August (!, 1874. J 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICULTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



12a 



employer had them battened together and put up. We are 

 satiBlied they are a great protection from frost in winter and 

 spring, and have now proved their usefukiesB in saving both 

 fruit and fruit trees from the damaging effects of hail in 

 summer. I am of opinion if these overhanging wood or glass 

 copings were in more general use, that wall fruit woiild be more 

 plentiful, and that Peach trees in cold localities would be in a 

 substantial measure preserved against the destructive effects of 

 severe winters. There would seem to be some misgivings lest 

 the coping should be in some way detrimental to the trees by 

 being left up in summer. It is not so, at any rate with walls 

 of 10 feet high and Tipwards ; with lower ones I have no ex- 

 perience. Thie boards here are easily moveable, but instead of 

 making a mistake in leaving them up we should certainly have 

 erred in taking them down. 



The track of the storm was narrow — a mile or two wide, and 

 had the corn been ripe the loss must have been immense ; as 

 it is, a great deal is knocked out. — J. Weight. 



THE BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL INSECTS OF 

 OUR GARDENS.— No. 22. 



Recently I have been somewhat amused at a popular mis- 

 apprehension into which a number of people, otherwise toler- 

 ably shrewd, seem to have fallen. As I was pointing out to a 

 friend the beauties observable in some insects I happened to 

 remark that in these small animals there are variations in 

 form and colouring which are, as it were, a compensation for 

 their minute dimensions as compared with creatures ranking 

 above them in the series of Nature. My friend pondered a 

 little ; I perceived some unsatisfactory idea was working in 

 his mind. At last he brought it out. " Yes, that's true ; but 

 surely you don't call butterflies animals!" "Why not?" I 

 answered. " They are as much entitled to the name as a dog, 

 an eagle, or a fish. The word ' animal ' certainly covers (with- 

 out being over-particular about creatures near the boundary) 

 all insects, and indeed whatever, by possessing sentient life 

 and the po^er of moving about at its will, shows that it does 

 not belong to the vegetable kingdom." But I found, on in- 

 quiry, that my friend was not solitary in his opinion ; people 

 frequently assume that an " animal " does not belong, as an 

 appellation, to the lower classes in our zoological arrangement ; 

 and the error is also perpetuated in print, as I detect in several 

 books the phrase " animals and birds," where the author evi- 

 dently means "quadrupeds and birds." Of course a quad- 

 ruped or mammal is an animal, still the possession of four 

 legs gives no special claim to the epithet, and a two-legged 

 bird, a six-legged insect — nay, a hundred-legged Jnlus, has an 

 equal right to it. 



Several of the butterflies that are regarded as specially 

 associated with fields and lanes visit our gardens in the sum- 

 mer, not for the purpose of depositing eggs upon cultivated 

 plants, nor even upon the grasses of our lawns ; they are 

 drawn by the attractions of the flower beds, perceived by them 

 at a good distance off — certainly not by sight, but by smell or 

 some other sense unknown to us. Entering the conservatory 

 or the hothouse their end is often an unfortunate one ; failing 

 to find their wny out they beat themselves hopelessly against 

 the glass, or are made prey of by some prowling spider. 



The Large Heath , also called the Small Meadow Brown (Epine- 

 phele Tithonus), is a butterfly that may be noticed on garden 

 flowers in July and the beginning of August, and it has a 

 peculiar habit of pitching upon a leaf before it approaches the 

 flower it is in quest of, and, having settled, it turns itself 

 round. Usually the insect settles at first with its head away 

 from the observer, and coming by the " right about face," it 

 looks towards him. This species, like its relatives the Meadow 

 Brown and the Wall butterfly, belongs to the group of butter- 

 flies called " Satyrs," though the appropriateness of the name 

 is not apparent. I do not know whether the satyrs of the 

 mythologic stories were slow in their movements, one would 

 rather conclude just the reverse of that; but the Satyr butter- 

 flies are tardy fliers, and amongst them E. Tithonus, also un- 

 like the hunter from which it takes the specific name. 



This species, though not a showy one like the gay Vanessas 

 that float on the summer breeze with marvellous rapidity, has 

 elegant markings; the bordering of all the upper surface is 

 brown, the centre of the wings a reddish brown, varying in 

 shade, with two black spots on the fore wings enclosing white 

 pupils. The uuder side has most variety of marking on the 

 hind wings, displaying marblings of grey on a darker ground, 

 and having four dark spots with white centres. The yellow 



eggs of this butterfly are laid upon the blades of common 

 grasses, each like a pyramid in miniature seen by a magnifier, 

 but marked with a number of ribs. When the larvae come 

 forth in August they feed for a month or two, not much in- 

 creasing in size before the winter sets in, when they become 

 torpid and sleep till the spring at the roots of the herbage. 

