BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. FIGURES AND DESCRIPTIONS OF EVERT NATIVE SPECIES, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF BUTTERFLY DEVELOPMENT, STRUCTURE, HABITS, LOCALITIES, MODE OF CAPTURE AND PRESERVATION, ETC. BY W. S. COLEMAN, MEMBER OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, AUTHOR OF "OUR WOODLANDS, HEATHS, AND HEDGES." XEW EDITION. LONDON : GEOEGE KOUTLEDGE & SONS, THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE. NEW YORK: 416, BROOME STREET. BEITISH BUTTEKFLIES. BY W. S. COLEMAN. A superior Edition of this "Work, printed in the best manner, on a fine Paper, with the Illustrations printed in Colours, and bound in Cloth, is to be obtained, price 3*. 6d., or with gilt edges 4s. LONDON : K. CL^Y. PRINTER, BREAD STREET EILZ. PREFACE. A DESIRE to extend the knowledge of, and by so doing to extend the love for, those sunny creatures called Butterflies, has prompted the author to undertake this little work, which, though making no pretence to a technically scientific character, will, it is hoped, be found sufficiently complete and accurate to supply all information needful to the young entomologist as to the names, appearance^ habits, localities, &c. of all our British Butterflies, together with e general history of butterfly life the mode of capture, preservation, and arrangement in cabinets the apparatus required, &c. At the same time it is so inexpensive as to be accessible to every schoolboy. The subject is one which has formed the delight and study of the author from early boyhood, and butterfly-hunting still preserves its fascinations, redoubling the pleasure of the country ramble in summer. Should this volume be the means of inciting some to seek this source of healthful enjoyment, and to join in the peaceful study which may be so easily pursued by all dwellers in the country, it will have succeeded in its purpose. The whole of the illustrative portraits of the 'butterflies have been drawn from nature by the author, and with one exception from specimens in his own collection. At least one figure of each species (of the natural size) is given ; but in very many instances, where the sexes differ considerably from each other, both are figured, and the under sides are also frequently added. The greater number of the caterpillars and chrysalides, however, being rarely met with, the figures on the first plate are nearly all borrowed from the splendid and accurate works of Continental authors chiefly from Hubner and Duponchel. With great pleasure, the author here acknowledges his obligations for many biographical facts relating to butterflies, to those highly useful periodicals, the Zoologist and the Entomologist's Weekly In- telligencer, the former devoted to general natural history, the latter especially to entomology, and whose pages register a mass of in- teresting and original communications from correspondents, who, living in wide-spread localities, and possessing varied opportunities of observation, have gradually brought together, under able editor- ship, a store of facts that could never have come within the personal experience of any one man, however industrious and observant. The capture during the past year of a new and interesting butterfly for the first time in this country, is recorded in this volume, in which the insect is also figured and described. BAYSWATER, April, 1860. INDEX PAGE Antennae 20 Apollo Butterfly 121 Apparatus 30 Arran Brown B 121 Artaxerxes B 115 Artist and Butterfly 28 Bath White B 65 Black veined White B 58 Rl\ies,The(GenusPolyommatus) 108 Blue B., Adonis 112 Azure 109 Bedford 109 Chalk-hill Ill Common..... 112 Holly 109 Large 110 Mazarine 110 Silver-studded 113 Tailed (Bceticus) 122 Boxes . 32 Brimstone B. 50 Brown Argus B 114 Butterfly Emblems 26 hunting 30 Cabinets 42 Camberwell Beauty B 88 Caterpillar 5 Chrysalis 9 Classification 44 Clouded Sulphur B 56 Yellow B 53 Comma B 92 Copper B., Large 106 Purple-edged 121 Small 106 Eggs of B 2 Eye of B 20 Fritillary B., Dark Green 94 Duke of Burgundy 101 Glanville 98 Greasy 100 High-brown 95 Pearl-bordered 97 Pearl-border. Likeness 99 Queen of Spain 95 Silver-washed 93 Small Pearl-bordered.. 97 Weaver's (Dia) 121 Garden White B., Large 59 Small 62 Grayling 73 PAGE Green-veined White 64 Heath B., Large 75 Small 81 Hair-streak B., Black 103 Brown 102 Green 105 Purple 104 White-letter.... 103 Ichneumon 13 Imago 14 Larva *>...... 5 Latin names... 45 Legs of B 23 Marbled White B 70 Meadow Brown B 74 Nets 30 Orange Tip B 67 Pain in Insects 38 Painted Lady B 85 Pale Clouded Yellow B 56 Peacock B 87 Purple Emperor B 83 Red Admiral B 87 Reputed British Species 120 Ringlet B., Common 76 Mountain 78 Small 80 Scotch Argus B 77 Skippers (Family Hesperidce) 116 Skipper B., Chequered 117 Dingy 117 Grizzled 116 Large 119 Lulworth 118 Small 119 Silver-spotted 119 Speckled Wood B 72 Swallow-tail B 47 Scarce 120 Tongue of B 19 Tortoiseshell B., Large 90 Small 91 WallB 72 White Admiral B 82 Wings of B 15 Wood Argus B 72 Wood White B 69 BKITISH BUTTERFLIES. CHAPTEE I. INTRODUCTION. WHAT IS A BUTTERFLY BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS BUTTERFLY- LIFE THE EGG STAGE SCULPTURED CRADLES BUTTERFLY BOTANY THE CATERPILLAR STAGE FEEDING UP COAT CHANG- ING FORMS OF CATERPILLARS THE CHRYSALIS MEANING OF PUPA, CHRYSALIS, AND AURELIA FORMS OF CHRYSALIDES DIFFICULTIES OF TRANSFORMATION INFLUENCE OF TEMPERA- TURE. OCCASIONALLY a missive arrives from some benevolent friend, announcing the capture of a "splendid butterfly," which, imprisoned under a tumbler, awaits one's accept- ance as an addition to the cabinet. However, on going to claim the proffered prize, the expected "butterfly" turns out to be some bright-coloured moth (a Tiger moth being the favourite victim of the misnomer), and one's entomological propriety suffers a shock ; not so much feeling the loss of the specimen, as concern for the benighted state of an otherwise intelligent friend's mind with regard to insect nomenclature. It is clearly therefore not so superfluous as it might at first otherwise seem, to commence the subject by defining even such a familiar object as a butterfly, and more especially distinguishing it with certainty from a moth, the only other creature with which it can well be confounded- 2 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. The usual notion of a butterfly is of a gay fluttering thing, whose broad painted wings are covered with a mealy stuff that conies off with handling. This is all very well for a general idea, but the