New illustrated natural history of the world / by Ernest Protheroe ... with 24 coloured plates (73 figures) and nearly 300 photographs direct from nature chiefly by W.S. Berridge.

  • Ernest Protheroe
Date:
[1910]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: New illustrated natural history of the world / by Ernest Protheroe ... with 24 coloured plates (73 figures) and nearly 300 photographs direct from nature chiefly by W.S. Berridge. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    572/639 (page 501)
    ]\Ioths are pointed. Once more it may be mentioned that perfect insects do not grow, and if the reader find two Butterflies similar in appearance but differing considerably in size, it may be assumed that they are not of the same genus. Only in very exceptional instances is this not the case, and it may be accepted as an axiom that a small Butterfly will not grow into a larger one. There are various Butterflies commonly known as ‘ Whites,’ which belong to the family Pieridae. The Large Garden, or Cabbage \Miite Butterfly {Pieris hrassiccB) is common throughout the British Isles. The wings are white, except for patches of black at the apex of the fore-wings, and a smaller black patch on the anterior border of each hind wing. The caterpillar is green with black tubercles, and it has a sprinkling of white hairs. It feeds on cabbage and many common garden plants. The Orange Tip [Euchloe cardamines) is a lovely delicate insect, with an orange patch at the tip of each fore-wing of the male. To many people it is the harbinger of spring as it flits about the Lady’s Smock, or Jack-in-the-Hedge. The female is less noticed, as she does not possess the orange mark- ings, but she may be distinguished easily from other small whites by the marbling of green on the undersides of her hind wings. The Clouded Yellow and Brimstone Butterflies belong to this family. The most noticeable member of the family Papilionidse is the Swallow-tailed Butterfly {Papilio machaon). The colour of its wings is black, variegated most beautifully with yellow markings, and near the extremity of each hinder wing is a circular red spot, sur- mounted by a crescent of blue, and the whole surrounded by a black ring. It flies with exceeding rapidity, nearly in a straight line, and is very difflcult to capture. In the family Nymphalidas is a vast number of species, most of which are notable for their brilliant colouring, many of them being v^ell-known natives of England. One of the finest examples of our British butterflies is the Common Peacock (yanessa id). It may be seen rather plentifully in fields, roads, or woods, and the beauty of its colouring never fails to attract admiration. The caterpillar feeds chiefly upon the stinging-nettle. Its common colour is black, studded with tiny white points. The chrysalis is one of those which hang suspended during the time of their nonage, and is frequently infested with the ichneumon-fly. The Red Admiral (F. atalanta) iis a radiant creature, whose name is probably a corruption of ‘Admirable.’ The yellowish green caterpillar may be found on mettles. The Painted Lady (F. cardui) is found as far north as Shetland. The Camberwell Beauty (F. antiopa) is always rare in the British Isles. It is strikingly handsome in appearance; its rich, velvety brown wings are margined with pale yellow and then banded with black, which contains a series of blue spots. The Tortoise-sliell Butterflies are brilliant insects, with markings not unlike those of tortoise-shell.