THE PAINTED LADY 
147 
and white. Parallel to the outer margin is a row of four 
violet and green spots, encircled with pale yellow and black 
and resembling a miniature peacock’s eye-feather ; also a 
series of sub-marginal linear black and lilac markings. The 
neuration is outlined with white, and the whole of the ventral 
surface of the head, thorax and abdomen is white. The legs 
are pale ochreous. 
Life of Imago. Probably the normal life of this vigorous 
butterfly is from two to three months. 
Aberration. This butterfly is liable to slight aberration both 
in the pattern and ground colouring ; but striking aberrations 
are very rare. A recurrent form is occasionally found without 
the median black markings of both wings and the white 
apical spots are more 
or less confluent. This 
type is known as ab. 
inornata, Brams. 
Another form has all 
the markings enlarged 
and sometimes coales¬ 
ced, and the ground 
colour suffused with 
black scales, producing 
a phase of melanism. The Painted Lady ( Female ab. 
A very rare form has captured at Folkestone, 1872. Tring coll.). 
the ground colour a 
delicate whitish-pearl hue. Sometimes specimens occur with 
an additional white apical spot between veins 3-4, making 
six spots instead of the normal five, and corresponding exactly 
to the normal six white spots in V. aialanta . Also in ex¬ 
ceptional cases V. cardnt has a seventh spot between veins 
2-3 ; sometimes this is a small dusky dot, or a small white 
dot encircled with black, or a plain white spot ; again 
corresponding to the seventh additional white spot which is 
common in V. aialanta. This additional spotting in V. cardui 
has been previously overlooked by authors and entomologists 
generally. 
