36 



BRITISH FLOWERING PLANTS 



they are white, with the tips of the forewings dark, 

 and some dark spots on the forewings above in the 

 females ; the former generally exceeds 2 inches in 

 expanse, and the latter rarely reaches this size. 



The Green-veined White Butterfly resembles the 

 Small White ; but the underside of the hindwings 

 is distinctly streaked with yellowish green. It 

 frequents woods and lanes oftener than gardens. 

 The Bath White is a very rare butterfly in Britain. 

 The forewings have a black, white-spotted border 

 on the apical half, and a large dark spot on the 

 front edge ; the hindwings beneath are tesselated 

 with dull green and white. It is generally found 

 in stubble-fields. It is said to have derived its 

 name from a young lady having worked a picture 

 of a specimen taken near Bath on a sampler. The 

 caterpillar feeds on Wild Mignonette, as well as on 

 various species of Cruciferce. The Orange-tip is 

 a very pretty spring butterfly found in meadows 

 and lanes. The hindwings are chequered beneath 

 with bright green mixed with yellow scales, and 

 the male has a bright orange patch at the tip of 

 the forewings. The female has no orange patch, 



and has sometimes been mistaken for the Bath 

 White, but the forewings are only narrowly edged 

 with black at the tip, and there is only a small 

 dark spot in the centre. 



Many moths are very destructive to Cabbages, 

 etc. The Cabbage Moth {Mamestra brassicce) is 

 brown, with a white mark in the middle of the 

 forewings. It measures about an inch and a half 

 across the wings, and its green or brown caterpillar 

 eats into the heart of the cabbage. Other cater- 

 pillars, generally pale grey in colour, are called in 

 America "cut- worms," because they eat through 

 the roots of plants below the surface of the ground. 

 The moths are generally about an inch and a half 

 in expanse ; most of them are brown, but one of 

 the commonest in Britain is the Yellow Underwing 

 (Triphccna pronuba), which has light brown fore- 

 wings and bright yellow hindwings with a black 

 border. It is often flushed in the daytime, when 

 it flies wildly, and looks very conspicuous on the 

 wing, but soon drops down among the herbage, 

 folds its dull-coloured forewings over the hind- 

 wings, and becomes practically invisible. 