 In the spring the larvae feed again on several Grasses, being 

 partial to the Couch Grass (Triticum repens), so that they may 

 be considered of some slight utility to the agriculturist in check- 

 ing the growth of this pest. These larva; are spindle or shuttle- 

 shaped, with small heads and two points at the anal extremity 

 of the body, which is of an olive green, or sometimes a dull 

 brown colour, with a dark stripe down the back, and two pale 

 stripes on each side. The chrysalis is hung head downwards 

 from a grass stem or leaf to which the larva had previously 

 spun a pad of eUk. 



A much handsomer butterfly than this is the Wall (Pyrarga 

 Megaira), a little like the preceding in the general aspect of 

 the upper surface, but larger ; and if we turn a specimen over 

 to examine the under side we find it beautifully marbled, the 

 colouring being several tints of brown and grey. The prin- 

 cipal effect is, however, produced by six black spots on the 

 hind margin, each of which is surrounded by four rings of 

 different colours. This insect, which I have known to receive 

 among entomologists the familiar name of " Meggie," does 

 not often enter gardens, though so partial to roadsides and 

 open spaces. The appellation of the Wall butterfly was given 

 to it from its habit of pitching on walls or palings, pausing 

 there until some bypasser comes near, and then darting off 

 with speed. Indeed, it is capable of more rapid flights than 

 others of the Satyrs, and I have seen it soaring so high in the 

 woods as to be mistaken for one of the Fritillaries ; whereas 

 at other times parties of these butterflies may be noticed fly- 

 ing languidly about, so that " Meggie" is apt to be capricious. 

 Most years there are two broods or flights of the species, some 

 being out in May and some again in August. The larvae live 

 and thrive upon Grasses like others of the Satyr tribe. 



Some of the small butterflies known as the Hairstreaka 

 make occasional excursions into gardens, that of the Black 

 Hairstreak (Thecla W. album) amongst these, perhaps from the 

 fact that the larva (/if/. 39) feeds upon Elm, and rows of this tree 

 are often planted near to the boundaries of parks, and solitary 

 individuals scattered about pleasure grounds. This is an in- 

 sect that, though by no means common, has seemingly of late 

 years become more plentiful, or it may be that the butterfly 

 had been generally overlooked by observers. It is only within 

 the last few years that English entomologists have succeeded 

 in finding the larva. All the beauty of this brisk little insect 

 lies on the under side ; above, all the wings present a very dull 

 appearance. All the wings beneath are greyish brown, crossed 

 by white lines or bauds, those on the hind wings assuming the 

 form of the letter W, and along the margin is an orange band 

 and a row of black spots. These wings have also two conspi- 

 cuous tails. Like its relative, Thecla Quercus, the species 

 before us will soar upwards to the height of 50 feet when in 

 the humour, and alight on the higher branches of the Elm ; 

 the attraction of flowers, especially those of the Bramble and 

 Clematis in the hedges, brings it usually near terra jirma. It 

 has not been noted by those who have seen the insect in gar- 

 dens what particular flowers it most affects of those cultivated 

 and in bloom during .July and August. This Hairstreak is 

 seldom observed in the west of England, and it almost dis- 

 appears as we approach the north. In Scotland and Ireland 

 it is unknown. The young caterpiDars appear in the spring 

 of the year, from eggs fastened on the twigs of the Elm by 

 the mother butterflies at this season, these eggs being coated 

 with a varnish-like substance, which protects them from the 

 cold and moisture. In colour, whQe they are small, the little 

 caterpillars greatly resemble the young leaves of the Elm, and 

 so they are not so easily found, while their dumpy aspect, 

 when we do detect them, almost makes us doubt if they are 

 caterpillars at all, and they glide along in slug-fashion, with 

 the head hidden beneath the next segment. They possess, 

 however, the usual " outfit " of legs, but these are inconspi- 

 cuous. The woodlouse-shaped body has a ridge running down 

 the back, which is brown in the full-grown caterpillar, and 

 edged round with yellow. At that age it is more noticeable 

 among the Elm leaves, though colkctors most frequently 

 obtain it by beating the trees into a net. Having ceased to 

 eat, the caterpillar passes a silken band across the body and 

 turns to a chrysalis, having only a repose of about three weeks. 

 I may add that in the August number of the " EntomologiEt," 



