9 



LEUCOMA SALICIS. THE WHITE SATIN MOTH. 



Plate V. fig. sinistr. 



Synonyms. PhaW (Bomb.) Salicis. Linn. Syst. Nat. ii. 822. Donovan Brit. Ins. vol. 1. pi. 30. 

 , Albin's Ins. pi. 84. fig. a— d. Wilkes Eng. Moths, pi. 41. 

 Leucoma Salicis, Stephens. 



^ Upper Side. The eyes are black, the legs spotted with black, the other parts are white, the 

 wings appearing like white satin. The eggs of this moth are green, usually laid against the bark 

 of the willow, covered with a white substance, which appears like white satin. These are hatched 

 m about twenty days. 



The caterpillars feed on the willow leaves during part of the summer, and remain during the 

 winter m a sleeping state ; they are full fed about the latter end of June following, and making a 

 spinning among the leaves, change to the chrysalis therein; the moth appears the end of July. 

 The chrysalis is shewn at (m) 9 and the caterpillar at (n). 



Expansion of the wings 1 J — g inches. 



VANESSA ATALANTA. 



THE ADMIRABLE [OR RED ADMIRAL] 

 BUTTERFLY. 



-L 



Synonyms. 



Plate VI. fig. a- 



Papilio (Nymph. Phal.) Atalanta, Linn. Syst. Nat. ii. 779. Lewins Papil. pi. 7. 



Donovan Brit. Ins. vol. 8. pi. 260. 

 Vanessa Atalanta, Fair. Ochsenheimer, Leach, Curtis, Stephens, Latreille. Duncan Brit. 



Butt. pi. 20. f. 1. 

 Papilio Major, &c. The Admiral, Petiv. Papil. pi. ii. f. 11. 

 The Admirable, Albin's Insects, pi. 3. Wilkes Eng. Moths fy Butt, pi. 105. 

 Pyrameis Atalanta, Hubner, Verz. Be/c. Schmetterl. coit. 70. 

 Ammiralis Atalanta, The Alderman. Rennie Conspectus, p. 10. 



Upper Side. The antenna? are black, speckled regularly with white, the knobs tipped with 

 yellow. The eyes are dark brown. Thorax and abdomen black. The wings are also black. 

 The superior have a broad diagonal band or list of a fine scarlet red crossing each wing, and six 

 white spots near the tip. The inferior wings have a broad border of scarlet along the fan edge, in 

 which are four triangular black spots. The legs, breast, and palpi are brown. 



The under side, seen at (A), of the superior wings is like the upper side, except some additional 

 blue waved lines, and the tips of the wings marbled with brown and white. The inferior are on 

 this side, beautifully marbled with brown and other dark shades, not easily described. 



The caterpillars feed on nettles ; each spins up among the leaves, which it draws together 

 with its web for that purpose, as shewn at (a) : sometimes they cut the stalk of the nettle in two, 

 causing it to hang down, as at (b), in which the subtile creature conceals itself among the leaves, 

 which soon become withered and dry. 



The caterpillars are black when young, as at (f), but when near full fed, they are of two 

 colours ; some black, others yellow, as seen at (d) and (c). They change into chrysalis, spun up 

 in the leaves, the middle of July, and the fly appears in about three weeks. The chrysalis is of 

 a fine pearl colour, sometimes embellished with silver. 



Expansion of the wings %\ — 3 inches. 



The habits of this, one of the commonest but most beautiful of the British 

 Lepidoptera, are thus pleasantly described by the author of a u Journal of a 



c 



