NETTLE-LEAF TENT-BUILDERS 1 55 



It is partly because it is so well known, and 

 partly because so few people use their eyes ana- 

 lytically, that a certain little mystery of the plant 

 is so well guarded. For almost any bed of nettles 

 may well tempt the young entomologist to tarry, 

 while he forgets the tingling fingers as he fills his 

 collecting-box with welcome specimens. 



We are sure to have company if we linger long 

 about our nettles. There is a small brood of 

 butterflies which we can always count upon. Here 

 is one of them coming over the meadow. It has 

 a sharp eye for nettles, and is even now on the 

 lookout for them. In a moment more its beauti- 

 ful black, scarlet-bordered and white-spotted wings 

 are seen fluttering among the leaves, alighting 

 now here, now there, each brief visit leaving a 

 visible witness if we care to look for it. It has 

 now settled upon a leaf w^ithin easy reach. Creep- 

 ing along its edge, it is soon hanging beneath, 

 but only for a second, and is off again on the 

 wing. Let us pluck the leaf. Upon looking be- 

 neath it we may see the pretty token ,of the Red 

 Admiral, a tiny egg which we may well preserve 

 for our microscope. 



We shall not wait long before another butterfly 

 visitor arrives, smaller than the last, and with its 

 deep orange, black-spotted wings conspicuously 

 jagged at i the edges — -one of the " angle-wings," 

 which immediately announces his name as he 



