Photo by Highley. BUTTERFLIES. TAWNY ADMIRAL. A North American butterfly. As already mentioned, butterflies may be distinguished from moths by their antennae being thickened at the extremities. There are comparatively few species in Europe only about three hundred, of which between sixty and seventy are met with in the British Islands; but in tropical countries they are much more numerous and varied. It is a mistake to suppose that butterflies are always bright-coloured insects, and moths the reverse; for though many butterflies are brightly coloured, others are very dingy. On the other hand, although it is equally true that many moths are dull-coloured, others, especially among those with slender bodies, or those which fly Photo by L, H. Joutel] [JHe.ic Xork. by day, are quite as brilliantly CATERPILLAR OF TAWNY ADMIRAL. coloured as any butterflies. Remarkable for the sharply contrasted black and pale markings.

of the World712 The Living Animals

Butterflies are divided into several groups, the first of which includes the BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES, so called because the front pair of legs is converted into hairy paws, useless for walking, and only employed for toilet purposes. This is a very extensive group, including about half the butterflies known, and is divided into several smaller sections. The most interesting species among the DANAIDS is the MONARCH, one of the largest and commonest butterflies found in North America. It is migratory in its habits, and has succeeded in acclimatising itself throughout the Pacific islands as far as Australia and New Zealand, as well as in the Canaries; and so many specimens have been taken recently in the south of England that it seems not unlikely to take up its residence there also. It is a tawny butterfly, not unlike the one represented on the preceding page, but much larger, measuring about 5 inches Photo by E. C. Atkinson. across the wings. The caterpillar is yellow, with trans-

BLUE BUTTERFLY. verse black bands, and a pair of long, black slender Among the most conspicuous of the smaller European filaments near each extremity of the body. The butterflies. pupa is pale green, with golden spots, and is suspended by the tail, as is the case with most of those of the Brush-footed Butterflies. The next group, the LONG-WINGED BUTTERFLIES, includes a considerable number of species with blackwith long rounded wings, found in tropical and sub-tropical America. A species and transparent markings is shown on page 710, but many have wholly transparent wings, except for a narrow black or brown border. Turning to more familiar insects, there are several kinds of large or moderate-sized tawny butterflies, marked with black spots and lines, called FRITILLARIES in England. The caterpillars are spiny, and feed on violets and other low-growing plants. The photograph on page 710 shows the DIANA FRITILLARY, a large and handsome species, which is somewhat of a rarity in the Southern States of America; it measures 4 inches in expanse, and the sexes are very dissimilar. It is dark brown, with a broad orange border spotted with black in the male, and rows of more or less connected green or white spots in the female.

The ANGLE-WINGED BUTTERFLIES

include several of the best known and most brightly coloured British species, such as the KED ADMIRAL, a velvety black butterfly, with a transverse red band on the fore wings, and several white spots between this and the

tip? hind wings navmg a red ^ BLUE MORPHO BUTTERFLY AND HUMMING-BIRD. border, spotted with black and blue. Note proportionate sizes. It measures about 2 inches across

BLUE MORPHO BUTTERFLY AND HUMMING-BIRD. Note proportionate sizes.

Photos by J. Edwards) [Colesborne.

LARGE BLUE BUTTERFLY (MALE, FEMALE, AND UNDER- MAZARINE BLUE BUTTERFLY (MALE, FEMALE, AND

SIDE). UNDERSIDE).

Scarce and nearly extinct in England. Practically extinct in England. Photos by J. Edwards}::; [Colesborne.

LONG-TAILED BLUE BUTTERFLY (MALE, FEMALE, AND BLOXWORTH BLUE BUTTERFLY (MALE, FEMALE, AND

UNDERSIDE). e UNDERSIDE).

An occasional immigrant on the south coast of England. Probably a casual visitor in England.

the World 714 The Living Animals of

the wings, and is common in gardens and orchards in summer and autumn. The caterpillar, which feeds on nettle, is brown or black, with yellow stripes and spines. The TAWNY ADMIRAL is a North American butterfly, remarkable for its resemblance to the larger butterfly called the Monarch, of which we have already spoken. The Danaids and Long-winged Butterflies have tough integuments and a disagreeable odour, which more or less protects them from birds. Many other butterflies belonging to other families have a superficial resemblance to these, and are believed to share in their immunity. This phenomenon is technically called " mimicry." The caterpillar of the tawny admiral is grey and black, with curious spiny tufts.

Photos ly J. Edwards] [Colesborne.

LAEGK COPPER BUTTERFLY (MALE, FEMALE, AND UNDER- DUSKY COPPER BUTTERFLY (MALE, FEMALE, AND UNDER

SIDE). SIDE).

Extinct in England since 1860. Taken near Ilfvacombe, August, 18S7.

