120 THE BOOK OF BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



ovipositing about June, and the larvae first appear the 

 same month, but may be found till September. The 

 first chrysalides are to be obtained in July, and the 

 imagines come out in August. They are on the wing till 

 October, then retire for the winter, and fly again in the 

 spring till about June. 



The larva (Fig. 123) is about i^in. long, and is 

 furnished with yellowish-white spines (having black 

 branches), arranged four on the third and fourth seg- 

 ments, seven on segments five to twelve, and four on 

 the thirteenth. The ground-colour is black, bedewed 

 with yellow spots, the ventral surface being reddish. A 

 bright yellow line is found just below the spiracles, and 

 a much fainter one, formed of dots, just above them. The 

 spiracles are black, surrounded with a whitish-yellow ring. 

 There is a medio-dorsal thin black line, bordered on 

 each side by a line made up of yellow dots. The head 

 is black, and the legs and claspers are dark red. The 

 body is slightly hairy. On Buckler's authority, the 

 mallow-fed larva of this species is densely covered with 

 long hairs. Like the larva of atalanta, this caterpillar 

 makes itself a shelter with the leaves of its food-plant. 



In length the pupa (Fig. 122) measures something under 

 i in., and in outline closely resembles the rounded 

 chrysalis of atalanta^ the ears and thoracic bump 

 being blunt. On the abdomen is a central row of short 

 blunt spines, followed on each side by a subdorsal row 

 of larger ones. As to colour, some specimens are dull 

 brown, black dotted, while others are much paler and of 

 a greenish tinge. The former have some dark markings ; 

 and the chrysalis of cardui is always noted for its golden 

 appearance. 



The costal margin of the fore-wings of the imago 

 (Fig. 125) is arched, and the hind-margin of all the wings 