characters that form it are common to some other insects besides but- terflies. Moths and hawk-moths have mealy wings, and are often gaily coloured too ; whilst, on the other hand, some butterflies are as dusky and plain as pos- sible. Thus the crimson-winged Tiger, and Cinnabar moths get the name of butterflies, and the Meadow brown butterfly is as sure to be called a moth. So, as neither colouring nor mealy wings furnish us with the required definition, we must find some concise combina- tion of characters that will answer the purpose. But- terflies, then, are insects with mealy wings, and whose horns (called "antenna?") have a clubbed or thickened tip, giving them more or less resemblance to a drum-stick. So the difference in the shape of the antennae is the chief outward mark of distinction between butterflies and moths, the latter having antennae of various shapes, threadlike or featherlike, but never clubbed at the tip. Having thus settled how a butterfly is to be recog- nized at sight, let us see what butterfly life is ; how the creature lives, and has lived, in the stages preceding its present airy form. In like manner with other insects, all butterflies com- mence their existence enclosed in minute eggs; and these eggs, as if shadowing forth the beauty yet undeveloped whose germ they contain, are themselves such curi- ously beautiful objects, that they must not be passed over without admiring notice. It seems, indeeol, as if nature determined that the ornamental character of the butterfly should commence with its earliest stage ; form, and not colour, being employed in its decoration, sculpture being here made the forerunner of painting. Some of these forms are roughly shown on Plate II. (figs. 1 7), but highly magnified; for as these eggs are really very tiny structures, such as would fall easily through a pin-hole, the aid of a microscope is of course BUTTERFLY CRADLES. 3 necessary to render visible the delicate sculpture that adorns their surface. The egg (fig. 1, Plate II.) of the common Garden white butterfly (Pieris Brassicce) is among the most graceful and interesting of these forms, and also the most easily obtained. It reminds us of some antique vessel, ribbed and fluted with consummate elegance and regularity. Others such as those of the Large Heath butterfly (fig. 3), and the Queen of Spain Fritillary (fig. 2), simu- late curious wicker-work baskets. The Peacock butter- fly has an egg like a polygonal jar (fig. 4), while that of its near ally, the large Tortoise-shell (fig. 5), is simply pear-shaped, with the surface unsculptured and smooth (fig. 5). The eggs of the Meadow Brown (fig. 6), and the Wood Argus (fig. 7), are globular the former with lines on its surface like the meridian lines on a geogra- phical globe, and a pretty scalloping at the top that gives a flower-like appearance to that portion; the latter has the whole surface honey- combed with a net- work of hexagonal cells. Such are a few of the devices that ornament the earliest cradle of the butterfly ; but probably those of every species would well repay their examination to any one who possesses a microscope. Prompted by a most remarkable instinct, and one that could not have originated in any experience of personal advantage, the female butterfly, when seeking a depository for her eggs, selects with unerring cer- tainty the very plant which, of all others, is best fitted for the support of her offspring, who, when hatched, find themselves surrounded with an abundant store . of their proper food. Many a young botanist would be puzzled at first sight to tell a sloe-bush from a buckthorn-bush. Not so, however, with our Brimstone butterfly : passing by all the juicy hedge-plants, which look quite as suitable, one would think, she, with botanical acumen, fixes upon the buckthorn ; either the common one, or, if that is not at hand, upon another species of rhamnus the berry-bearing alder which, though a very different B2 4 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. looking plant, is of the same genus, and shares the same properties. She evidently works out the natural system of botany, and might have been a pupil of Jussieu, had she not been tutored by a far higher AUTHORITY. This display of instinct would seem far less wonderful did the mother butterfly herself feed on the plant she commits her eggs to. In that case, her choice might have appeared as the result of personal experience of some peculiar benefit or pleasure derived from the plant, and then this sentiment might have become hereditary ; just as, for example, the acquired taste for game is hereditary with sporting dogs. Whereas the fact is, that a butterfly only occasionally, and as a matter of accident rather than rule, derives her own nectareous food from the flowers of the plant, whose leaves nourish her caterpillar progeny. So that this, as well as num- berless other phenomena of instinct, remains a mystery to be admired, but not explained by any ordinary rule of cause and effect. Having thus efficiently provided, as far as board and lodging are concerned, for the welfare of the future brood, the mother seems to consider them settled for life, takes no further care of them, nor even awaits the opening of the sculptured caskets that contain their tiny life-germs ; but, trusting them to the sun's warmth for their hatching, and then to their own hungry little instincts to teach them good use of the food placed within their reach, she sees them no more. But though abandoning her offspring to fate in this manner, it must not be imagined that the butterfly mother takes her pattern of maternity from certain human mothers, and in a round of " butterfly's balls," and such like dissipations, forgets the sacred claims of the nursery. No, she has far other and better excuses for absenting herself from her family ; one of which is, that she usually dies before the latter are hatched ; and if that is not enough, that the young can get on quite as well without her ; for probably she could not teach THE CATERPILLAR. 