The group of the SATYRS contains a great variety of moderate-sized brown or tawny butterflies, usually with round spots centred with white towards the margins of the wings. Many species are common in meadows; others, which are dark brown or black, with red, white-centred marginal spots, are numerous in mountainous countries, and two species are found in the north of England and Scotland. The caterpillars of the Satyrs are usually smooth and green, with a forked tail, and the pupae are formed on the surface of the ground.

The great BLUE BUTTERFLIES of South America form another group of Brush-footed Butterflies. The second family is almost entirely American, and is only represented in England by a brown butterfly about an inch in expanse, called the DUKE OF BURGUNDY FRITILLARY. The

Scale^wingecl Insects 715

' caterpillar is reddish, and feeds on primroses. It is not a very abundant species in England.

The third family is represented in Britain by three very distinct sections of rather small butterflies, the largest of which scarcely measures more than an inch and a half across the wings. These are the HAIR-STREAKS (brown, with light lines on the under surface of the wings, and a short tail on the hind wings, except in the GREEN HAIR-STREAK,. so named from the green under surface of the wings); the small BLUE BUTTERFLIES, which generally have brown females; and the COPPERS, the only common species of which measures about an inch across the wings. The fore wings are bright coppery red, with dark brown spots and borders, and the hind wings are dark brown, with a coppery red border, spotted Photo by W. Saville-Kent, outside with black. The small F.Z.S., Milford-on-Sea. NEW GUINEA copper butterfly and some GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. of the blues are A remarkable and common in meadows swallow-tailedrecently discoveredbutterfly. and gardens. Many of the members of the fourth family are of a white or yellow colour, among which are the destructive

I T E W H

C A B-

BAGE-BUTTER- FLIES, three species of which are very common in England, where they may be seen in every garden throughout the summer. The photograph on page 716 represents one of these at rest. A prettier species is the ORANGE-TIP, which is common in spring. The underside of the hind wings is mottled with green; and there is a bright orange spot before the tip of the fore wing, both above and below. Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S., Milford-on-Sea.Some of the South American butterflies of this family much

AUSTRALIAN BUTTERFLIES.

resemble the Long-winged Butterflies of the same country. includes The family of the SWALLOW-TAILED BUTTERFLIES Emerging from their pupae. a considerable number of large and handsome species, but they are not numerous in Europe, and only one black-and-yellow species, measuring 3 inches across the wings, is found in England, where it is now almost confined to the fens of the south-eastern counties; its green caterpillar, with transverse black bands spotted with orange, feeds on carrot, fennel, and other similar plants. All the caterpillars of this family are remarkable for possessing a retractile fork on the neck; but the butterflies do not all possess the long appendage to the it is wanting inhind wings which has given some of them the name of Swallow-tails. Thus most of the great BIRD-WINGED BUTTERFLIES of the Eastern Islands, one of which, the CR(ESUS isBUTTERFLY, is represented in the Coloured Plate. The great difference between the sexes

Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S., Milford-on-Sea. NEW GUINEA GOLDEN BUTTERFLY. A remarkable and recently discovered swallow-tailed butterfly.

Photo by W. Saville-Kent, F.Z.S., Milford-on-Sea. AUSTRALIAN BUTTERFLIES. Emerging from their

7i6 The Living Animals of the World

well worth noting. The female is considerably larger than the male, but in the coloured figure the former has been reduced, owing to the exigencies of space. Mr. A. R. Wallace writes as follows of the capture of

: the first specimen " One day about the beginning of January, I found a beautiful shrub with large white leafy bracts and yellow flowers, a species of Mus-ssenda, and saw one of these noble insects hovering over it, but it was too quick for me, and flew away. The next day I went again to the same shrub and succeeded in catching Photo by J. Edwards] [Colesborne.

BATH WHITE BUTTERFLY.

Always rare in England, though common on the Continent.

a female, and the day after a fine male. I found it to be as I had expected, a perfectly new and most magnificent species, and one of the most gorgeously coloured butterflies in the world. Fine specimens of the male are more than seven inches across the wings, which are velvety black and fiery orange, the latter colour replacing the green of the allied species. The beauty and brilliancy of this insect are indescribable, and none but a naturalist can understand the intense excitement I experienced when I at length captured it. On taking it out of my net and opening the glorious wings, my heart began to beat violently, the blood rushed to my head, and I felt much more like fainting than I have done when in apprehension of immediate death. I had a headache the rest of the day, so great was the excitement produced by what will appear to most people a very inadequate cause." The SKIPPERS, the last family of butterflies, are comparatively stout-bodied insects, with the antennae

Photo by B. H. Bentley] [Sheffield. widely apart at the base, and sometimes forked at the GREEN-VEINED WHITE BUTTERFLY.

The cabbage-butterfly referred to on page 715.

tip. They are not numerous in Europe; the prettiest of the British species is perhaps the PEARL-SKIPPER, which measures rather more than an inch across its brown and tawny wings; the under surface of the hind wings is green, and marked with several clear white spots.

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