The Insect World: Being a Popular Account of the Orders of Insects

177

LRPIDOPTERA.

parks, along the outskirts of woods, or on the green turf of meadows, is the first joy and the first passion of children in the country.

The caterpillar (Fig. 145) is of a yellowish green, or rather greenish yellow, with three yellow longitudinal stripes separated by little black points, from each of which springs a whitish hair. It lives in groups on the cabbages in gardens, and on many other Cruciferse. It is so voracious that it consumes in a day more than double its own weight, and, as it multiplies very quickly, commits great ravages in the vegetable garden. Its pupa (Fig. 145) is of an ashy white, spotted with black and yellow.

The Pie7'is rapce^ or Small White Butterfly, differs but little from the preceding except in size. The caterpillar, which lives on the cabbage, turnip, ' mignonette, nasturtium, &c., is green, with three I yellow lines. It does not do these much harm. I In France it is called le ver du cceur (the heart- I worm), because it penetrates in between leaves pressed closely together. The Fief'is napi (Fig. 146), the Green-veined White, is very like the two preceding, but the wings, the lower one especially, have underneath broad veins, or bands, of a greenish colour. The Pieris

callidice^ the wings of which are white spotted with anJfchry^Us^ofTierL black, is common in the Alps of France, in Savoy brassicse. and Switzerland, and in the Pyrenees. Its caterpillar lives near the regions of perpetual snow, on small cruciferous plants.

The Orange-tips have, in the males, the extremity of the upper

Fig. 146. — Pieris napi. Fig. 147. — Anthocharis cardamines.

wings of a beautiful orange yellow. The rest of the wings is white in the only British species (P'ig. 147), which is to be seen in meadows

THE INSECT WORLD.

78 from the end of April till the end of May, and sulphur-coloured in some other species. One species, extremely common, which appears with but short interruption from the beginning of spring till the end of autumn, is the Brimstone Butterfly {Rhodocera \Gonepteryx\ rhamni). The wings are a lemon yellow, with an orange-coloured spot in the middle of each, and the front border terminated in a series of very small iron-coloured spots. The body of the butterfly is black with silvery hairs.

Fig. 148. — Thecla betula;.

The Colias edusa^ or Clouded-yellow, so called from the colour of the upper part of its wings, is not uncommon in meadows and fields in early autumn throughout Europe. The upper side of the wings is of a marigold yellow; the upper ones having towards the middle a large spot of black. At the extremity of each wing is a broad black band, continuous in the case of the male, interrupted by yellow spots in the female. The back of the body is yellow; the legs, as well as the antennae, rosy. The family of the LyciBuidce comprises a great number of species, some of which we will mention.

The Thedce, or Hair-streaks, which the French call Petits Forte-queues^ on account of the tails which grace the hind margin of the hind wings, inhabit woods, their larvae feeding, according to the species, on the birch, the oak^ the plum-tree, the bramble, &c.

The Thecla betuhe (Fig. 148), or Brown Hair-streak, is somewhat rare in Great Britain.

LEPIDOPTERA.

The Purple Hair-streak (Theda qnercus^ Fig. 149), which Geoffroy calls the " Fortc-qucue bleu a une bande blanche,'^ is not rare in woods; but it is very difficult to catch, as it flies nearly always by couples at

Fig. 149.— Thecla querciis.

the tops of trees. We still further represent here the Black Hairstreak (Thecla primi^ Fig. 150), and the Green Hair- streak {Thecla rubi, Fig. 151). In the meadows are found the Copper Butterflies; butterflies with

Thecla pruni.

wings of a bright, tawny colour, with black marks on the upper side. Such is the Polyom7natus {LyccBua) phlc^as (Fig. 152), which is very common from the end of May until late in the autumn. The upper

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part of the wing is coppery, spotted with black, the under side of a grey colour^ sprinkled with small eyes, and bordered by a zone

Fig. 151. — Thecla rubi.

of tawny spots. Linnaeus counted forty-two little black eyes on the under side of the wings. We also figure PoIyo?nmatus {LyccBiid) virgaurecB (Fig. 153), and

Fig. 152. — Small Co'pT^&r {PolyommatusiLyccsnd] phla-as).

