Beautiful Butterflies. 



PAINTED LADY. 



PLATE V,— FIG. II. 



IAPILIO, or Cynthia cardui. The genus 

 Cynthia into which we now pass, so closely re- 

 sembles the Vanessa that it is considered by 

 some naturalists as only a sub-genus or kind of lesser 

 division thereof. Cynthia is a name sometimes applied 

 to the moon, as it was to one of the fabled goddesses 

 of the Grecian mythology, between whom and that 

 enlightener of the night, there was supposed to be 

 some mysterious kind of relationship. We have only 

 two Cynthias in Britain, and one of these can hardly 

 be called a native species, but a single specimen, I 

 believe, having been taken in this country ; of this I 

 shall presently speak. Now let us examine into the 

 merits of the Common Painted Lady, which is a truly 

 beautiful fly, graceful in form, and harmonious, if not 

 brilliant, in colouring. A reference to the plate will 

 show this better than any description, as far as the 

 general shape and outer side of the wings are concerned ; 

 but a chief beauty of this fly consists in the marking of 



