THE YOUNG NATUEALIST. 



279 



people's eyes would be barren ground ; and 

 it carries him away from temptations, which 

 in this age, beset the path of every young 

 man and woman. 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



By J. E. Robson ; with figures from life by 

 S. L. Mosley. 



(Assisted by Contributors to the Y. N.) 



GENUS IV. ANTHOCARIS. 



" Anthos, a flower; charei, to delight in." 

 —A. L. 



A very natural group when confined to 

 Section II. of Doubleday's genus, as is done 

 in Kirby's more recent catalogue. The 

 species are white ; with or without a yellow 

 or orange patch at the tip of the forewings ; 

 or yellow. The underside of the hind wings 

 is mottled with green. Most of the species 

 (about twenty) are European, but only one 

 British. 



5, CARD AMINES. PI. 3. Fig. 3. 

 The Orange Tip. 



" Cardamines," from the name of one of the 

 food plants Cardamine pvatensis. 



Imago. — PL 3, Fig. 3. Male, female, 

 and underside. Male, white ; the tip black- 

 ish ; a black spot in the centre of the forewing, 

 which has an orange patch covering the tip 

 half. The female is without the orange 

 patch, and has more black at the tip. Under- 

 side of both mottled with green. 



Larva.— PL 3. Fig. 3a. Bluish green, 

 paler on the sides, and gradually fading into 

 the white line which includes the spiracles. 

 Back rather granulated. 



Pupa. — PL 3, Fig. 3b. Very long, pointed 

 at each extremity, and bent into a crescent. 

 Greenish c®lored with brown stripes. Wing 

 cases protruding. (Our figure is scarcely 

 so arched as they generally are.) 



Food. Plants- —Various Crucifera. Cuckoo 

 Flower ( Cardamine pratensis J, Hedge Mustard 

 (Sisymbrium alliaria), Dames' Violet (Hesperis 



matronalis), and many similar plants, pre- 

 ferring the seeds. 



Time of Appearance.— The imago 



emerges with the first warm days of May. 

 The eggs are deposited towards the end of 

 May and in June. The larvas may be found 

 full fed from the middle of June to the middle 

 of July. It passes the winter in pupa. 



Habitat. — Country lanes and fields. It 

 is found in almost every part of Britain, and 

 is widely distributed over Europe, occurring 

 also in Northern and Western Asia. 



Variation. — Mr. Gregson has a male 

 specimen taken at Southport, with the ground 

 color of all the wings pale yellow like some of 

 the Continental species. One is figured in 

 " Varieties of British Lepidoptera" with the 

 tips yellow instead of orange, and another on 

 the same plate having the green mottling 

 showing on the upper side of the hind wings. 

 The female occasionally has blotches or 

 streaks of orange on the fore wings. Her- 

 maphrodite specimens, with one side male 

 and the other side female have been met 

 with. A very curious one is in Mr. Greg- 

 son's collection, having the left side male on 

 the upper and female on the under side, 

 while the right side is female on the upper 

 and male on the under side. The insect also 

 varies greatly in size. The normal expanse 

 is nearly two inches, but we have* a male 

 that barely measures one inch, and a female 

 one inch and two lines. Specimens taken at 

 a high altitude are generally small. Two 

 varieties have been named. Turritis, Ochs, 

 which occurs in Italy. &c, is smaller, and has 

 the fore wings spotted. In the supplement to 

 Kirby's Catalogue of Diurnal Lepidoptera, 

 published in 1877, Turritis is given as a dis- 

 tinct species, which it is very likely to be. 

 The other variety, Lasthenia, Mill, is named 

 in Kirby's Catalogue, but we know nothing 

 whatever of it. 



Parasites- — Exorista vulgaris, PI. 3, Fig. 

 3c, has been bred from a larva of this insect 

 by Mr. Eedle. The cross below the figure 

 shows the natural size of the insect. 