5 them much about caterpillar economics, unless, indeed, she remembered her own infantile habits of lang syne, so totally different from those of her perfected butterfly life. The space of time passed in the egg state varies much according to the temperature from a few days when laid in genial summer weather, to several months in the case of those laid in the autumn, and which remain quiescent during the winter, to hatch, out in the spring. The eggs of butterflies, in common with those of insects in general, are capable of resisting not only vicissitudes, but extremes of temperature that would be surely destructive of life in most other forms. The severest cold of an English winter will not kill the tender butterfly eggs, whose small internal spark of vitality is enough to keep them from freezing under a much greater degree of cold than they are ever sub- jected to in a state of nature. For example, they have been placed in an artificial freezing mixture, which brought down the thermometer to 22 below zero a deadly chill and yet they survived with apparent impunity, and afterwards lived to hatch, duly. Then as to their heat-resisting powers, some tropical insects habitually lay their eggs in sandy, sun-scorched places, where the hand cannot endure to remain a few mo> meiits ; the heat rising daily to somewhere about 190 of the thermometer and we know what a roasting one gets at 90* or so. Yet they thrive through all this. For a short time previous to hatching, the form and colour of the caterpillar is faintly discoverable through the semi-transparent egg-shell. The juvenile CATERPILLAR, or LARVA, gnaws his way through the shell into the world, and makes his appearance in the shape of a slender worm, exceedingly minute of course, and bearing few of the distinctive marks of his species, either as to shape or colouring. On find- ing himself at liberty, in the midst of plentiful good cheer, he at once falls vigorously to work at the great 6 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. business of his life eating; often making his first meal oddly enough off the egg-shell, lately his cradle. This singular relish, or digestive pill, swallowed, he addresses himself to the food that is to form the staple fare during the whole of his caterpillar existence viz. the leaves of his food-plant, which at the same time is his home-plant too. At this stage his growth is marvellously rapid, and few creatures can equal him in the capacity for doubling his weight not even the starved lodging-house "slavey," when she gets to her new place, with carte blanche allowance and the key of the pantry; for, in the course of twenty-four hours, he will have consumed more than twice his own weight of food : and with such persevering avidity does he ply his pleasant task, that, as it is stated, a caterpillar in the course of one month has increased nearly ten thousand times his original weight on leaving the egg ; and, to furnish this increase of substance, has consumed the prodigious quantity of forty thousand times his weight of food truly, a ruinous rate of living, only that green leaves are so cheap. But the life of a caterpillar, after all, is not merely the smooth continual feast he would doubtless prefer it to be ; it is interrupted, several times in its course, by the necessity nature has imposed upon him of now and then changing his coat to him a very troublesome, if not a painful affair. For some time previous to this phenomenon, even eating is nearly or quite suspended, the caterpillar becomes sluggish and shy, creeping away into some more secluded spot, and there remaining till his time of trouble is over. Various twitchings and contortions of the body now testify to the mal-aise of the creature in his old coat, which, though formed of a material capable of a moderate amount of stretching, soon becomes out- grown, and most uncomfortably tight-fitting, with such a quick-growing person inside it : so off it must come ; but it being unprovided with buttons, there's the rub. However, with a great deal of fidgeting and shoulder- CHANGING COATS. 7 shrugging, he manages to tear his coat down the back, and lastly, "by patient efforts, shuffles off the old rag ; when, lo ! underneath is a lustrous new garment, some- what similar, but not exactly a copy of the last, for our beau has his peculiar dress for each epoch of his life, the most splendid being often reserved for the last. This change of dress ("moulting," it is sometimes called) is repeated thrice at least in the creature's life, but more generally five or six times. Not only does the outer husk come off at these times, but, wonderful to relate ! the lining membrane of all the digestive pas- sages, and of the larger breathing tubes, is cast off and renewed also. After each moult> the caterpillar makes up for his loss of time by eating more voraciously even than before, in many instances breaking his fast by making a meal of his " old clo' " an odd taste, first evinced, as we have seen, in earliest infancy, when he swallowed his cradle. On Plate I. are shown the chief varieties of form taken by the caterpillars of our British butterflies, and a glance at these will give, better than verbal descriptions, a general idea of their characteristics. Their most usual shape is elongated and almost cylindrical, or slightly tapering at one or both ends. Of these, some are smooth, or only studded with short down or hairs ; such are the caterpillars of the Swallow- tail butterfly (fig. 1), of the Brimstone (fig. 2), Clouded Yellows, and Garden, and other white butterflies. Others, of the same general form, are beset with long branched spines, making perfect chevaux-de-frise; such are those of the Peacock, Eed Admiral, Painted Lady, and the Silvery Iritillaries. The caterpillars of another large section have the body considerably thicker in the middle (rolling-pin shaped), and the tail part two-forked, or bifurcate. This form belongs to the numerous family that includes the Meadow-brown (fig. 3), &e Kinglets, and many others. 8 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. The bizarre personage, at fig. 4, turns to the graceful White Admiral butterfly. The Purple Emperor begins his royal career in the curious form shown at fig. 5 a shape unique among British butterflies, as beseems that of their sovereign ; and he carries a coronet on his brow already. All those beautiful little butterflies called the Hair- streaks (fig. 9), the Blues (fig. 10), and the Coppers, have very short and fat caterpillars, that remind one forcibly of wood-lice a shape shared also by that small butterfly with a Big name, the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary (fig. 8), an insect very distinct from the Fritil- laries above mentioned with thorny caterpillars. The legs of a caterpillar are usually sixteen in num- ber, and composed of two distinct kinds, viz. of six true legs, answering to those of the perfect insect, and placed on the foremost segments of the body ; and of ten others, called "prolegs;" temporary legs, used princi- pally