EEV. C. M. PEKKINS BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 67 



net it. And here one caution for beginners, for often has it been 

 announced in the Natural Histoiy periodicals by the tyro that he 

 has taken Daplidice, and doubtless his heart has swollen with 

 delight at obtaining this prize, coveted, he knows by thousands, 

 and with confidence he sends it to be inspected by some veteran 

 entomologist, when lo ! to his mortification, it is returned and 

 labelled, not Baplidice but Cardamines (female) ; for this modest 

 little lady throws aside the gaudy yellow tunic her gay husband 

 wears, and shows upon the upper wings but a plain white dress 

 quietly trimmed with black, though she has a beautiful under 

 petticoat of speckled green. Look well at specimens then before 

 you proclaim the capture of a Bath white, lest you display with it 

 your own ignorance, by the exhibition only of the female orange- 

 tip. The last of this family is Leucuphasia Sinapis, the wood 

 white, a very delicate little butterfly with attenuated body, flying 

 much more gently than the rest, and looking like an invalid. 

 Resembling somewhat the female orange-tip, it may yet be at once 

 distinguished, for it lacks the delicate green pencilling on the under- 

 side, as well as a black central spot on the upper wing which the 

 former possesses. I have found it in the woods in different parts of 

 Gloucestershire the first and second week in August, always in 

 the more entangled part, threading its way through very slowly, 

 so that it is easy to capture if you can only keep your net from 

 catching in the trees. I think it should be found here, as its food 

 plant is abundant, but cannot remember having seen it. 



This brings me to the second family, the Nymphalidae. These 

 may be distinguished at once from the others by having only four 

 legs in place of six, at least only four worthy the name and which 

 they use for walking, the other two being only partially developed. 

 Many of these are as well known as some I have noted as common 

 in the first family, for I am sure every one must know the peacock, 

 the red admiral, and the common tortoiseshell, and must have often 

 admired them basking in the sun on some low flower or the bare 

 ground ; but I will take them in order as before, that you may 

 know where to look for them should you require to cultivate their 

 acquaintance more closely. Following Mr. IStainton's list, we have 

 first Arge Galathea, the marbled white, a very striking and pretty 

 insect, its wings having a creamy yellow ground, marbled over with 

 about an equal quantity of black. You must look for it on high 

 ground. T have found it very abundant high up on the slopes 

 and tops of the Cotswold Hills, but can only record one specimen 

 in this county, which I saw two years ago flying across the 

 playground of the Orphan Asylum in this town. The next two 

 species are universally common ; they are named respectively Lasiom- 

 mata ^geria, the speckled wood, and Lasiommaia Megara, the 

 wall, the former a rich dark brown (when taken in good con- 

 dition) with several yellowish spots both in the upper and 

 lower wings, eight of which inclose as many black ones with white 

 again inside. This insect loves to sport in damp and shady places, 

 such as overgrown paths in woods, and narrow deep-cut lanes. 



