162 POPULAR ENTOMOLOGY. 



where it is so on the other side. The caterpillar is blackish, 

 with four yellow stripes, and beset with strong spines ; it 

 feeds on the nettle, and, when young, lives in families, but 

 disperses when increasing size renders more food necessary. 

 The butterfly is very common, and may be met with in 

 March, but these are individuals which have survived the 

 winter : there is another brood in September. 



VANESSA C-ALBUM. Comma Butterfly. This is the 

 smallest species of the genus, and differs much in the form 

 of the wings ; the colour of the upper side is reddish-yellow, 

 irregularly spotted with black, and having the hinder 

 margin dark brown ; two of the largest spots on the 

 upper wings are placed on the anterior border, the others, 

 four or five in number, occupy the disc ; on the inferior 

 wings there are usually three black patches ; the colour of 

 the under side is dark brown, often inclining to yellow, the 

 basal half of the wings and the apex being the darkest; on 

 the paler portion of the anterior pair is an obscure band of 

 green, and two rows of greenish ocelli across both wings: 

 the hinder wings have a short curved line of pure white 

 near the middle, like the letter C reversed, hence the name 

 of the species. The caterpillar is brownish-red, with a 

 broad band of white on the back ; the head has two hairy 