for strengthening the creature's hold upon leaf or branch. Like the rest of its body, the caterpillar's head widely differs in structure from that of the perfect insect, being furnished with a pair of jaws, horny and strong, befit- ting the heavy work they have to get through, and shaped like pincers, opening and shutting from side to side, instead of working up and down after the manner of the jaws in vertebrate animals. This arrangement offers great convenience to the creature, feeding, as it is wont to do, on the thin edge of a leaf. It is a curious sight to watch a caterpillar thus engaged. Adhering by his close-clinging prolegs, and guiding the edge of the leaf between his forelegs, he stretches out his head as far as he can reach, and commences a series of rapid bites, at each nibble bringing the head nearer the legs, till they almost meet; then stretching out again the same regular set of mouthfuls is abstracted, and so on, repeating the process till a large semi-circular indenta- tion is formed, reaching perhaps to the midrib of the leaf ; then shifting his position to a new vantage ground, THE CHRYSALIS. 9 the marauder recommences operations, another sweep is taken out, then another, and soon the leaf is left a mere skeleton. But a change, far moro important than mere skin- shifting, follows close upon the animal's caterpillar- maturity, complete as soon as it ceases to grow. The form and habits of a worm are to be exchanged for the glories and pleasures of winged life ; but this can only be done at the price of passing through an intermediate state ; one neither of eating, nor of flying, but motionless, helpless and death-like. This is called the CHRYSALIS or PUPA state. Pupa is a Latin word, signifying a creature swathed, or tied up ; and is applied to this stage of all insects, because all, or some, of their parts are then bound up, as if swathed. The term Chrysalis is applicable to butterflies only, and, strictly, only to a few of these Chrysalis 1 being derived from the Greek ^pvcrog (chrysos), gold in allusion to the splendid gilding of the surface in certain species, such as the Vanessas, Fritillaries, and some others. In the older works on entomology we frequently meet with the term Aurelia applied to this state, and having the same meaning as chrysalis, but derived from the Latin word Aurum, gold. Here the reader is again referred to Plate I. for a series of the principal forms assumed by the chrysalides of our native butterflies, and as these for the most part represent the next stage of the caterpillars previously figured, an opportunity is afforded of tracing the insect's form through its three great changes; the whole of the butterflies in their perfect state being given in their proper places in the body of the work. The complicated and curious processes by which various caterpillars assume the chrysalis form, and suspend themselves securely in their proper attitudes, 1 Plural Chrysalides. 10 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. have been most accurately and laboriously chronicled by the French naturalist, Keaumur ; but his memoirs on the subject, which have been frequently quoted into the larger entomological works, are too long for inser- tion here in full, and any considerable abbreviation would fail to convey a clear idea of the process, on account of the intricacy of the operations described. So I can only here allude to the difficult problems that the creature has to solve, referring the reader to the above-mentioned works for a detailed description of the manner of doing so ; or, better still, I would recommend the country resident to witness all this with his own eyes. By keeping a number of the caterpillars of our common butterflies, feeding them up, and attentively watching them when full-grown, he will now and thei; detect one in the transformation act, and have an oppor- tunity of wondering at the curious manoeuvres of the animal, as it triumphs over seeming impossibilities. By reference to the figures of chrysalides on Plate I. it will be seen that there are two distinct modes of sus- pension employed among them ; one, by the tail only, the head hanging down freely in the air : in the other, the tail is attached to the supporting object ; but the head, instead of swinging loosely, is kept in an upright position by being looped round the waist with a silken girdle. To appreciate the difficulty of gaining either of the above positions, we must bear in mind that, before doing so, the caterpillar has to throw off its own skin, carrying with it the whole of its legs, and the jaws too leaving itself a mere limbless, and apparently help- less mass its only prehensile organs being a few minute, almost imperceptible hooks on the end of the tail; and the required position of attachment and security is accomplished by a series of movements so dexterous and sleight-of-hand like, as to cause infinite astonishment to the looker-on, and, as Eeaumur justly observes, " It is impossible not to wonder, that an insect, which executes them but cnce in its life, should EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE. 11 execute them so well. We must necessarily conclude that it has been instructed by a GREAT MASTER; for He who has rendered it necessary for the insect to undergo this change, has likewise given it all the requisite means for accomplishing it in safety," If we examine a chrysalis we are able to make out, through the thin envelopej all the external organs of the body stowed away in the most orderly and compact manner. The antennae are very conspicuous, folded down alongside of the legs ; and precisely in the centre will be seen the tongue, unrolled and form ing a straight line between the legs. The unexpanded wings are visible on each side very small, but with all their veinings distinctly seen ; and the breathing holes, called spiracles, are placed in a row on each side of the body. The duration of the chrysalis stage, like that of the egg, is extremely variable, and dependent on difference of temperature. As an instance of this, one of our common butterflies has been known to pass only seven or eight days in the chrysalis state ; this would be in the heat of summer. Then, in the spring, the change occupies a fortnight; but when the caterpillar enters- the chrysalis state in the autumn, the butterfly does not make its appearance till the following spring. Furthermore, it has been proved by experiment, that if the condition of perpetual winter be kept up by keep- ing the chrysalis in an icehouse, its development may be retarded for two or three years beyond its proper time; while, on the other hand, if in the middle of winter tha chrysalis be removed to a hothouse, the en- closed butterfly, mistaking the vivifying warmth for returning summer, makes its debut in ten days or a fortnight. 