BRITISH BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 



of scarlet and white patches on a black and brown back- 

 ground, that small wonder exists as to its being a general 

 favourite. I like it best of all because it comes to hearten 

 us at the fall of the year, and because also it is so intent 

 upon its nectar-sipping that it allows a close approach, 

 I grow a variety of sedum specially to attract this gaily- 

 coloured courtier of the flowers, and have often stroked 

 a specimen that has been so occupied with its sweet 

 pillage as to take no notice of the caresser. In the 

 Autumn of 1922 the pink heads of the sedum failed to 

 attract the Red Admirals in my garden so much as the 

 phenomenal crop of victoria plums, and it was great fun 

 to see the competition involved by the attentions of these 

 handsome insects, as well as wasps, green bottle flies, 

 and several other insect-revellers attracted to the feast. 

 So daring (or inebriated) did one of the Admirals become, 

 that it suddenly took to wing and alighted upon my 

 outstretched hand ! Belonging to the same genus as the 

 Painted Lady, the species now under review is very 

 plentiful in a favourable season, and I have seen whole 

 companies of both these butterflies in Cornish and 

 Devonshire lanes which refused to take flight as I 

 approached. The source of attraction was the ragged 

 pink heads of that tall sentinel of those fern-clad lanes, 

 hemp agrimony. The Red Admiral has a somewhat 

 similar range to its last-mentioned cousin, and although 

 odd specimens may be seen earlier on, August is the 

 true season to observe the Red Admiral at its height. 

 The stinging nettle is the favourite food plant, and the 

 solitary green egg is deposited upon the shoots and 



leaves. This soon changes colour as incubation advances. 

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