336 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTUKE AKD COTTAGE GAEDENES. 



[ October 30, 1873. 



select a species (tor such species there are) wherein the or- 

 diuarv female larva differs from the male. If hj- any peculiar 

 treatment she can turn these into male insects we shall have 

 a strong proof that she is right. But I have been reflecting 

 on the bearing of all this upon horticultural pursuits, as it 

 leads to the supposition that a great benefit might accrue, not 

 only from killing caterpillars, but from keeping them on short 

 commons. As the author of the jiaper sagaciously points out, 

 male butterflies do not lay eggs, and a starvation system car- 

 ried through a few generations might blot out an obnoxious 

 species altogether. But I am afraid the theory will not "hold 

 •water." 



Butterflies of several species, injurious and harmless to the 

 garden, are loth to leave the autumn flowers, and we are apt 

 to notice them more, perhaps, at this season than when 

 insects of all kinds are about in swarms. Vi'e are sure to see 

 in October the unloved Garden White (Pieris Brassicoe) and 

 the handsome and strong-winged Vanessidfe (no foes to us, 

 but rather our friends) sweep over the flower beds whenever 

 there is a sunshiny day, though they rarely appear in transient 

 gleams. The Bed Admiral (P. Atalanta) is one of the boldest 

 of these garden visitors, and his red and black adornments 

 are very conspicuous, though the artistic eye prefers to these 

 the more delicate and varied markings on the under side of 

 the wings. This butterfly has, in some respects, peculiar 

 tastes ; it will oocasioually pitch upon the sugar spread by 

 insect-hunters at night, when all respectable butterflies should 

 have retired to rest, and it also eagerly sips the sap which 

 exudes from some trees in autumn. So confident is the Ked 

 Admiral in his powers of flight, that he will let the stroller 

 come provokingly near, and then he suddenly dashes off high 

 in air, possibly to return when the annoyance has past. After 

 October this species lays up lor the winter in some cozy hiding- 

 place. The Comma 

 butterfly (Grapta C. 

 Album") , a species fly- 

 ing in October, is at 

 present confined al- 

 most entirely to the 

 midland counties. 

 Unlike some of the 

 Vanessidfe, it shows 

 no partiality to the 

 coast, nor does it seem 

 restricted to the dis- 

 tricts where its fa- 

 vourite food-plant, 

 the Hop, grow.i'. 

 Abuirdant in Worces- 

 tfrshire and Herefordshire, it is at present unknown in Kent 

 and Surrey, though these are also Hop counties. The old 

 entomologists write of the Comma as a London spceies, and it 

 is possible that when it occurred on the heaths near London 

 it was also distributed through the adjacent counties lying 

 to the sotith. 



The caterpillar of this butterfly comes under the observation 

 of those who are not naturalists, because it is found feeding 

 on the Hop during, or a little before, the time of the autumn 

 gathering ; but yet it can hardly be said to be one of the 

 enemies of the plant, being rarely seen in any numbers, and 

 always confining itself to the leaves. In gardens it is not in- 

 frequently found feeding upon the Eed Currant. This cater- 

 pillar is of a grey tint, chequered with reddish, and well 

 coated with branching spines, which are brown or whitish 

 brown, excepting those which arise from a short white stripe 

 on the back, and these are pure white. Two of the spines 

 project forward in front in a singular manner, giving to the 

 bead the appearance of being horned. The pr.pa or chrysalis 

 is hardly appropriately designated by the latter name, for it is 

 brown, marked with black lines, and bears metallic blotches, 

 ■which are of a silvery tint. No other brood of caterpillars 

 has ever been observed except this one in July and August, 

 yet it is still a matter that is mooted among entomologists 

 whether there are not more broods than one of the species 

 every year, because some of the butterflies captured in certain 

 months display notable diiJerences which are constant. 



