Red Admiral 



Dreadnought that big, black abortion of coal and iron 

 being associated with a butterfly ! We would rather 

 peer into the future and elect our aerial commander the 

 " Red Admiral " of a fleet of graceful aeroplanes. This 

 would certainly be more appropriate. 



The colours of this butterfly on the upper surface 

 are singularly bold, striking, and, withal, simple. They 

 furnish a good test of colour discrimination. I have 

 heard them spoken of as "jet black," " intense black," 

 or "velvety black." If you take a specimen into a 

 good light, you will see that the whole area enclosed by 

 the scarlet bands is a deep coffee-brown, while outside 

 the band, on the fore-wing, the colour is black splashed 

 with white, and there is a blue streak near the outer 

 margin. The under side is a marvel of beauty too com- 

 plex and wonderful for cold print. Common though 

 this insect is all over our island from August to chill 

 October, who can say that he has discovered his " retreat 

 and hiding-place " from the storms and frosts of winter ? 

 Indeed, there are those who boldly assert that the Red 

 Admiral does not hibernate with us at all, and, con- 

 sequently, we are indebted each year for our supply to 

 spring visitors from the Continent, which may be the 

 reason why in some years it is more abundant than 

 in others. 



The caterpillar is a powdery yellow-grey in colour, 

 sometimes inclining almost to black ; a line of white 

 spots appears on each side ; there are some darker mark- 

 ings along the back, and a row of branched spines light 

 in colour crosses the middle of each segment. You 



B.B. 57 8 



