100 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



the converse of this state too richly fed 

 plants show an excessive development of 

 the parenchyma, and the leaves become ridged 

 or puckered up as may be seen in the savoy, 

 a well-known variety of cabbage. When 

 grown in suitable soil the " hedgehog " holly 

 remains fairly permanent as a variety, and 

 may be propagated by cuttings. — J. P. 

 Soutter. 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



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

 S. L. Mosley. 



(Assisted by Contributors to the Y. N.) 

 26. URTICT2, Linn. PI. 12, fig. 2. 

 The Tortoise Shell. The King William. 



"Urtice, L., Urtica, feeds on the Nettle 

 (Urtica dioica ). ' — A.L. 



ImagO. — Plate 12, fig, 2a. Reddish 

 orange, a dark border to all the wings with 

 blue lunules. The forewing has three large 

 black spots on the costa and one about the 

 centre of the inner margin, there are also 

 two smaller spots near the centre. Between 

 the costal spots the wing is yellow, between 

 the third one and the dark border is a white 

 spot. The hind wing is black from the base 

 to about the middle leaving over a band of 

 ground color. 



Larva. — Plate 12, fig. 2. Yellowish 

 grey with a black dorsal line, spines branched 

 and greenish. 



PlTDa.— Plate 12, fig. 2b. Much humped 

 and angulate, brown, mottled with black and 

 spotted with gold, particularly on the more 

 prominent parts, It is generally but not 

 always, suspended from the underside of the 

 stalks of the food plant. 



Food Plant-— Common Nettle, (Urtica 

 dioica). 



Time of Appearance.— There appears 

 to be some doubt as to whether this butterfly 

 is double brooded or not, and Mr. Doubleday 

 records an instance where it certainly was so. 

 The larvae were seen in May, the butterflies 

 in June. In July, larvse were found again, 



and the butterflies were on the wing in 

 September. Whether this is always the case 

 in the South we cannot say, but in the North 

 of England we never saw but one brood, 

 which appears on the wing in July or August, 

 and hybernates to reappear in Spring It is 

 certainly earlier than the other members of 

 of the genus, and more likely therefore to be 

 double brooded, but it is not much to our 

 credit that there should be any doubt about 

 so common a species. We never saw the 

 sexes taking any notice of each other in the 

 Autumn, and it is generally understood that 

 they do not pair till Spring. The eggs are 

 laid on the leaves of the the food plant and 

 hatch in about a fortnight. At first the larva 

 are strictly gregarious, but as they get larger 

 they wander away from each other, and do 

 not return to close company though remain- 

 ing on the same clump of nettles. 



Habitat. — It is common in all parts of 

 the British Isles, but as the food plant is 

 rather a weed of cultivated ground, than of 

 waste or barren land, the butterfly is more 

 abundant among the habitations of men, than 

 in the wilder and more desolate parts of our 

 islands. It is common all over Europe, and 

 in Northern and Western Asia. 



Variation- — Several varieties of this 

 species are named Ichnusa, Bon., is a very 

 striking form occurring in Corsica and Sar- 

 dinia. The ground. color is much brighter in 

 tone, the black spot on the inner margin of 

 the forewing is nearer the base, and the two 

 central spots are wanting. On the hind wing, 

 the dark basal patch does not extend so far 

 across. Some consider this a distinct species : 

 we believe it is so considered by no less 

 authorities than Mr. C. S. Gregson and Mr. 

 Fred. Bond, F.Z. 3. Mr. Newman figures a 

 specimen taken at Hawkshead, in N. Lanca- 

 shire, and said by Mr. Gregson to be this variety, 

 but the specimen is only like Ichnusa in the 

 absence of the central spots, the other char- 

 acteristics we have named being wanting. 

 Newman's variety 3 is also without the 

 central spots, but the two outer black costal 



