720 



of 



$ttarn ; 



and furnished with greenish hairs : the 

 anterior with two transverse costal fasciae ; 

 between which and the base is a somewhat 

 ovate black spot ; 011 the disc, and also 

 near the interior margin, are two other 

 spots : the hinder margin is black, with a 

 series of pale crescents : on the posterior 

 wings is a large black costal spot, with a 

 yellowish patch adjoining ; and the mar- 

 gin is black, with obscure bluish crescents ; 

 interiorly the wings are furnished with long 

 tawny or greenish hairs : beneath, all the 

 wings are clouded with black, with a broad 

 asli-eoloured fascia behind, in which is a 

 series of bluish lunules : the anterior wings 

 have three pale equidistant spots on the 

 costa, and the posterior a white discoidal 

 spot ; the body is dusky, with tawny hairs ; 

 and the antennas black. The caterpillar is 

 brownish, with a yellow lateral stripe, and 

 the spines slightly branched. It feeds chiefly 

 on the elm ; and while young, the brood 

 continues under a silken web. The chry- 

 salis is flesh-coloured, with golden spots on 

 the neck. 



VANESSA URTIC.E ; or SMALL TORTOISE- 

 SHELL BUTTERFLY. This elegant and very 

 prevalent British species has the wings above 

 of a rich reddish orange, with the base and 

 the hinder margin black, the latter with a 

 series of blue crescents : the anterior wings 

 above have the costal areolet mottled with 

 black and tawny : on the costa are two large 

 sub-quadrate black spots ; at the base two 

 others, placed obliquely; and posteriorly, 

 on the disc, two small round ones : between 

 the two large costal spots and the anterior 

 basal one are two yellow spots, and towards 

 the tip of the wing adjoining the posterior 

 costal spot is a light one. The posterior 

 wings are black at the base, powdered with 

 tawny, and covered with long hairs: beneath, 

 the anterior wings are pale, variegated with 

 block, with a pale band marbled with brown, 

 in which is a series of angular black spots. 

 The body is dusky, with a greenish pubes- 

 cence : the antennae are marked with black 

 and white rings, and the tip of the club is 

 ochraceous. The Caterpillar of this species 

 feeds chiefly on the nettle, and is found in 

 lanes, gardens, &c. ; it is about an inch in 

 length, covered with bristles, and of a red- 

 dish-brown colour, marked with two green- 

 ish-yellow lines on the back, and one on 

 each side. The chrysalis is grayish, with 

 golden spots on the neck : sometimes the 

 whole body is entirely golden ; from which 

 the words chrysalis and aiirelia are supposed 

 to have suggested themselves to entomolo- 

 gists to denote the pupa state of insects. 

 Two broods occur every year one early in 

 spring, the other in autumn ; and in Italy 

 it continues on the wiug in flue weather even 

 in winter. 



\Ve may here take an opportunity of re- 

 ferring to a valuable paper in the proceedings 

 of the Ro3 r al Society, recorded in vol. 15. of 

 the A mulls of Natural History, " On the 

 Reproduction of lost parts inMyriapoda and 

 Insects," by G. Newport, Esq. F.R.S., Pres. 

 Ent. Soc., &c. (communicated by Dr. Roget). 

 It has long been known that the limbs of 



Crnxtncea and Arachnitla, accidentally lost 

 or designedly removed, are, in course of time, 

 replaced by the growth of new limbs ; but 

 whether such a power exists in those insects, 

 such as Lepidoptera, which undergo a com- 

 plete metamorphosis, changing not only their 

 form, but also their food and mode of life, 

 in passing from the larva to the adult state, 

 has been considered doubtful. " The first 

 observation which led the author to believe 

 that true insects might possess the power of 

 reproducing lost parts, was that of a specimen 

 of Phasina in the collection of the British 

 Museum, in which the right anterior leg had 

 evidently been reproduced. He then in- 

 stituted a series of experiments on the larva 

 of the Vanessa urticcK,or common nettle but- 

 terfly, which belongs to the order Lcj>i<lo/i- 

 tera, and undergoes complete metamorpho- 

 sis. He removed some of the true legs of the 

 larva, sometimes in their tibial portion, and 

 sometimes at their base : in the first cuse, 

 parts similar to those removed were invaria- 

 bly reproduced in different states of develop- 

 ment, and in the latter entire new Unite were 

 formed ; in some instances, at the second 

 change of the larva, when it passed into the 

 pupa state ; but in two or three instances no 

 reproduction took place. At first view, this 

 difference in the results might appear to 

 favour the opinion that this reproduction of 

 limbs depends on the existence of parts 

 especially adapted to perform this function, 

 and which, in those experiments that had 

 failed to exhibit the phenomenon, had been 

 themselves removed. But the author found 

 that in every instance of the mutilations thus 

 practised, the perfect insect possessed a coxa, 

 or basilar part of the limb ; and this was the 

 case even in those in which a new organ was 

 not reproduced. From this fact, taken in 

 conjunction with the formation of new entire 

 limbs in the luliite after the removal of every 

 portion of the previous ones, the author infers 

 that the power of reproduction resides iu the 

 whole of the organized tissues. 



VANESSA ANTIOPA ; WILLOW BUTTERFLY, 

 or CAMHKRWELL BEAUTY. The wings of 

 this insect are of a reddish black or pur- 

 plish hue above, with a broad, velvety- 

 black posterior band, in which on each wing 

 are seven or eight violet-blue spots ; fol- 

 lowed by a broad straw-coloured border, 

 waved internally, and minutely speckled 

 with black dots, particularly on the pro- 

 minent angles of the wing. The anterior 

 wings above have the costal areolet marked 

 with white, and two large white spots 

 near the tip. Beneath, all the wings are 

 obscure black, with darker waves, and a 

 broad white border on the outer margin. 

 Body and antenna: dark brown. The Cater- 

 pillar is black, with a row of square dorsal 

 spots, and the eight anterior prolegs red : it 

 feeds on the willow, birch, and poplar. The 

 chrysalis is dusky, with bluish and tawny 

 spots. This species is remarkably irregular 

 in its appearance, scarcely any being rnet 

 with in some seasons, and then again ap- 

 pearing perhaps in immense numbers. 

 VANESSA lo, or PEACOCK BUTTERFLY. 

 This highly beautiful species of Butterfly 



