84 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



THE SMALL GARDEN WHITE. 



(Pieris Rapce.) ' (Plate IV. fig. 3.) 



OUTWARDLY resembling the last in almost every respect 

 but that of its inferior size, this species shares the 

 gardener's malediction with, its larger, but perhaps less 

 destructive, relative ; for the caterpillar of Rapce, though 

 smaller, bores into the very heart of the cabbage, in- 

 stead of being content with the less valuable outer 

 leaves, as Brassicce is. From this pernicious habit the 

 French call this grub the ver du coeur. 



The colour of this caterpillar is pale green, with a 

 yellow line along the back, and a dotted one of the 

 same colour on each side. 



The chrysalis is nearly like that of the last in shape, 

 but of course smaller, and is of a more uniform brownish 

 or yellowish tint. 



This butterfly occasionally multiplies immensely, and 

 is given to migrating in vast armies to distant settle- 

 ments, sometimes crossing the sea to effect this purpose. 

 Here is an extract from a Kentish newspaper, de- 

 scribing an occurrence of this phenomenon : 



" One of the largest flights of butterflies ever seen in 

 this country, crossed the Channel from France to Eng- 

 land on Sunday last. Such was the density and 

 extent of the cloud formed by the living mass, that it 