In form the Comma is quite unique among our British 

 butterflies, being considerably angled ; on the upper surface, 

 which is brown, with a darker band, and various scattered 

 spots, may be traced a resemblance to some of its near rela- 



^' For tliii and the subsequent illustration we are indebted to Figuier's 

 " Infect World," publiehed by MessrF. CasselL 



Comma Butterfly (Grapta C. Album. 



tives ; the under side of the wings, among the confused browri 

 shadings, has a distinct mark, which is either like a comma or 

 the letter C, as the eye of the onlooker judges of it. In on& 

 of the varieties there is a mingling of green in the brown on the 

 under side, and in another the whole is suffused with tawny 

 yellow. Bat in each of the modifications in its appearance 

 the Comma is a handsome butterfly, and as it is fortunately 

 by its choice of localities, rather out of the way of some of the 

 insatiable hunters after such insects, we may hope it will still 

 visit fields and gardens in the midland counties, and, possibly, 

 extend its range. It has been taken recently in Yorkshire and 

 in AVales. The Comma is, in the open country, frequently to 

 be seen settling on the Thistles ; in gardens, fruit, especially 

 over-i-ipe Plums, prove an attraction to the insect. Of the 

 spring flight of these insects less is known ; no doubt eggs 

 are deposited then, as with the other Vanessida;, and at least 

 a moiety of the October specimens Uve through the winter. 



The " meny little Copper" Butterfly, as various authors 

 have seen fit to call it, dashes to and fro, sometimes haunting 



Small Copper Butterfly (Polyommatus Phlicas). 



the grassy slope, and sometimes fluttering over the flower beds, 

 being, as Mr. Newman has noted, rather fond of the flowers 

 of the Verbena. We may see it all through October, and even 

 into Kovember ; for the autumn individuals of this species 

 (known to entomologists of our day as Polyommatus Phla;as) 

 do not survive the winter, but flutter on until their lives are 

 ended by the cold nights. Why this butterfly should have 

 been thought to be especially merry I cannot tell ; though a 

 lively, yet not a fast flyer, it is not more brisk than other 

 species of its size. Undoubtedly the Copper is inclined to 

 be pugnacious, and these butterflies may be observed chasing 

 the autumn specimens of the common Blue (P. Alexis), or 

 even daring to approach the Tortoiseshell ; but perhaps this 

 is all in sport, though it is still true that there are real butter- 

 fly contests, and all the torn wings we see are not to be attri- 

 buted to the force of the wind. 



In P. Ph!a?as the expansion of the wings is only about an 

 inch ; were the insect larger perhaps its beauties would be 

 more highly estimated. The fore wings are coppery red, 

 spotted with black; the hind wings blackish brown, with a 

 coppeiy band along the hind margin. A curious variety is 

 frequent in France and Germany, wherein the copper hue is 

 replaced by a silvery white, and these have occasionally been 

 picked up in England, and, naturally, considerably prized by 

 collectors. The female butterflies of this species have usually 

 a row of blue spots just above the baud on the hind wings, 

 A more brilliant butterfly allied to this, and once abundant in 

 the Fens — namely, the Large Copper, P. Hippothoi- in science, 

 has been lost to us since 18i8, and is not very likely to turn 

 up again in Britain. The lesser species under notice is dis- 

 tributed throughout these islands, except in the extreme north 

 of Scotland. There would seem to be three seasons of the 

 year — namely, about April, June, and the close of autumn — ■ 

 when the butterfly is on the wing. 



The caterpillar' of the Copper Butterfly is found in August 

 feeding upon Docks and other species of Eumex; yet it is 

 often missed by those who are seeking it, through its habit of 

 at once dropping from the plant when alarmed. In its mode 

 of travelUng over leaves or other objects one is reminded of 

 the movements of the molluscous animals, for it slips along 

 quite in a slug-like way ; and indeed, altogether, it is dissimOar 

 to what we consider the ordinary type of a caterpillar, not being 

 long and cylindrical, but with the back very convex, and the 

 segments overlapping each other. It has been compared to the 

 familiar shell called a Chiton. The head is completely sheltered 

 by the second segment. The growth of the siuumer brood of 



