Vaxessa. 1 1 



conspicuous of our native insects, and as it hybernates and re-appears very early in the spring, it 

 may be found nearly all the year rounds and is nearly always in fine condition. Expands from 

 ji to li inches; the male is sulphur-yellow, and the female whitish-yellow, and there is a small 

 orange spot in the middle of each wing. The butterfly abounds in and near woods in most parts 

 of Europe, Asia, and North Africa ; but though common in the south of England, it is unknown 

 in Scotland, and the only certain locality in Ireland is Killarney, though it is also said to have 

 been taken occasionally in Wicklow. The larva is dull green, paler on the sides, with a dull white 

 stripe on each side. It feeds on buckthorn from May to July. The male butterfly is represented 

 at PL 4, Fig. 9. 



G. Cleopatra (Linn.), found on the shores of the Mediterranean, has the wings rather less 

 angulated, and the fore-wings of the male are orange, except on the margins. G. Cleobule 

 (HUbn.), found in the Canaries, has the whole of the fore-wings orange. Some writers consider 

 G. Cleopatra to be a variety of G. Rlianmi, but Rambur states that they present anatomical 

 differences. 



FAMILY III.— NYMPHALID^. 



Middle-sized or large butterflies, generally brightly coloured. The fore-legs of the male 

 are quite rudimentary, consisting of a roughly-haired paw of apparently only two joints ; in the 

 female the separate portions are present, but small. The larvas are spiny, or have fleshy warts 

 covered with hair, or horns on the head. The pupa; are suspended by the tail. 



GENUS I. — VANESSA (FABR.). 



Brightly-coloured butterflies, with broad, dentated wings, nearly always with angular 

 projections. Larvae warty, with long, branching spines ; the second segment without spines. 

 Some species have spines on the head also. Some are gregarious, and others solitary, sometimes 

 living between leaves which they have spun together. The pupse have a double point on the 

 head, and a nose-shaped projection on the back. They are generally metallic-spotted. The 

 butterflies are found in gardens, fields, and woods, and are very fond of sucking the honey from 

 thistles and other tall flowers. They may also be observed at fruit, or sucking the sap oozing 

 from the trunks of trees. Most of the species are very common ; and as they are generally 

 double-brooded, and the second brood passes the winter in the perfect state, re-appearing on the 

 first fine days of early spring, they may be found almost throughout the year. There is no 

 month during which V. Urticce", for instance, may not be occasionally observed on the wing, even 

 in the south of England. 



* I. V. Atalanta (Linn.), (Red Admiral). — Velvety black, with an orange-red band across 

 the fore-wings and bordering the hind-wings ; in the latter it contains a row of black dots, and 

 a larger blue spot at the anal angle. The tip of the fore-wings is spotted with white, and is 

 bordered on the outside by a bluish line ; the fringes of all the wings are also spotted with 

 white. Expands from 2 to 3 inches. Common in gardens throughout Europe, North Africa, and 

 Western Asia. Larva pale yellow, brown, or black, with a dark-grey head, a yellow stripe on 

 the sides, and yellow spines. Lives on nettles, between leaves which it has spun together, in 

 May and June. It is single-brooded, and the butterfly is rarely seen till summer and autumn 

 in Northern Europe. It is figured on PI. 6, Fig. i. {V. Indica, Herbst., which has a broader, 

 palfer, and indented orange stripe on the fore-wings, is found in the East Indies and the Canaries, 

 and has lately been introduced into Spain and Portugal.) 



