PLATE XII. 
No, 1.—The Peacock Butterfly (Vanessa Io). No. 5.—The Camberwell Beauty Butterfly (Vanessa 
No. 2.—The Peacock Butterfly, showing the under Antiopa). 
surface: No. cae Hee oan aaa showing 
; 1e under surface of the wings. 
pig? The Caterpillarof the Peacock Butterdly. No. 7.—The Caterpillar of the Camberwell Beauty 
No. 4.—The Chrysalis of the Peacock Butterfly. Butterfly. 
VANESSA Io (the Peacock Butterfly, No. 1) is the most beautiful of the species grouped 
together in the genus Vanessa, of which some authors consider it the type ; but from most of 
which, as it appears to me, it will very probably be separated at no very distant period, when 
this and the allied genera shall be revised, with reference to all the exotic species. This beau- 
tiful Butterfly is extremely common, but its appearance does not extend farther North than 
the Frith of Forth, being but very sparingly seen even in the South of Scotland. On the under 
side, the wings (No. 2) exhibit in their dark and sober hues a singular contrast to the glowing 
colours of the upper surface, the magnificent ocelli of which, with their softly shaded irides, are 
so remarkable. The Caterpillar (No. 3) is gregarious, and groups of them may often be seen 
in July, forming a large black mass on a bed of nettles, visible at a considerable distance. It 
has been observed, that in all those species the eggs of which are laid in patches, gummed 
together, the Caterpillars, when hatched, are gregarious and continue together even when full 
grown. The transformations of this species formed the subject of one of those courses of minute 
and persevering observation which have made the name of Réaumur so celebrated among 
naturalists ; the singular manner in which the Chrysalis attaches itself to the knot of web 
established by the Caterpillar before the skin of the Caterpillar is cast off, as described by that 
author, being one of the most curious exhibitions of instinct in the whole range of natural 
history. The perfect insect appears towards the middle or end of July, and as it settles upon a 
flower or on the gravel of a garden path, forms a most beautiful object. It frequently survives 
the winter, hybernating in some well-secluded shelter, where it remains in a dormant state till 
the following April, in the first sunny days of which it reappears, making our gardens gay before 
the season of flowers has scarcely commenced : the specimens which thus survive the winter are 
said to be almost invariably females. 
Vanessa Antiopa (the Camberwell Beauty, No. 5). This is the largest of the British species 
of Vanessa, and the rarest ; many seasons passing without the capture of a single specimen, 
though most Lepidopterists (now a pretty numerous class) are always on the look out for the 
capture of the coveted prize. I never saw it on the wing but once, on the 12th of September, 
in the year 1855, when, walking from Watford to St. Alban’s, I was attracted by the flight of 
a large Butterfly which, the first time it passed me, I could not make out ; but remaining quietly 
in the same place, it passed me again in a few minutes, having evidently a regular circuit of 
flight which occupied about that time, if not delayed by some unusual attraction. This time it 
settled in the middle of the road, at some distance from me, but I succeeded in approaching it 
closely enough to distinguish perfectly a remarkably fine and very large specimen of 1”. Antiopa. 
