74 LEPIDOPTERA. 



mens that have hibernated appear earlier ; tlie larva is 

 black, sprinkled with minute dots with spines on its seg- 

 ments. Like the larva of the Red Admiral, it feeds on 

 the nettle. Though common in England, it is scarce in 

 Scotland. 



The Tortoise-shells large and small {Vanessa idohjclilo- 

 ros, and V. urticw), the latter of which is extremely 

 common everywhere, the former not being so abundant, 

 belong to this family. All the species of the genus Va- 

 nessa have more or less a ragged or scalloped outline. 

 This is very conspicuous in the Comma Butterfly {Grapta 

 C-album), so called from a central C-like mark on the 

 hind wings. This species is scarce. 



But perhaps the greatest prizes in this family of the 

 Nymphalidse are the Camberwell Beauty ( Vanessa An- 

 t'wpa) and Purple Emperor {A^Kitura Iris). The former 

 is capricious in its appearance, and few Entomologists 

 indeed have ever seen it on the wing. The wings are 

 purplish chocolate, margined with yellowish white, ad- 

 joining which is a broad black band, with six or seven 

 blue spots to each wing. It is the largest of the Va- 

 nessas ; " Longo post tempore venit " is expressive of the 

 appearance of this butterfly. When it has appeared it 

 sometimes occurs in great numbers. About eighty years 

 ago, after a long absence, it appeared somewhere in great 

 number, and received tlie name of " The Grand Sur- 

 prise," and its appearance at Camberwell some years 

 ago caused it to be called the Camberwell Beauty, a 

 name it still retains. 



The Purple Emperor is perhaps the most splendid 

 of our native butterflies, the iridescent gloss of the 

 wings in the male in certain lights equalling in bril- 