12 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. CHAPTER II. " COMING OUT " ICHNEUMONS THE BUTTERFLY PERFECTED ITS WINGS LEPIDOPTERA MEANING OF THE WORD MICRO- SCOPIC VIEW NEW BEAUTIES MAGNIFIED " DUST " THE HEAD AND ITS ORGANS THE TONGUE THE EYES THE ANTENNAE THEIR USES INSECT CLAIRVOYANCE AN UNKNOWN SENSE FORMS OF ANTENNA THE LEGS. WE now arrive at the last stage, the consummation of all this strange series of transformations ; for veritable transformations they are to all intents and purposes ; though some learned naturalists have discovered or imagined so that the butterfly, in all its parts, really lies hid under the caterpillar's skin, and can be distin- guished under microscopical dissection ; and that, there- fore, the so-called transformations are merely the throw- ing off of the various envelopes or husks, as they become in turn superfluous, as a mountebank strips oif garment after garment, till lastly the sparlding harlequin is discovered to view ; or, in more exact language, they consider these changes in the light rather of successive developments and emancipations of the various organs than as their actual transformations. Still, it seems to me, the difference is chiefly one of terms. The real wondrous fact remains undiminished and unex- plained ; that a creeping wormlike creature, in process of time, is changed into a glorious winged being, differ- ing from the former in form, habits, food, and every essential particular, as widely as any two creatures can well differ, as widely as a serpent from a bird, for instance. As the imprisoned butterfly approaches maturity, a change is observable in the exterior of the chrysalis, the skin becomes dry and brittle, usually darkens IP "COMING OUT" THE BDTTEE^L^. 13 colour, and if the enclosed butterfly be a strongly marked one, the pattern of its wings shows through, often quite distinctly. When the fulness of time arrives, the creature breaks through its thin casings, which divide in several places, and the freed insect crawls up into some convenient spot to dry itself, and allow the wings to expand. All the organs are at first moist and tender, but on exposure to the air soon acquire strength and firmness. At the moment of emergence, the wings are very miniature affairs, sometimes hardly one-twentieth of their full size when expanded ; but so rapid is their increase in volume, that they may actually be seen to grow, as the fluids from the body are pumped into the nervures that support the wing-membrane, and keep it extended. In the more strongly marked, or richly coloured species, it is a wonderfully beautiful sight to watch this expansion of the wings, and to see the various features of their painted devices growing under the eye and de- veloping gradually into their true proportions. Generally within an hour the development is com- plete, and the wings, having gained their full expanse and consistency by drying in the sun, are ready for flight, and the glad creature wings his way to the fields of air, and enters on that Jife of sunshine and hilarity which is associated with the very name of "Butterfly" But not every chrysalis arrives at this happy consum- mation of its existence. Supposing that you have reared and watched a caterpillar to apparently healthy maturity, that it has duly become a chrysalis, and you are awaiting its appearance in butterfly splendour peeping into your box some morning to see if the bright expected one is " out, ;; be not surprised if in its stead you find the box tenanted by a swarm of little black flies an impish-looking crew. Whence came all these ? Why they and the empty chrysalis shell are all that remains of your cherished prize ; so look no more for the fair sunny butterfly, devoured ere born by 14 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. that ill-favoured troop of darklings who have just now issued from the lifeless shell. The truth is, that long since, perhaps in early larva- hood, the creature's fate was sealed ; a deadly enemy to his race is ever on the alert, winging about in the shape of a small black fly, in search of an exposed and de- fenceless caterpillar. Having selected her victim, she pierces his body with a sharp cutting instrument she is armed with, and in the wound deposits an egg; the caterpillar winces a little at this treatment, but seems to attach little importance to it. Meanwhile his enemy repeats her thrusts till some thirty or forty eggs, germs of the destroyers, are safely lodged in his body, and his doom is certain beyond hope. The eggs quickly hatch into grubs, who begin to gnaw away at the unhappy creature's flesh, thus reducing him gradually, but by a profound instinct keeping clear of all the vital organs, as if knowing full well that the creature must keep on feeding and digesting too, or their own supply would speedily fail ; as usurers, while draining a client, keep up his credit with the world as long as they can. Weaker grows the caterpillar as the gnawing worms within grow stronger and nearer maturity. Sometimes he dies a caterpillar, sometimes he has strength left to take the chrysalis shape, but out of this he never comes a butterfly the consuming grubs now finish vitals and all, turn to pupae in his empty skin, and come out soon, black flies like their parent. But, supposing that it has escaped this great danger, we now see the creature in its completest form, as the IMAGO, OR PERFECT BUTTERFLY. The first term, Imago, is a Latin one, merely signify- ing an image, or distinct unveiled form; as distin- guished from the previous larva, or masked state, and the pupa, or swathed and enveloped state. The word imago then, in works on entomology, always means the perfect and last stage of insect life, and is applied to all insects with wings for it must be borne in mind that BUTTERFLY WINGS. 