THE RED ADMIRAL. 8 1 



uncertain. In some years it may be fairly common in the early 

 part of the year and very scarce later on. 



A North American species, Pyrantels vlrglnlensls {hunter 'a) , 

 has been once or twice, since 1828, reported as captured in 

 England, but its occurrence in this country can only be 

 regarded as accidental. 



The Red Admiral {Pyrantels atalanta). 



The vivid contrast of black and scarlet in this butterfly 

 will certainly arrest the attention of even the least observant. 

 But Nature, ever excellent in her colour schemes, has toned 

 down the glare of the scarlet bands by the addition of some 

 splashes and dots of white above them on the fore wings, and 

 some dots of black on those of the hind wings. Then, by way 

 of a finish, there is a delicate tracing of blue along the outer 

 margin of the fore wings, and a touch of the same colour at 

 the angle of the hind wings, the scalloped margins of all the 

 wings being white relieved by black points. On the under 

 side the combination of colour on the fore wings is much the 

 same as above, but there is also some blue tracing on the 

 central area, and the tips harmonize with the hind wings, which 

 are mottled with various shades of brown, traversed by wavy 

 black lines, and have a more or less square pale spot on their 

 front edges. 



The ordinary variation in this butterfly consists of slight 

 differences in the tone of the red markings, which ranges from 

 the normal scarlet in one direction to almost crimson, and in 

 the other to orange-yellow. The bands on the fore wings may 

 be broken up into two, or sometimes three, distinct parts ; and 

 a specimen with the bands of hind wings marked with yellow 

 has been noted. There is often a white dot in the bands of the 

 fore wings, and this occurs in both sexes. 



