176 THE INSECT WORLD. 



callidice. Anthocharis carda/nines, the Orange-tip, Rhodocera {Gonep- 

 teryx) rhamni^ and Colias ediisa, or Clouded-yellow. Pieris cratcegi is 

 white both above and below ; the veins only of the wings are black, 

 and become a little broader at the edge of the upper wings. These 

 black veins on a rather transparent white ground make this butterfly 

 resemble a gauze veil, hence its French name, le gaze. It flies in 

 sprmg and summer in meadows and gardens, but is not generally 

 common in England. In the first volume of his "Travels in the 

 North of Russia," Pallas relates that he saw insects of this species 

 flying in great numbers in the environs of Winofka, and that he at 

 first took them for flakes of snow. The Piei'is cratcegi fixes itself at 



Fig. 144. — Pieris brassicae. 



sunset on flowers, where it is easily taken by the hand. During the 

 day, on the contrary, it is difficult to catch. The larva, black at first, 

 afterwards assumes short yellow and white hairs, but it varies much. 

 They live in companies, under a silky web, in which they pass the 

 winter. The leaves of the hawthorn, the sloe, the cherry tree, and 

 of many other fruit trees, serve them for food. The pupa, yellow or 

 white, and sometimes of both colours with little stripes and spots of 

 black, is angular and terminated in front by a blunt point. 



The Pieris brassicce (Fig. 144), or Cabbage Butterfly, is perhaps 

 the commonest of all butterflies. From the beginning of spring till 

 the end of autumn one sees it flying about everywhere, in the gar- 

 dens, sometimes near and almost in the interior of towns. It is 

 of a dull white, spotted and veined with black, and it can be seen 

 at a long distance, when flitting from flower to flower, in a meadow 

 or garden. And so children wage desperate war against this flying 

 prey. The pursuit of the cabbage butterfly through the alleys of 