15 no insect is ever winged till it reaches the last stage of its existence. If the progressive development of these lovely beings is so marvellous, no less so is their structure when perfected, and of this some general description must now be attempted. In contemplating a butterfly, one feels that the mind is first engaged by that ample spread, and exquisite painting of the wings that form the creature's glory ; let therefore these remarkable organs have our first attention. Wherein do these wings chiefly differ from all other insect wings ? Certainly in being covered thickly with a variously coloured powdery material, easily removed by handling. This apparent dust is composed, in reality, of a vast number of regularly and beautifully formed scales feathers they are sometimes called, but they are more comparable to fish scales than to any other kind of natural covering. The general term Lepidoptera, applied to all butterflies and moths, is derived from these scaly-wings ; Lepis l being the Greek for a scale, and ptera meaning wings in the same lan- guage. The use of a tolerably powerful pocket lens will af- ford some insight into the exquisite mode of painting employed in these matchless pieces of decoration ; but the possessor of a regular microscope may, by applying it to some of our commonest butterflies, open for himself a world of beauty, and feast his eyes on a combination of refined sculpture with splendour of colouring ; now melting in softest harmony, then relieved by boldest contrast a spectacle, the first sight of which seldom fails to call forth expressions of wonderment and warm delight ; and, truly, little to be envied is the mind un- touched by such utter beauty as here displayed. As an example of the method by which this ad- mirable effect is produced, let us take a small portion of 1 Making Lepidos in genitive. 16 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. the wing of the Peacock, a very beautiful, though an abundant species, and one admirably adapted for microscopic examination, and to illustrate the subject, from the great variety of rich tints brought together in a small space, the part selected being the eye-like spot at the outer corner of each upper wing. Even to the naked eye this appears as a very splendidly coloured object, yet but little of its exquisite mechanism can be discovered by the unassisted organ. Something more is brought out by a moderately strong lens : we then see the colours disposed in rows, reminding us of the surface of Brussels carpet, or of certain kinds of tapestry work. Now let us place the wing on the stage of a good microscope, with the root of the wing pointing towards the light (that is the best position for it) ; we shall then first perceive that the whole surface is covered, or, so to speak, tiled over with distinct, sharply cut scales, arranged as in fig. 16, Plate II., with the outer or free edges of one row overlapping the roots of the next. These roots being all planted towards the base of the wing, if we place that end next the light (as above directed), the free edges of the scales throw a strong shadow on the next row, which brings out the imbricated effect most strikingly. Beginning our observations at the outer edge of the wing, we first notice a delicate fringe of scales or plumes, more elongated and pointed than the surface scales, and of a quiet brown colour. This tint is continued inwards for a short space, gradually lightening, when (as we shift the field of view towards the centre of the wing) the colour of the scales suddenly changes to an intense black ; then a little further, and the black ground is all spangled with glittering sapphires, then strewed deep with amethyst round a heap of whitest pearls. Golden topaz (jewels only will furnish apt terms of comparison for these insect gems) golden topaz ends the bright many-coloured crescent, and in the centre is enclosed a spot of profoundest black, gradating into a rich un- BUTTERFLY PAINTING. 17 nameable red, whose velvet depth and softness contrast deliciously with the adjacent flashing lustre; then comes another field of velvet black, then more gold, and so on till the gorgeous picture is complete. Subject a piece of finest human painting to the scru- tiny of a strong magnifying glass, and where is the beauty thereof 1 Far from being magnified, it will have wholly vanished : its cleverest touches turned to coarse, repulsive daubs and stains. NOMV, bring the microscope's most searching powers to bear upon the painting of an insect's wing, and we find only pictures within pictures as the powers in- crease ; the very pigments used turn out to be jewels, not rough uncut stones, but cut and graven gems, bedded in softest velvet. If by gentle rubbing with the finger-tip the scales be removed from both sides of the wing (for each side is scale-covered, though generally with a very different pattern), there remains a transparent membrane like that of a bee's or fly's wing, tight stretched between stiff branching veins, but bearing no vestige of its late gay painting, thus showing that the whole of the colour- ing resides in the scales, the places occupied by the roots of the latter being marked by rows of dots. Hitherto we have been looking at these scales as the component parts of a picture, like the tesserae of mosaic work ; but they are no less interesting as individual objects, when viewed microscopically. To do this, deli- cately rub off a little of the dust or scales with the finger ; then take a slip of glaSs, and pressing the finger with the adhering dust upon it, the latter will come off and remain on the glass, which is then to be placed under the microscope. These scales may be treated either as opaque or transparent objects, and in both conditions display exceeding beauty, some of these single atoms showing, by aid of the microscope, as much complexity of structure as the whole wing does to the unassisted vision. A few of the highly varied forms they present are 18 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. shown on Plate II. Figs. 23 to 38 are selected from among the commoner forms, as seen by a comparatively low power. The small stalk-like appendage is the part by which the scale is affixed to the wing : it may be called the root. Figs. 