406 INSECTS AT HOME. 



be one that is favoured by this insect, very few of the baits will 

 be without a Pu.rple Emperor either settling on it or being at 

 hand ; and, like the Red Admiral, when engaged in taking 

 food, the insect is so absorbed in its occupation that it can be 

 taken without the least difficulty. If the locality be well 

 selected, and the baits judiciously laid, it is very seldom that 

 the entomologist will complete his round without having the 

 opportunity of capturing this splendid Butterfly. So successful 

 is this method of capturing the Purple Emperor that one 

 entomologist succeeded in taking eighty specimens in nine 

 days. 



The caterpillar or larva is a very odd-looking creature, and 

 is represented on Woodcut XLII. Fig. c. The most conspicuous 

 points in this curious larva are the two horns with which the 

 head is furnished. It feeds on the sallow, and, when partly 

 grown, assumes so nearly the colour of the leaf that a sharp eye 

 is needed to detect it. There are many markings and shades 

 of colour in the caterpillar which need no notice, the general 

 green hue and the horned head affording characteristics which 

 cannot be naistaken. The perfect insect appears somewhere in 

 July, the precise date depending much on the weather. 



Next comes the family of the Satyi-idee, in which the first 

 pair of legs are not used for walking, the club of the antenna 

 is bold and abrupt, and the wings are rounded. The larva has 

 no spines, and the pupa is nearly smooth. Our first example is the 

 Marbled White [Arge Galathea), which is drawn on Woodcut 

 XLII, Fig. 1. The colours of this pretty insect are simply 

 black and yellowish white, the amount of yellow differing 

 according to the sex. The under surface is paler than the 

 upper. The first pair of wings have a small eye-like spot near 

 the tip, and on each of the second pair there are six similar 

 spots arranged in a row near the edge of the wing. The row is 

 not complete, there being a gap between the third and fourth 

 spots. The larva feeds on grass, and the pupa does not 

 suspend itself, nor indeed take any trouble in securing a 

 resting-place. The perfect insect appears in July, and is very 

 plentiful in many places, while in others it is scarcely ever 

 seen. The sea-coasts of Kent are favoured localities of this 

 'Butterfly, especially the country near Dover, Folkestone, and 



