110 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



colour of the wings is reddish-orange approaching to scarlet, 

 with a blue and black border. The fore-wings contain 

 six black spots, three being along the costal margin. 

 These three are separated by yellow patches, and there 

 is a white spot near the tip of the fore-wings, which 

 distinguishes this butterfly from V. polychloros. There 

 is a brown patch at the base of each wing. The under- 

 surface (Fig. 106) is tawny, thickly marked with dark 

 brown. 



Vanessa io, Linn. (Peacock) (Figs, no to 113), 

 while one of the most beautiful of the Vanessas is also 

 one of the commonest. It is, however, very powerful on 

 the wing, and none too easily caught; but, as imagines 

 are reared from the eggs or larvae without difficulty, 

 collectors cannot do better than adopt this interesting 

 plan of obtaining a series for their cabinets. 



Urtica dioica, the common Nettle, is the plant selected 

 by io on which to deposit her eggs. They are laid in 

 April and May, and hatch in about a fortnight. The 

 larvae feed during June and July, pupae are found in 

 July and August, while the imagines appear in August, 

 fly for a time, then hibernate and reappear in the spring. 



Though the larva of io (Fjg. no) has the spines charac- 

 teristic of the genus they are differently disposed, being 

 situate two on the third and fourth segments, four on 

 the fifth, six on segments six to twelve, and four on the 

 thirteenth. The spines are long, branched, and deep 

 black : there is no medio-dorsal series. The ground- 

 colour is velvety-black, and each segment has several 

 rows of tiny white dots. The head, legs, and anal claspers 

 are black, but the ventral claspers are reddish. 



The pupa (Fig. Hi) is over lin. in length; the head 

 carries two long ears ; the thorax is laterally keeled, and 

 bears a high dorsal protuberance, while the abdomen 



