290 THE GAMMA MOTH. 



late in September, and then so perfect and fresh 

 in its plumage as to manifest its recent production 

 from the chrysalis. In some years they abound, and 

 we may see twenty of these beautiful creatures ex- 

 panding and closing their brilliant wings under the 

 fruit trees on our walls, or basking upon the disc 

 of some autumnal flower ; and at another, perhaps, 

 hardly a specimen is to be obtained : nor do they 

 seem, like the wasp, to be scarce or abundant accord- 

 ing to the deficiency or plenty of the season, but 

 influenced by other causes. Many of our butterflies 

 are produced by successive hatches, supplying the 

 places of those which have been destroyed, and 

 hence it is difficult to mark the duration of an indi- 

 vidual ; and others, as the nettle, peacock, and wood 

 tortoise, in many instances, survive the winter, hid- 

 den in some recess or sheltered apartment, appear- 

 ing in the spring time-worn and shabby. But van. 

 Atalanta appears only in the autumn, not as a pre- 

 served creature, but a recent production ; and hence 

 we can ascertain the period of its life to be com- 

 prised only between those few days that intervene 

 from the end of September to the end of October, 

 by which time its food in our gardens has pretty well 

 disappeared. Some sheltered wall, garnished with 

 the bloom of the ivy, may prolong its being a little 

 longer, but the cold and dampness of the season 

 soon destroy it ; rendering the life of this creature, 

 the most beautiful of our lepidopterous tribes, of 

 very brief duration. 



The gamma moth (phalcena gamma) is also an- 



