Beautiful Butterflies. 81 



SMALL TORTOISE-SHELL. 



PLATE IV. FIG. I. 



jjHIS is the Papilio, or Vanessa urtica of natu- 

 ralists, and when I tell my readers that the 

 Latin for nettle is urtica, and that the Cater- 

 pillar feeds upon nettles, they will at once see the fitness 

 of the title. This Caterpillar is found in the beginning 

 of June, and again about the middle of August. In 

 the early stages of its growth it is gregarious like the 

 larva of the last species ; the body is a dull greenish 

 brown, with paler lines down the back and sides ; the 

 head black, as are also the tufts of hair ; the chrysalis 

 is brownish, and shaped much like that of the larger 

 species. It is sometimes nearly covered with gilding, 

 and is generally suspended by the smaller end. 



Everywhere in this country, and throughout the 

 whole of the summer, one sees the Little Tortoise-shell 

 Butterfly, of which species there appears to be two goal 

 deliveries in the year, one in June and the other in 

 September, so that by the time one batch of released 

 prisoners dies out another comes to take its place, and 

 thus the summer sunshine glanceth ever upon Tortoise- 

 shell wings, and frequently the spring sunshine too, for 



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