BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



Papilionidce with which we are concerned, and among our 

 lepidopterous friends it is, with the possible exception of 

 the Small Tortoiseshell, the first to appear in the Spring. 

 I frequently record it on the wing in February, and per- 

 haps it is the greatest moment in the year's biology when 

 this regal creature is seen emerging from its hiding place 

 ready for a new lease of life. One would expect the 

 insect to be tattered and torn after braving the storms and 



Brimslon?^ 



Fv^O. 



frosts of Winter, but this is not so, and one hardly 

 realises that it is not a freshly-emerged specimen. It is 

 amazing to watch a female Brimstone searching for her 

 favourite buckthorn bush, and to notice how ingeniously 

 she passes by various other kinds of woody plants of 

 which a hedgerow is made up. If the buckthorn is 

 growing as an isolated bush, the insect will career hur- 

 riedly towards it, and it is a fascinating occupation to 

 watch her depositing eggs. The buds of the host-plant 

 are only just showing when the early Brimstones are on 

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