316 



though it has longer antennae even than the 

 members of the genus Fin is, while the genus 

 Parnassus, and those nearest it, have very 

 short antennae. 



10 CRATiEGI, Linn. PI. 6, Fig. i. 



The Black Veined White. 



Crat^egi, from the 'generic name of the 

 food plant, Whitethorn, Cratagus oxyacanthce. 



Xro^-TO. — White with black veins. A 

 smoky triangular patch at the hind margin of 

 the forewings, where each vein terminates. 

 Sometimes this occurs in a lesser degree on 

 the hind wings. The wings are thinly 

 clothed with scales, and have a very trans- 

 parent appearance, much more so than those 

 of any other British Butterfly. The female 

 has a small smoky patch on the fore wings, 

 at the disc. 



Larva. — Covered with whitish hairs, 

 longest on the back, which is reddish orange, 

 with blackish dorsal and sub-dorsal stripes ; 

 belly and sides slaty grey, head, spiracles, 

 and legs black. When young they are quite 

 black. 



Pupa. — White ; yellowish along the back 

 and sides, and spotted with black. 



Pood Plants.— Whitethorn (Cratagus 

 oxyacanthce). The larva will also eat black 

 thorn, apple, cherry, &c. 



Times of Appearance.— The butterfly 

 emerges in June. The eggs are deposited in 

 batches on the food plant ; and hatch in 

 about fourteen days. The larvae are gre- 

 garious when young, and spin a white web 

 into which they retire when not feeding. On 

 the approach of colder weather, they either 

 make this more compact, or spin another of 

 closer texture and quite water-tight, in which 

 they pass the winter, lying quite close 

 together, and of course without feeding. In 

 spring they soon leave their domicile, and 

 wander away separately. By the end of May 

 they are full fed, and fasten themselves to a 

 hawthorn twig for their final change. 



Habitat. — Though the larvae feed on 

 hedges, the butterfly has a very lofty flight. 



It only occurs in the south in this country, 

 though, like some other species, it is not 

 easy to understand why this should be so, for 

 it is common over the whole of Europe, 

 penetrating even into the extreme north, only 

 Lapland being without the species. It also 

 occurs in Northern and Western Asia. 



Variation. — This Butterfly is remark- 

 ably constant to the type, though indeed a 

 butterfly, that is white without other mark- 

 ings than the veins, has little margin for 

 variation. The only difference we ever saw, 

 is that the smoky triangular patch at the end 

 of the wing rays sometimes varies slightly in 

 size. 



Parasites. — No parasites have yet been 

 reported from the larvae of this species. 



HOW TO FORM AN 

 HERBARIUM. 



By Mr. Wm. West, Bradford. 



As most Naturalists begin their botanical 

 studies with the flowering plants, and as 

 young naturalists more especially are sure to 

 do so, I will try to show how an herbarium of 

 flowering plants should be formed. When 

 the young botanist can afford to have plenty 

 of blotting or filtering paper for the purpose 

 of drying the plants he should by all means 

 get such paper, for as it is unsized, it both 

 takes up and loses moisture quickly. In 

 making use of the term plenty of paper, I 

 write from experience, as I have dried many 

 thousands of plants, and have quite spoiled 

 some batches when I had too small a quan- 

 tity of paper in use. If economy must be 

 practised old newspapers may be utilised for 

 drying purposes, as they answer very well. 

 At the outset choice should be made as to 

 what sized sheets are to be used in the 

 herbarium, and then the drying paper should 

 be cut to the same size. I find that the most 

 convenient size to use is demy paper cut 

 into half sheets (about 17^ by n£). The 

 plants ought to be gathered in fine weather, 

 and after the dew has left them. The old- 



