BRITISH BUTTERFLIES 



lower down the plant there is a freshly constructed 

 habitation, and in it the maker will be found. Ah ! 

 there he is, sure enough. Be careful in opening the 

 retreat, for the spines of the thistle are sharp, although 

 those of the caterpillar are not. In general appear- 

 ance this caterpillar is not very different to that of the 

 tortoiseshell seen on the nettle, but it is stouter. 



The painted lady is closely related to the peacock 

 and the tortoise shells, but, unlike those species, it is 

 always solitary in the caterpillar state. The eggs 

 are laid singly on leaves of thistle, and occasionally on 

 burdock or mallow. The caterpillar just interviewed 

 was almost certainly from an egg laid by a female 

 butterfly that had passed through its own early stages 

 in some far-distant country, possibly in Africa. Almost 

 incredible it may seem that butterflies can travel great 

 distances, but it has been pretty clearly established 

 that they do so. 



A good many species of butterflies, and a larger 

 number of moths, are well known to be migratory, 

 and quite a respectable contingent of these find their 

 way to this country. Among immigrant butterflies 

 that arrive here most regularly is the painted lady 

 just adverted to, next in order come the clouded yellow 

 and its cousin the pale clouded yellow. The Camber- 

 well beauty pays us very irregular visits, but does not 

 reproduce its kind in Great Britain as the other species 



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