SAW-FLIES— TAILED WASPS— BUTTERFLIES 191 



are so numerous that it would be hopeless to attempt dealing with them all in 

 such a work as this. 



In the woodlands of central Europe one of the conspicuous species is repre- 

 sentative of the swallow-tails, the larvos of all of which have a retractile head and 

 a profcrusile fleshy fork. This species, Papilio podalinus, appears first in April 

 and May and a second time in August, and is occasionally over 3 inches in wing- 

 spread ; the wings are pale yellow, marked by broad black streaks extending from 

 their front edge, the hind -pair being dentated and tailed, with a blue eye-spot, 

 edged at the top with orange. The larva is yellowish green in colour, with red 

 dots and yellow stripes, and feeds on fruit and forest trees, such as plum, pear, 

 apple, and oak, and particularly the sloe, in July and August. Another well-known 

 species is the black-veined white (Aporia cratcegi), which is representative of 

 a second family in which the larvae are without the forked tentacle. The wings 

 are white with black veins and edges, and have a spread of about 2^ inches. The 

 larvae are black at first and then become dull yellow, with short hairs and reddish 

 brown stripes ; they live on pear and apple, hawthorn, sloe, cherry, and plum, and 

 are found from April to June. This species is among the most injurious of orchard- 

 butterflies. On leaving the pupa it drops a few spots, staining the leaves red, 

 and is thus responsible for the belief in blood-rain. On the under side of leaves 

 it deposits from thirty to a hundred gold - coloured eggs, and covers them 

 with a weather-proof varnish. The caterpillars which soon creep out of these hiber- 

 nate in a leaf drawn together by a web, and begin their depredations at the 

 commencement of April, dispersing later after devouring the buds and tender 

 foliage. The larvas of the brimstone-butterfly (Gcmepteryx rhamni) are found 

 in April and May, on oak and buckthorn. In colour they are grass-green, 

 with a paler line on each side, and small black dots on the back. This butter- 

 fly is about 2 inches across, all the wings being angular ; those of the male 

 are sulphur-yellow, and those of the female whitish yellow, with, in both sexes, a 

 small orange spot. This colouring, which is that of butter, is unknown in any 

 other British species, and it has been suggested, in consequence, that the species 

 is the typical " butter-fly " from which the group derives its name. 



Representing another family we have the Camberwell beauty (Vanessa 

 antiopa), known all over Europe from May to September, and also in northern 

 and western Asia, north Africa, and North America. This handsome species 

 is about 3 inches across, and in colour dark purple, with a broad outer 

 margin of white, buff, or yellow, and an inner margin of black, on which is a 

 single row of oval spots of blue. The larva is black with a row of large red 

 spots on the back, intersected by a black line ; the legs are red, and there are seven 

 rows of black spines. It feeds on the poplars and willows and the white birch, 

 and is common from June to September. The peacock-butterfly ( V. io) lives in its 

 larval stage on hops, and oftener on stinging nettles, and as the latter are widely 

 distributed, this may account for its wide range, extending across Europe and 

 Asia from Britain to Japan. The larva is black with reddish fore-legs, and 

 a transverse series of white spots and six rows of black spines. The butterfly 

 is about 2\ inches across, and has brownish red wings, the hinder-pair having 

 each an eye-spot like that on a peacock's feather. Another abundant species, 



