134 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



MONTHLY NOTES. 



By J. P. Soutter. 



Botany. — At this early season very much 

 depends upon the character of the weather 

 as to what plants may be looked for. The 

 almost unparalelled severity of the past 

 month has effectually checked all out-door 

 vegetation. Yet, since the welcome thaw- 

 came, there are not wanting indications of 

 the renewed activity of Spring life. The 

 green buds of the sycamore arc beginning to 

 swell, and the large resinous coated ones of 

 the Horse Chestnut glisten in the bright 

 blinks of sunshine, as if they were varnished, 

 and waiting for the warm spring rains to 

 wash them before the leaves can burst their 

 coverings. In meadows and copses in various 

 places, and in every garden, one of the earliest 

 forerunners of Spring, the pure, chaste, and 

 favorite Snow--drop (Galanthus nivalis), may 

 be certainly looked for as soon as the snow- 

 has melted, and the frozen earth has thawed. 

 It is usually found accompanied by its more 

 gaudy companion the brilliant-hued Crocus. 

 In gardens and shrubberies the bright butter- 

 cup-like flowers of the Winter Aconite ( Eran- 

 this hyemalis) may be observed, it is easily 

 recognised by its solitary flower crowning 

 the stem, with a fringelike frill of leaves. 

 Towards the end of the month the 

 flowers of the elm may be seen covering 

 the leafless branches ; on sunny days the}' are 

 very attractive to bees, who visit them for 

 sake of the pollen. The catkins of the Hazel 

 and Alder trees aro now becoming con- 

 spicuous. In these trees the staminate and 

 pistillate flowers are on separate parts of the 

 branch, and the flowers appear before the 

 leaves, so that there may be no interruption 

 to the dissemination of the pollen. The 

 staminate catkins of the hazel often attain a 

 length of three or four inches, and hang from 

 the otherwise bare boughs like slender tassels 

 quivering with every breath of wind, which 

 scatters fihe clouds of powdery pollen to 



alight upon the rosy pink feathery stigmas, so 

 that the fruitful nuts of autumn may be pro- 

 duced. We hope our young readers may be 

 induced to examine the flowers of hazel, they 

 w ill find them very interesting. 



BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 



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

 S. L. Mosley. 



(Assisted by Contributors to the V. N.) 



Genus VI. Apatura. 



"Apatura, P., Apatura, a surname of 

 Venus, which she obtained from a trick that 

 she played on some giants. Strabo. xi. 757." 

 i — A.L. 



Mr. Newman proposes to read Apodura, 

 " signifying that the caterpillar has no feet at 

 the tail or caudal extremity," but it is ques- 

 tionable if his suggestion will be accepted. 



This is a genus of about 40 species, Tnost of 

 which are remarkable for the splendid blue 

 or purple gloss on the wings of the male. 



When the Satyuid.e and Nymphalidjs 

 were divided into distinct families, authors 

 w ere scarcely agreed as to the place of this 

 ! genus. The perfect insects possess undoubted 

 ) affinity with the Xymphalid.e ; while the 

 larva-, which are smooth, stoutest in the 

 j middle, and divided into two points at the 

 < tail, resemble those of the Satyrid.k, rather 

 than the cylindrical spiny larva; lately 

 described. Now that these divisions are 

 considered to be but sub-families, the place 

 of the genus comes naturally between the 

 , two. Those who are guided by the larva 

 will class it with the Satyrin.k ; those who 

 think its characteristics in the preparatory 

 stages, should not over-balance the affinities 

 \ of the perfect insect will leave it where it is 

 placed here. 



The greatest number of the species are 

 ; South American, but some are found in 

 j Asia, and in the Malay Archipelago. Only 



