Insects Injurious to the Cherry. 



187 



LlFE-HlSTOBY AND HABITS. 



The butterfly is about 2^ to 3 inches across the expanded wings. 

 The colour of the fore wings is rich orange-brown, dusky at the base, 

 marked as shown in the photograph (Fig. 144) with black ; the hind 

 wings are of a similar colour, dusky at the base, with a single black 

 spot at the centre of the upper edge. There is a dusky border to the 

 fore wings and the same to the hind, with dark blue crescents, the 

 largest in the middle. The butterfly appears in July, and many 

 hibernate over the winter in sheltered spots. The eggs are laid in 

 May on the twigs of the food plants, often completely surrounding 

 the twigs in ring-like manner. 



The caterpillars live in colonies until their first moult, when they 

 spread over the trees. The young ones cover themselves with a web 



[F. Edenden. 

 FIG. 145. CATERPILLAR OF LARGE TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY. 



of fine silk, beneath which they live. Buds and young leaves are 

 eaten by them in their early stages, and the twigs in their neighbour- 

 hood are soon stripped of all foliage. 



The mature caterpillar is black or brownish-black, with a yellow 

 line along the sides, and the yellowish-brown spines have black 

 points, numerous ochreous-brown freckles on the back, forming a 

 longitudinal band bounded by the sub-dorsal spines ; in the middle of 

 the back is a dorsal line of black ; on the sides are numerous grey 

 specks giving a greyish hue ; around the spiracles there is ochreous- 

 brown. When full grown the larva is about 2 inches long. 



By mid June they have all dispersed and suspend themselves by 

 the tail and change into the chrysalis state, hanging head downwards. 

 The chrysalis has two rows of tubercles running down the back, 

 yellow at the extremity, ringed with black ; at the thoracic end of 