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, show some very remarkable forms, which are, so far as has been ascertained, peculiar to butterflies of the male sex, though the use or reason of this masculine badge, only visible to highly magnifying optics, is neither known nor probably to be known at present ; but singularly beautiful and curious they are to look at. The little balls at the end of threads are the root portion, and fit into cup-like sockets, placed here and there among the ordinary scales. The surface of these scales is. beauti- fully ribbed and cross-ribbed, and at the upper end is a plume-like tuft of delicate filaments. The curious scale aptly called, from its shape, the Battledore scale, and shown at fig. 22, also belongs to the male of various butterflies, especially those pretty little ones known as the "Blues." Its surface is most curiously ornamented with rows of bead-like prominences. Probably one would imagine that in such wee specks as are these scales, one single layer of substance would suffice for their whole thickness (if we can talk of thick- ness, with objects almost immeasurable in their thin- ness). But such is not the case, for when scales have been injured by rubbing we now and then find a part with the sculptured surfaces torn off on each side, showing a plain central layer, so that at least three layers two ornamented and one plain go to form a filmy body, only a small fraction of the thickness of paper. But there are other portions of a butterfly to claim our interest besides its wondrous wings. On the creature's head are grouped together some most beautiful and important organs. The most pecu- liar of these is the long spiral "sucker," which extracts the honied food from the blossoms to which its wings so gracefully waft it. This organ is shown, slightly magnified, THE HONEY-SUCKER. 19 at fig. 8, Plate II., and a most delicate piece of animal mechanism it is. Any human workman would, to a certainty, be not only puzzled, but thoroughly beaten, in an attempt to construct a tube little thicker than a horse-hair, yet composed throughout its length of two distinct pieces, capable of being separated at pleasure, and then joined again so as to form an air-tight tube. This redoubtable problem, however, is solved in the construction of this curious little instrument that every butterfly carries. The junction of the two grooved surfaces that form the tube is effected by the same contrivance that re- unites the web of a feather when it has been pulled apart. We all know how completely it is made whole again, and on examining by what means this result is brought about, we find that it is by the interlacing of a number of small fibres or hairs, just as, on a larger scale, a pair of brushes adhere when pressed face to face ; and so in the butterfly's sucker, the two edges that join to form the tube are closely set with minute bristles that, when brought together, interlock so closely as to make an air-tight surface. Fig. 9, Plate II., is a transverse section taken near the base of the sucker, the small opening at the top being the food passage, those at the side the air-tubes that supply air for respiration and perhaps assist in suction. The tube is probably made with separable parts in order that if its interior should become at any time clogged by grosser particles drawn up with the flower nectar, it may be opened and cleansed by the insect; otherwise, the tube once rendered impassable, the insect would speedily starve, as this narrow channel is the only inlet for the creature's nourishment its only mouth, in fact, for no butterfly possesses jaws tor bite with, or can take any but the liquid food pumped up by suction through this pipe. At the end of the proboscis or. as it is called scien c2 20 BEITISH BUTTERFLIES. tifically, the Haustellum 1 there are visible in some butterflies a number of small projections, of the form shown at fig. 10, Plate II., which is a highly magnified figure of the end of the Eed Admiral's proboscis. These appendages are generally supposed to be organs of taste, and to aid in the discrimination of food when the pipe is unrolled and thrust down deep into the nectary of a flower. The compound eye of a butterfly, wonderful as its structure is, does not greatly differ from that of many other insects, being like them composed of an immense number of little lenses set together to form a hemisphere large in comparison with the insect's head. A portion of one of these eyes forms a pretty and interesting object for the microscope, presenting a honey-comb ap- pearance, the hexagonal lines that mark the division of the lenses being most beautifully geometrical and regu- lar in their arrangement. More than seventeen hundred of these lenses* have been counted in a single eye, and each of these is considered to possess the qualities of a complete and independent eye. If this be true, the butterfly may be said to be endowed with at least thirty-four thousand eyes ! There exist also, as in other insects, two simple eyes, placed on the top of the head, but so buried in down and scales as to be neither visible, nor useful for vision, as far as we can perceive ; probably the creature finds that his allowance of thirty-four thousand windows to his soul lets in as much light as he requires. Every one looking at a butterfly must have remarked its long horns, called antennae? which project from above the eyes, like jointed threads, thickening in some species gradually, in others suddenly into a club or knob at the extremity ; a peculiarity which, it will be remembered, was pointed out at the commencement, as 1 A word deriyed from the Latin, and meaning literally a "sucker." 2 Antenna, in the singular number. FUNCTIONS OF ANTENNA. 21 a prominent mark of distinction between butterflies and moths. Very graceful appendages are these waving antennce, and evidently of high importance to their owner ; but still, their exact office or function is unknown, notwith- standing that many guesses and experiments have been made with a view of settling that question. Investigators have perhaps erred, by assuming at the outset that these antennse must be organs of some sense that we ourselves possess ; whereas, I think that there is much evidence to show that insects are gifted with a certain subtle sense, for which we have no name, and of which we can have as little real idea, as we could have had of the faculty of sight, had all the world been born blind. For example ; if you breed from the chrysalis a female Kentish Glory Moth, and then immediately take her in a closed box, mind out into her native woods, within a short space of time an actual crowd of male " Glories " come and fasten upon, or hover over, the prison-house of the coveted maiden. Without this magic attraction, you might walk in these same woods for a whole day and not see a single specimen, the Kentish Glory being generally reputed a very rare moth ; while as many as some 120 males have been thus decoyed to theii capture in a few hours, by the charms of a couple of lady "Glories," shut up in a box. Now, which of our five senses, I would ask even if developed into extraordinary acuteness in the insect would account for such an exhibition of clairvoyance a', this ? May