THE LEPIDOPTERA. 67 



causing the skin to eventually break on the back of the 

 thoracic segments, when the soft green pupa may be seen 

 through the rent. The insect now works the skin upwards 

 by violent wriggling motions until it is gathered in a 

 crumpled mass round its tail, the old rent extending on 

 one side almost up to the silken pad to which it is sus- 

 pended. Through this rent the tail of the pupa is brought 

 .and firmly anchored in the silk by a few vigorous strokes, 

 the insect hanging meanwhile to the skin which has not 

 been quite cast off on the reverse side to the rent. When 

 thus firmly attached to the silken pad, the pupa shakes 

 itself entirely free, whirling itself round and round until 

 the old skin is dislodged from the silk and falls to the 

 ground. The two usual varieties of pupae are shown at 

 Figs. 2d and 2e, many of them being more or less orna- 

 mented with metallic gold or silver spots. The butterfly 

 emerges in a fortnight or three weeks, and is common from 

 February till April in most situations, but the greatest 

 numbers are to be found in the spring months. These 

 hybernated specimens appear as early as August, and 

 some of them survive till the end of December or begin- 

 ning of January, when the earliest of the new ones are 

 just emerging. In fact it is not infrequent at this time 

 to take both hybernated and recent specimens together. 

 This species is a great traveller, and may be often seen 

 flying over the tops of the trees at a great rate. It 

 shows a singular indifference to shadow, and is constantly 

 flying out of the sunlight into shady places in the forest, 

 probably in search of the food-plant of the larvae. The 

 two other species of Vanessa are V. cardui, a periodical 

 insect only distinguished from the " Painted Lady Butter- 

 fly " of England by the blue centres in three of the black 

 spots on its hind-wings, and V. Itea, a lovely butterfly 

 found in the northern portions of this island, of which I 

 have at present only taken three specimens. 



