SCALE-WINGED INSECTS. 



871. 



White Butterfly. 



caterpillar-state it is an insect very 

 destructive to cabbages and cauli- 

 flower-plants. "What a difference 

 betwixt its appearance as a loath- 

 some worm and its future appear- 

 ance, whei provided with wings, 

 and in som; measure an inhabitant 

 of the aerial regions ! 



The Purple Emperor is the most beautiful of all the 

 butterflies met with in Europe : it is not only the most lovely, but 

 in its manners most interesting. Mi llaneworth, a celebrated 

 naturalist, says, " That in its manners, as well as in the varying 

 lustre of its purple plumes, it possesses the strongest claim to our 

 attention. He commences his aerial movements from ten till 

 twelve o'clock in the morning, ana at noon reaches his loftiest 

 elevation." 



The Swallow-Tailed Butterfly moves with exceeding 

 rapidity, nearly in a straight line, 

 and is very difficult to capture. 

 The color of the wings is black, 

 variegated most beautifully with 

 yellow markings, and near the ex- 

 tremity of each hinder wing is a 

 circular red spot, surmounted by a 

 crescent of blue, and the whole 

 surrounded by a black ring 



Moths. — The antennae are cetaceous, that is, bristly, gra- 

 dually lessening from base to tip : when sitting the wings are deflex; 

 and its flight is nocturnal. What the owl is among birds, the moth 

 is among insects : it is a night-insect, carrying on its pursuits, and 

 exercising all its activity amid the gloom of darkness. This genus, 

 containing a vast number of species, is divided into assortments, 

 according to the different habits of the animal. So numerous is 

 the variety of moths, th^t there are actually four hundred and sixty 

 species. 



All the creatures of these numerous species' are q-iiet by 



Swallow-Tailed Butterfly. 



