48 NATURAL HISTORY. 



Most of the small white and yellow Butterflies of the Tropics belong to the genus Eurema. 

 Many of them measure an inch, or under, across the wings, and few expand as much as two 

 inches. They are never spotted, but the wings are more or less broadly bordered with black ; 

 and in some of the larger South American species the hind wings project below in an acute- 

 angle. 



The genus Pieris includes the White Cabbage Butterflies, which are too well known to need 

 description. Their green caterpillars may often be seen feeding on cabbage, &c., and the pupae are 

 found on walls and palings, and are not unfrequently surrounded by the little yellow cocoons of an 

 Ichneumon Fly (Pimpla manifestator]. The foreign species of Pieris, though numerous, call for no 

 special notice, but the East Indian species, belonging to the allied genera Tachyris and Delias, are 

 often very beautiful. Tasbyris nero has i-ather pointed fore wings, and is of a uniform red, with 

 black nervures. On the under surface it is yellowish. Other allied species are blue, and others, 

 white, with brown borders. Most of the species of Delias are white, with a row of red spots along 

 the borders of the hind wings beneath, and another East Indian genus (Prioneris) is remarkable for 

 the costa of the fore wings being ridged like a saw in the males. Perrhybris, the last of the sections 

 of the old genus Pieris which we need notice here, is found in South America, and is remarkable for 

 the difference between the sexes. The male of Perrhybrls pyrrha is white, with black borders above, 

 but on the under side it is banded with white, black, and red. The female is streaked with black, 

 yellow, and fulvous, giving it very much the appearance of one of the Heliconince, or of those Danainfe 

 which most resemble them. This Butterfly is very common in America, but there are several other- 

 species of the genus which exhibit a similar disparity in the sexes to a greater or less extent. The 

 collection of the late Mr. Hewitson, now in the British Museum, contains a very singular specimen of 

 P. pyrrha. It is a male, in which the right-hand wing is coloured as in the female, with the exception 

 of one or two white spaces. 



Most of the larger yellow Butterflies of the Tropics belong to the genus Catopsilia. They 

 generally measure about three inches across the wings, though some are larger or smaller. The fore 

 wings have the costa arched, and the hind margin nearly straight, and the hind wings are rounded, 

 very slightly dentated, and occasionally obtusely pointed at the anal angle of the hind wings. The 

 antennae are of moderate length, and of a black colour. A few species are dull white, irrorated with 

 brown on the under surface, but the greater number are of some shade of yellow or orange. The 

 under surface is generally irrorated with reddish, and there is often a reddish-brown ring (frequently 

 double) surrounding a silvery-white spot. 



One of the prettiest Butterflies is the Brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni), which is common in* 

 woods in most parts of England almost throughout the year. The male is sulphur-yellow, and the 

 female whitish-yellow, and there is a small orange spot in the middle of each wing. The antenna; 

 are short, thick, and of a reddish colour, and the body is black, clothed with long white hair. The 

 Butterfly hibernates, and appears very early in spring ; the green caterpillar feeds on buckthorn. 

 An allied species (G. cleopatra) is common in South Europe, in which the fore wings are orange in the 

 male, and there are one or two species of Gonepleryx in tropical America which are remarkably 

 (similar to G. rhamni, but are double the size. 



The Clouded Yellow Butterflies of the genus Colias ai^e found in every quarter of the globe, but in 

 the tropics are only to be met with in the mountains. They are most numerous in temperate climates- 

 and are Butterflies of moderate size, averaging about an inch and a half in expanse. The wings are 

 moderately broad and more or less rounded, and are always of an orange or yellow colour, with a 

 black border varying in width, which is generally lined with yellow in the male, and spotted with 

 yellow in the female. There is a black spot in the middle of each fore wing, and there is often a. 

 single or double silvery spot surrounded with darker on the under side of the hind wings, as in Catopsilia.. 

 The caterpillars feed on clover and other leguminous plants, and the Butterflies are commoner in. 

 some years than in others, and are most frequently met with in autumn. Our commonest 

 species, the Clouded Yellow (Colias edusa], is of a bright orange-yellow, with black borders, and 

 is swifter on the wing than almost any other species. It flies low, but with such rapidity that it IB 

 very difficult to run down, though when not alarmed it will often settle on a flower, when it is easily 

 captured. Some of the foreign species allied to this have a pink or purple flush over the orange^ 



