i 9 4 COMMON BRITISH INSECTS. 



pick them up with my fingers. The sun was shining 

 brightly on this wonderful assemblage, and brought 

 out the grandly contrasted colours until they shone 

 with tropical splendour. I never saw such a sight 

 before, and am not likely to see such a one again. 



WE will now pass to the pretty Butterfly called, 

 on account of the variegated colouring of the under 

 surface, the Painted Lady. Its scientific title is 

 Vanessa cardni. The colour of the upper wings is 

 deep black. There are five spots near the tip of a 

 pure white, and the pale markings on the disc of the 

 wings are warm chestnut. There is a slight white 

 scalloping along the edge of the wing. The lower 

 pair of wings are coloured in much the same way, 

 but the only white portion is the scalloped edging. 

 The bases of the wings are thickly covered with scales 

 of a golden lustre. 



In its larval state, the Painted Lady feeds on the 

 thistle (Cardmis arvensis\ from which the insect 

 derives its specific name of Cardni. It prefers the 

 young and tender leaves of the plant, and draws their 

 edges together, so as partially to enclose itself in the 

 leaf. When it changes into a pupa, it suspends itself 

 by the tail, and there remains until it emerges in its 

 perfect form, somewhere about August. 



In its habits, the Painted Lady much resembles 

 the preceding insects, becoming developed in the 

 autumn of one year, but not pairing until the spring 

 of the next year. It is fond of flitting about in search 

 of honey-bearing flowers, and especially frequents the 

 teazle, on which flower the Red Admiral, the Great 



