172 
OUR BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. 
[Nature and Art, June 1, 1867. 
necessary to leave the noise and bustle of town, 
and choosing, if practicable, a clover field in the 
vicinity of some large wood, we are not long in 
detecting its golden glories upon the wide-spread 
purple carpet, for in such spots as these our yellow 
friend especially delights. 
What luxury, whilst scenting the delicious 
perfume of the clover, to watch those sulphur- 
coloured fairies fluttering from flower to flower in 
search of their sweet food ! 
Having taken our fill at the Brimstone’s 
restaurant, we may enter the wood where we again 
perceive these butterflies in pursuit of beauty. The 
charm of the female of this species depends upon its 
greater delicacy of colouring, the male having the 
advantage in richness of hue. 
The males far exceed the females in number 
(this seems to be usually the case with common 
species), and consequently the competition in matri- 
monial affairs is something dreadful. We have 
taken seven Brimstone butterflies at one stroke of 
the net, and six of them proved to be males. The 
genus Rhotlocera, to which this species belongs, 
contains a great variety of beautiful forms, in aril of 
which the prevailing colour is yellow. We have 
figured one of the’ most curious, the Rhodocera 
(Gonepteryx) Wallichii, of Doubleday 3 it is a native 
of North India, and by no means a common insect. 
A figure of this species, showing both sides of the 
wing, will be found in the “ Proceedings of the 
Zoological Society ” for 1865, under the name of 
Gonepteryx Urania. The eggs of the Brimstone 
butterfly are of a conical form, with ribs sculptured 
on the sides. The caterpillar, when fully grown, is 
green, finely speckled with black, and with a pale 
lateral line ; it may be found upon buckthorn 
(Rhamnvs catharticus ) and alder buckthorn ( R . 
frangula). The curiously-shaped chrysalis is sus- 
pended by means of a central girdle and a web of 
fine silk at the extremity of the tail ; its colour is 
bright green varied with yellow. 
The only well-known variety of the Brimstone 
is found in the south of Europe, India, Madeira, 
<fec. ; it differs from the common form in having 
the greater portion of the front wings suffused with 
orange. It has, however, been described as a 
distinct species under the name of Cleopatra , but 
the fact of its having been bred from the same 
batch of eggs with R. Rhamni has effectually 
proved its identity with this common species. 
By reference to our plate it will at once be seen 
that the arrangement of the veins upon the wings 
of this insect differs considerably from that in the 
Swallow-tailed ; the nervules at the front margin 
(costa) of the upper wings being all widejy separated, 
whilst in Papilio Machaon they lie close together. 
Again, the termination of the cell* is in this species 
concave instead of convex, but a careful eye will 
readily detect these and many other points of dis- 
tinction between the two insects ; so we need not 
enter into a more detailed description of them here. 
The scales are somewhat variable in shape, but 
not nearly so much so as in the preceding species ; 
this may be partly owing to the uniform colouring 
of the insect. The legs are short, hairy, and thickly 
clothed with scales ; as in the swallow-tailed, they 
are all made use of in walking, t The antennse 
(horns) are flat, and in form something between a 
cricket-bat and a canoe-paddle ; the annulations 
are not very distinctly marked and are rather wide 
apart. The proboscis is black and flattened ; it 
coils up very much like a watch-spring, and is 
protected by a pair of moderately large palpi, which 
when strongly magnified, form beautiful microscopic 
objects ; they are clothed with long yellow scales, 
excepting at the upper outer margin, where the 
scales are short, and of a blue-grey colour, varied 
with red points. 
The caterpillar of Rhodocera Rhamni may be 
found from May to July ; the perfect insect leaves 
the chrysalis during the following month, and may 
be met with until towards the end of October, when 
it hybernates, and appears again in February, the 
females then continuing until May. The males, if 
taken in the spring, are frequently so much shattered 
and chafed, that they are utterly useless as specimens 
for the cabinet, although they may still be of value 
to cut up for microscopic objects. This beautiful 
insect is common and generally distributed in the 
south of England ; it is scarce in the midland 
counties, and does not occitr in Scotland. 
Explanation op Plate. 
Fig’. 1. Rhodocera Rhamni (male). 
, , 2. ,, ,, (female). 
,, 3. Underside (male). 
„ 4. Ditto (female). 
,, 5. Wings denuded of scales, to show the veining. 
,, 6. Part of antenna, magnified. 
„ 7. Proboscis, or tongue, attached to part of head. 
,, 8. Chrysalis. 
,, 9. Caterpillar on food-plant. 
,, 10, 11, 12. Legs, magnified. 
,, 13. Palpus, magnified. 
,, 14. Different forms of scales. 
„ 14a. Commonest form of scales. 
,, 15. Rhodocera Wallichii (Doubleday, North India). 
» 
* The large clear space from which most of the veins 
branch off. 
f In several large families of butterflies, the prolegs are 
only rudimentary. 
