INSECTS 361 



which are club-shaped, and in most cases by their habit of 

 shutting the wings together over the back when they alight. 

 As the wings are far less brilliantly coloured on their under 

 sides, which are then the only surfaces visible, a very efficient 

 means of protection is afforded. The body is comparatively 

 slender, and the demarcation between thorax and abdomen well- 

 marked. The eggs are often sculptured in a way which renders 

 them extremely beautiful microscopic objects, and the caterpillars 

 may be naked, slightly hairy, or covered with branching spines. 

 They posses five pairs of pro-legs. The angular chrysalis is 

 sometimes simply suspended by the tail, or it may be fixed head 

 upwards both by the tail and by a silken girdle round the thoracic 

 region. It is frequently marked with metallic patches, to which 

 the name chrysalis is due (Gk. chrysos, gold). 



Butterflies are found in all parts of the world, and some 

 common examples may here be mentioned. 



The Fritillary Family is at once the largest and most widely 

 distributed group of Butterflies. They are distinguished by the 

 remarkable fact that their fore-legs are so much reduced as to 

 be useless for walking purposes. 

 Among British species are the 

 Great Tortoiseshell ( Vanessa 

 polychloros) (fig. 212), the Small 

 Tortoiseshell (K urticce), the 

 Peacock Butterfly ( V. lo), and 

 the Red Admiral ( V. Atlanta), 

 in all of which the larvae feed 

 on nettles: the Painted Lady 

 (K cardui), an almost cosmo- 

 politan species, of which the T.g. ....-Gr^,T.rt.is..h.^^.,,.r&y iVa.e... 



larvae feed on thistles; and the 



Purple Emperor [Apatura Iris), a much rarer and finer insect, 

 with a predilection for carrion. Closely related to these is the 

 Resplendent Ptolemy {Morpho Neoptolemus), a gorgeous tropical 

 Butterfly. Morpho cypris is brilliant blue, streaked with white. 



The family of Whites includes several British species which 

 are perhaps more familiar than any other, partly on account of 

 their conspicuous colour and partly owing to the ravages which 

 their larvae perpetrate in the kitchen -garden. The abdomen is 

 enveloped by the basal part of the hind-wings. This family is 



