74 THE YOUNG COLLECTOR'S 



towards the tip of the fore wings. Both these butterflies are 

 rather larger than the Tortoiseshell. The Painted Lady (Pyra- 

 meis Cardui) is of a pale salmon colour, with black markings, 

 and some white spots towards the tip of the fore wings. Its 

 wings are less angulated than even in the Red Admiral. Its 

 larva feeds on thistle, and the butterfly is much commoner in 

 some years than others. In some years it is extraordinarily 

 abundant, and migrates in vast swarms from one part of the 

 country to another. The Comma Butterfly ( Vanessa C. Albtitn) 

 is a local insect generally found flying along hedges. It is ful- 

 vous, with dark markings, and is about the size of the Small 

 Tortoiseshell, but may be recognised at once by its very jagged 

 wings. The White Admiral (Limenitis Sibylla) measures over 

 two inches across the wings, and is black, with a white band, 

 more perfect on the hind wings than on the fore wings. It is a 

 local insect, found in woods in the South of England ; and the 

 same may be said of the Purple Emperor (Apatura Iris), one of 

 the finest of our British Butterflies. It is brown, banded with 

 white, nearly as in L. Sibylla, but the male is suffused with the 

 richest purple, and soars over the tops of the trees, whereas the 

 White Admiral has a lower and more sailing flight. The Purple 

 Emperor measures about three inches across the wings. 



The family Erycinidce only includes one European species, 

 called the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary (Nemeobins Liicina). It 

 measures a little more than an inch across the wings, which are 



Duke of Burgundy Fritillary (Neineobius 



black, with rows of yellowish spots. It is found in woods in 

 May and June, but is not generally common. The female has 

 six perfect legs, but the first pair are imperfectly developed in 

 the male. In the three following families both sexes have six 

 legs. 



The Lyc<znidce are a family of small butterflies, all of which 

 are brown, coppery red, or blue. The Hairstreaks, belonging 

 to the two genera Zephyrus and Tliecla, usually have pale lines 