Polyommatus {Lyccpjid) gordius (Fig. 154), neither of which occurs in Great Britain. In the meadows, the gardens, and the lucerne and clover fields, are found the charming Blue Butterflies, the wings on the upper side, in the majority of instances, blue in the case of the males, brown in the females. . They comprise the genus Lyccefia, or, as it is frequently called,

Polyomniatus* though that name is now generally given to the

F'S' '53- — Polyommatus (Lycsena) virgaureae.

preceding. We will content ourselves here by giving drawings of a few species of the genus, namely, the Lyccena {Polyonunatus) Corydon,

Fig. 154. — Polyommatus (Lycsena) gordius.

or Blue Argus (Fig. 155), which is not uncommon wherever there is chalk, in May and August; the Lyccena {Polyommatus) bathis, or

• It may not be out of place to remark that although both these generic names ire applied, sometimes to the one, sometimes to the other of these genera, the

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Brown Argus (Fig. 156), which does not occur here; the LyccEiia {Polyomniatus) cegon^ which flies about sandy heaths.

Fig. 155. — Lycsena (Polyommatus) Corydon.

The caterpillars of this genus, as also those of the preceding, are' broad and flat, resembling wood-lice, with very short legs, and are very slow in their movements.

Fig. 156.— Lycaena (Polyommatus) battus. Fig. 157. — Lycaena (Polyommatus) segon.

In the numerous family of the Vancssidcc are placed the beautiful species known as the large and small Tortoise-shell, the Peacock, &c.

The large Tortoise-shell Butterfly (yVanessa polychloros, Fig. 158)

genus named in the text Polyommatus and that called Lycana are never considered identical. When either name is applied to the one, it is not at the same time applied to the other. — Ed,

LEPIDOPTERA.

has the wings of a tawny colour above, and of a blackish brown below, with darker spots, bordered by a black brand, with a stripe of

Fig. 158. — Large Tortoise-shell Butterfly (Vanessa polychloros).

yellowish colour running down the middle. It is found in July and September on the oak, the elm, the willow, and many fruit trees.

Fig. 159. — Larva and chrysalis of the large Tortoise-shell l^utterfly {Vanessa polychloros).

The larva (Fig, 159) is bluish or brownish, with an orange- Icoloured lateral line, bristling with yellowish hairs. The chrysalis, Iwhich is angular, and of a red tint, is ornamented with golden Imetallic spots.

Fig. i6o. — Small Tortoise-shell Butterfly {l^anessa 7i)tuie).

Fig. i6i.— Peacock Butterfly {Vanessa lo).

Fig. 1 60 is a drawing of the small Tortoise-shell Butterfly {Vanessa urticce), which resembles the preceding, but is smaller. Its

caterpillar, bristly, blackish, with four yellowish lines, lives in companies on the nettle. The Peacock Butterfly ( Varies s a Jo, Fig. 161) is very easily recognised by the peacock's eyes — to the number of four, one on each wing — which have gained for it the name it bears. The eye on the upper wings is reddish in the middle and surrounded by a yellowish circle. That on the lower ones is blackish, with a grey circle round it, and contains bluish spots. The upper part of the wings is of a russety brown, the under part blackish. This Vanessa is met with in the woods, in lucerne fields, and in gardens. Its spiny caterpillar is of a shiny black with white dots, and lives in companies on nettles. The chrysalis, at first greenish, then brownish, is ornamented with golden spots.

Fig. 162.— Camberwell Beauty ( f^^w^'^Jrt: Aiitiopa).

The Vanessa Antiopa (Fig. 162), one of the greatest of entomo-logicrd rarities in England, is not very common in the woods about Paris, but it is frequently found in the environs of Bordeaux, and, above all, at the Grande Chartreuse (in the department of Isere). The Parisian collectors go as far as Fontainebleau in pursuit of this beautiful species, with angular wings, of a dark purple black, with a yellowish or whitish band on the hind border and a succession of blue spots above it. The caterpillar is black, and bristly, with red spots. It lives in companies on the birch, the aspen, the elm, and different kinds of willows. The pupa is blackish, sprinkled with a bluish powder, and has ferruginous-coloured dots. The butterfly, which emerges from the chrysalis in July and August, is found, after hibernation, at the end of February and until May. It flies very rapidly, and is very difficult to catch.

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Fig. 163.— Red Admiral Butterfly [Vanessa A talania).

Fig. 164.— Painted Lady Butterfly (Vanessa [^Cynthia'] cardui).

The Red Admiral Butterfly ( Vanessa Atalanta, Fig. 163) bas bands of vermilion colour on the upper side of its wings, which are black above, and variegated beneath with different colours. The caterpillar is bristly and blackish, with a succession of spots of lemon-

colour on its sides. It lives in solitude on the stinging-nettle ( Urtica dioica). Its chrysalis is blackish, with golden spots. This magnificent insect is common at the end of summer, and easy to catch. If missed once it comes back again almost immediately, and almost alights on the net of the collector..