BUTTERFLY. 
heliconia, danais, acreea, and some others; and 
have their discoidal cell sometimes open, their 
anterior legs imperfect, and their pupa smooth 
and suspended only by the tail. The lycaenide 
comprise the genera lyczena, polyommatus, thec- 
la, and some others; and have their claws mi- 
nute, their anterior legs semi-abbreviated, their 
larva onisciform, and their pupa smooth and 
braced. The hesperiide comprise the genera 
hysperia, thymele, and some others; and have 
their antenne hooked at the tips, their anterior 
legs not abbreviated, and their pupa smooth, 
braced, and folliculated. Any attempt at de- 
tailed description of so very numerous a group 
of insects, would obviously be absurd in such a 
work as ours; and we shall, therefore, do no 
more than, first, make brief general mention of a 
few of the most conspicuous British species, and 
next, take a rather closer view of several which 
inflict serious damage on vegetation. 
The common cabbage butterfly, Pontta brassice, 
is the chief of several species which are well 
| known for the ravages of their larvz in the kitchen 
garden; and two broods of it are produced every 
year, the one in spring and the other in autumn. 
—The small white garden butterfly, Pontia rape, 
is smaller than the preceding, but otherwise very 
likeit; and is often associated with it in devasta- 
tions upon garden plants of the brassica genus.— 
The green-veined white butterfly, Pontca napi, 
is also very common in gardens, and appears first 
in May, and afterwards in July—The hawthorn 
butterfly, or black-veined white butterfly, Prerzs 
crategt, appears pretty early in spring, and lays 
its eggs on the shoots of the hawthorn, on the 
leaves and twigs of the apple-tree, and on the 
young parts of other arborescent plants, princi- 
pally of the rosaceous tribe.—The meadow-brown 
butterfly, Hipparcha janira, appears about the 
beginning of June, and is probably the most 
abundant of the British species, excepting the 
common cabbage kind.—The large heath butter- 
fly, Lipparchia tithonus, is very abundant in most 
parts of England, and not unfrequent in the 
south of Scotland. These six species are the 
principal which inflict serious damage upon the 
cultivated plants of Great Britain. 
The orange-tip butterfly, Pontia cardamines, is 
somewhat common in Great Britain; and it usu- 
ally appears about the end of May, and frequents 
the borders of woods, and the hedges of districts 
which abound in trees. The male of it is very 
dissimilar from the female—The brimstone but- 
terfly, Gonopteryx rhamni, may be seen among 
hedges and coppices so early as on a sunny day 
of March, becomes more common as spring ad- 
vances,.and reappears, in a second brood, in 
August. The male is of a pure sulphur-yellow 
colour above; the female is greenish - yellow 
above, and somewhat paler below; and both 
| sexes have, in the centre of each wing, a spot of 
orange.— The pale-clouded yellow butterfly, 
Colias hyale, is rare, and occurs principally in the 
599d 
sea-board districts of Kent, Sussex, and Suffolk. 
The male is generally of a rich sulphur-yellow, 
and the female nearly white. The under wings 
have, in their centre, a large orange spot; and 
the upper wings have, near their centre, a black 
spot,—and, at their extremity, a deep black bor- | 
der, almost divided into two by a series of yel- | 
low spots. —The swallow-tail butterfly, Papzlie | 
machaon, is the largest of the British species, | 
and abounds in Egypt, Syria, and several parts | 
of the south of Europe ; yet it occurs not at all 
in Scotland, very rarely in the north of England, 
and somewhat scantily in even the south of Eng- 
land. It is never seen on the wing with us be- 
fore the beginning of June. Its expanse of wing 
is, in some instances, so great as 3} inches; its 
strength of flight is great; and the general col- 
our of its wings is black, powdered with yellow. 
and diversified by bold markings of yellow.—The 
high-flier or purple emperor, Apatura iris, is a 
splendid butterfly, but occurs only in the oak- 
woods of the south of England, and seldom ap- 
pears before the month of July. It flies with ra- 
pidity, soars over the tallest oaks, and sits down 
for repose upon the topmost boughs. Its wings 
above are dark brown, relieved by marks of white, 
and changing, in certain lights, into tinges of 
metallic purplish - blue; and the hinder wings | 
have, near their inner angle, a small black spot 
surrounded with red. Its caterpillar feeds on the 
oak, the ash, and the willow.—The wall butterfly | 
or orange argus, Hipparchia megera, is exten- 
sively diffused, and not infrequent, and appears 
from May till August. Its upper wings are dark 
orange - yellow, marbled along the edges with 
dark brown, and have near the outer angle an 
ocellated spot of white with a black ring; and | 
its lower wings have near their margin a curved | 
row of spots, and are banded on the edge with 
brown.—The great tortoise-shell butterfly, Van- | 
essa polychloros, is common in the south of Eu- | 
rope and other parts of the continent, but ap-— 
pears only in the southern districts of England, © 
and seldom before the middle of July: Its wings | 
are angulated, and frequently have an expanse 
of 2 inches; their colour above is a dark orange- | 
red, with two edgings of respectively blue and | 
black ; the upper wings have spots of black about | 
their centre, and abbreviated bands of black in | 
their front; and the lower wings have, near the | 
middle of their front margin, a large spot of | 
The caterpillar feeds principally on the | 
black. 
cherry, the elm, and the willow.—The small tor- 
toise-shell butterfly, Vanessa urtice, is one of the 
most abundant and beautiful of the British species; 
and abounds also in most parts of continental 
Kurope. It bursts into activity, in our climate, 
during fine days and streams of sunshine in Feb- 
ruary and March, and is therefore called by Lin- 
nzeus “a deceitful harbinger of spring ;” but, in 
Italy, it continues on the wing during the com- 
paratively fine days of the whole winter. It 
abounds on the nettle plant ; flits agilely and 
a 
