160 



COMMA BUTTERFLY. 



Vanessa C- album. 



PLATE XVII. Fig. 1. 



PapilJo C-album, Linn — Donovan, vi. 45, pi. 199. 



This is the smallest species of the genus inhabit- 

 ing Britain, and differs considerably from the others 

 in the form of the wings. The colour of the upper 

 side is reddish-yellow, generally darker in the male 

 than in the female, irregularly spotted with black, 

 and having the hinder margin dark brown ; two of 

 the largest spots on the upper wings are placed on 

 the anterior border, the others, four or five in num- 

 ber, occupy the disk ; on the under wings there are 

 usually three irregular black spots or patches. The 

 colour of the under side is dark brown, often inclin- 

 ing to yellow, the basal half of the wings and the 

 apex being darkest ; on the paler portion of the an- 

 terior pair there is an obscure band of green, and 

 two indistinct rows of greenish ocelli may be traced 

 across both wings, not very far from the outer mar- 

 gin : the hinder wings have a short curved line of 

 pure white near the middle, resembling the letter C 

 reversed, from which the species derives its name. 



