136 THE SPINY ELM CATERPILLAR 



In England it is called the Camberwell Beauty, from its hav- 

 ing been found at an early date at or near Camberwell. A 

 still earlier title adopted for it in England was "The Grand 

 Surprise," given by butteriiy collectors because at the begin- 

 ning of the century after a long absence it appeared in con- 

 siderable numbers. 



In most books upon insects the technical name of this but- 

 terfly is given as Vanessa antiopa. In his recent writings 

 Mr. S. H. Scudder has called it Euvanessa antiopa, although 

 in one of his earlier books he called it Papilio antiopa. 

 Questions of nomenclature, however, need no consideration 

 in this connection, and I mention these names only for the 

 guidance of any reader that may wish to study what has been 

 printed about the species. 



THE CATERPILLARS NOT POISONOUS 



During the earlier years of our country's history many peo- 

 ple regarded these caterpillars as "venomous and capable of 

 inflicting dangerous wounds." Dr. T. W. Harris states that 

 he had known people to cut down poplar trees around dwell- 

 ings to prevent the presence of such dangerous caterpillars. 

 But these insects are not poisonous, and may be handled with 

 little fear of injury, although the sharp spines might perhaps 

 penetrate the delicate skin of a child's hand. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION 



The Mourning Cloak Butterfly is one of the most widely 

 distributed insects in existence. Not only is it found in 

 North America as far south as Bermuda, Elorida, and Mexico, 

 but it is also found throughout northern Europe, and in Asia 

 and Japan. Consequently, as Mr. Scudder has said, it appears 

 to be distributed '^over the entire breadth of the northern 

 hemisphere, below the Arctic circle as far south as the thirtieth 

 parallel of latitude." This is an extraordinary distribution 

 for an insect, and shows a remarkable power of adaptation to 

 the varying surroundings in which the species occurs. In 

 the northern United States this is one of the commonest and 

 most familiar butterflies. 



