in the wdndowL

It is common in Kent. Lieut. -Col. C. J . Cox, who has given attention to this insect, told me an anecdote of the mode great in which it deposits its eggs. He watched a female deposit an on a leaf, and, wishing to real the insect fiom the 0gg Qx two egg, he cut off the branch and removed it. I lie Butterfly, continued to fly up and down near the spot, and however, it, evidently searching for the leaf on wffiich refused to leave

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