I8W5.] 13 



IN AN OLD ORANGE GARDEN. 



BY JANE FKASEE. 



In the midst of a stretch of beautiful " Bush " country in New 

 South Wales is an old orange garden, and as the kindly owner invited 

 me to wander through it at will, I usually took it on the way to the 

 Bush about eight o'clock in the morning ; by that time the sun shone 

 full upon it, and in a sheltered spot where some beds of old fashioned 

 flow^ers had been planted out, such as sweet williams, stocks, phloxes, 

 petunias, &c., there were two large Hibiscus trees, and to the scarlet 

 blossom of these came great numbers of butterflies, notably the grand 

 PapiJio Erectheus. Often in the morning this butterfly, freshly 

 emerged, might be seen hanging from a twig or leaf of an orange tree, 

 usually on the shaded side, but as soon as the wings were expanded 

 it seemed invariably to get into the sunshine, and would there hang 

 motionless with outstretched wings, sometimes for nearly an hour, and 

 then sail off" with flapping flight, pausing to suck at the blossoms of 

 the passion vines or cosmias, and pretty surely finding their way to 

 the scarlet Hibiscus. There they would rest for a few moments with 

 quivering wings, or w-ith the wings closed, the white and red markings 

 of the under-side looking like some delicate flower, or they loved to 

 bask in the sunshine with wings fully opened, forming a glorious 

 contrast of colour among the vivid blossoms — the male with his 

 velvety-black and creamy-white, and the female with her immense 

 expanse of white, red and black. The latter, when hanging from the 

 Hibiscus, could easily be seen from a considerable distance, and looking, 

 blossom and butterfly together, like one huge tropical flower. When 

 fresh from the chrysalis the dentate outer edge of the hind-wing has 

 a fringe of a most delicate shade of yellow, which adds greatly to the 

 beauty of the insect, but this fades after a time. 



The larva of P. Erectheus (nearly 2\ inches long) when full 

 grown was, in some seasons, found in great numbers feeding on the 

 orange trees, but the owner of the garden assured me that, notwith- 

 standing their numbers and great size, he did not think they did any 

 damage to the trees, and that certainly they did not affect the fruit 

 crops, which were excellent, both in quantity and quality. Although 

 the sunny orange gardens are the undoubted head-quarters of P. 

 Erectheus, it is one of the butterflies that is met with in quite un- 

 expected localities, and in the most dense, sombre Bush, miles away 

 from orange gardens, it gladdens the heart to see the mflapping lazily 

 alonji. 



