12 ON ENTOMOLOGY. 



bend of a branch of fennel or wild carrot, on which it has been feeding, 

 and extends it outwards by the hooks on his claws, by which means he 

 keeps it stretched till he fixes it on the other side, forming a loop about 

 I \vice the diameter of his body. He repeats this process successively, 

 till he has spun forty, sixty, or as many threads as he deems strong 

 enough for his cincture, and then throwing it over his head towards 

 the middle of his body, he proceeds to disencumber himself of his old 

 skin. As the numerous threads composing the cincture are not glued 

 together, but remain separate, it sometimes happens that they slip in 

 whole or in part from the claws of the Caterpillar, and Reaumur had one 

 which was foiled in all its efforts to repair such an accident. It did not 

 indeed make any attempt to spin a fresh cincture, probably from its 

 materials being exhausted or from want of strength, so that when it 

 could not recover the fallen and entangled threads, it collected a few of 

 them suspended, in which it cast its skin ; but they being too weak to 

 sustain it gave way, and it fell and perished ; the perfect Butterfly ap- 

 pears the end of May and beginning of August. 



ADIPPE or High Brown Fritillary, the wings are indented tawny 

 with lilac spots, and 23 silvery spots underneath. The Caterpillars are 

 brown with numerous red spines, and a black line close to a white one. 

 They are produced from the egg in July, and feed until September, when 

 they spin a fine web, under which they pass the winter, at the root of 

 the viola odorata, or viola tricolor, on which they feed. In Spring and in 

 J une they change to brown Chrysalides with silver dots, and remain three 

 weeks in the Chrysalis state. They generally frequent woods, and fly 

 very swift, and I have myself been chasing them for two hours, before 

 I could obtain one specimen.* 



The VANESSA ATALANTA or Red Admirable, The Caterpillar of this 

 Butterfly, before it changes into the pupa, suspends itself to some spot ; 

 the Caterpillar begins, in order to attach itself securely, to weave a 

 mooring of silk, the structure of which is well worthy of notice ; the 

 threads of which this is composed are so fine that they are not easily 

 distinguished, The silk threads are not drawn tight along, so as to be 

 parallel with the surface, but are formed into a sort of projecting 

 button ; the Caterpillar for this purpose alternately raising and depress- 

 ing its head over the spot, so as to draw out the threads in the same 

 way as a tambouring needle is worked in making a dot upon muslin, 

 the base is accordingly made the broadest part, and the centre. the most 

 projecting for a reason which will immediately appear. When it has 

 finished this little button of silk, which is thickly interlaced and strong, 

 it turns round to examine it with its hinder pair of pro-legs, and if it 

 judges it to be sufficiently firm, it thrusts these among the meshes, 

 taking secure hold with the numerous hooks with which these are 

 fringed, and swings itself fearlessly into the air, hanging with its head 

 downwards. All this seems easy enough of performance, but it is only 

 *I. B. B. 