not, then, this undiscovered sense, whatever may be its nature, reside in the antennae 1 for it is a remarkable fact, that the very moths, such as the Eggers, the Emperor, the Kentish Glory, &c., which display the above-mentioned phenomenon most signally, have the antennae, in the males amplified with numerous Spreading branches, so as to present an unusually large S BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. sensitive surface, This seems to point to some con- nexion between those organs and the faculty of dis- covering the presence, and even the condition, of one of their own race, with more, perhaps, than a mile of distance, and the sides of a wooden box, intervening between themselves and their object. Whilst writing this, the current number of the " Entomologist's AVeeldy Intelligencer " has arrived, and I there read that Dr. Glenimens, an American naturalist, has been lately experimenting on the an- tennae of some large American moths, for the purpose of gaining some information as to their function. The article, though very interesting, is too long for quotation here ; but it appears that with the moths in question, a deprivation of the whole, or even part of the antennas, interferes with, or entirely annihilates the power of flight, so that the creature when thus shorn, but not otherwise injured, if thrown into the air seems to have no idea of using his wings properly, but with a purposeless flutter tumbles headlong to the earth. Still this merely goes to prove that the antennae are the in- struments of some important sense, one of whose uses is to guide the creature's flight ; but as many wingless insects have large antennae, this evidently is not their only function. The antennae are also often styled the "feelers ;' ; but with our present incomplete knowledge of their nature, the former term is preferable, as it does not attempt to define their use as the word " feelers " does. Considerable variety of form exists in the clubbed tip of the antennae in various butterflies, as will be seen by reference to Plate II., where three of the most dis- tinct forms are shown considerably magnified. Fig. 12 is the upper part of the antenna of the High-brown Fritillary (Argynnis Adippe), the end suddenly swelling into a distinct knob. Tig. 13 is that of the Swallow- tail Butterfly (Papilio Machaon), the enlargment here being more gradual ; and fig. 1 4 is that of the Large Skipper Butterfly (Pamphila Sylvanus), distinguished LEGS. %'6 by the curved point that surmounts the club. These differences in the forms of the antennae are found to be excellent aids in the classification of butterflies, and I shall therefore have occasion to refer to them more minutely in describing the insects in detail. The stems of these organs are found to be tubular, and at the point of junction with the head the base is spread out (as shown at fig. 15), forming what engineers call a " flange," to afford sufficient support for the long column above. The legs are the last portions of the butterfly frame- work that require especial notice, on account of a peculiar variation they are subject to in different family groups. It may be laid down as an axiom, that all true in- sects have six legs, in one shape or another ; and butter- flies, being insects, are obedient to the same universal rule, and duly grow their half-dozen legs ; but in certain tribes the front pair, for no apparent reason, are so short and imperfect as to be totally useless for walking pur- poses, though they may possibly be used as hands for polishing up the proboscis, &c. So the butterfly in this case afipears, to a hasty observer, to have only four legs. This peculiarity is a constant feature in several natural groups of butterflies, and therefore, in conjunction with other marks, such as the veining of the wings and the shape of the antennae, its presence or absence is a most useful mark of distinction, in classifying or searching out the name and systematic place of a butterfly. 24 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. CHAPTEE III. WHAT BUTTERFLIES NEVER DO GROUNDLESS TERROR A MISTAKE USES OF BUTTERFLIES MORAL OF BUTTERFLY LIFE PSYCHE THE BUTTERFLY AN EMBLEM OF THE SOUL THE ARTIST AND THE BUTTERFLY. AMONG the negative attributes of butterflies, I may state positively, that no butterfly whatever can either sting or bite in the least degree; and from their total harmlessness to- wards the person of man, conjoined with their outward attractiveness, they merit and enjoy an exemption from those feelings of dread and disgust that attach to many, or, I may say, to almost all other tribes of insects ; even to their equally harmless near relatives the larger moths. At least, it has never been my misfortune to meet with a person weak-minded enough to be afraid of a butter- fly, though I have seen some exhibit symptoms of the greatest terror at the proximity of a large Hawk-moth, and some of the thick-bodied common moths " Match- owlets," the country folk call them. Once, also, I listened to the grave recital by a classical scholar too of a murderous onslaught made by a Privet Hawk-moth on the neck of a lady, and how it " bit a piece clean out" Of course I attempted to prove, by what seemed to me very fair logic, that the moth, having neither teeth nor even any mouth capable of opening, but only a weak hollow tongue to suck honey through, was utterly incapable of biting or in- flicting any wound what/ever. But, as is usual in such cases, my entomological theory went for nothing in face of the gentleman's knock-down battery of facts ocular tacts : he had seen the moth, and he had seen the wound: WHAT BUTTERFLIES ARE GOOD FOR. 25 surely, there was proof enough for me, or any one else. So, I suppose, he steadfastly believes to this day, that the moth was a truculent, bloodthirsty monster; whilst I still presume to believe, that if any wound was caused at the moment in question, it was by the nails of the lady attacked, or her friends, in clutching frantically at the terrific intruder ; who, poor fellow, might have been pardoned for mistaking the fair neck for one of his favourite flowers (a lily, perhaps), while the utmost harm he contemplated was to pilfer a sip of nectar from the lips he doubtless 'took for rosebuds. Utilitarians may, perhaps, inquire the uses of butter- flies what they do, make, or can be sold for ; and I must confess that my little favourites neither make anything to wear, like the silkworm, nor anything to eat, like the honey-bee, nor are their bodies saleable by the ton, like the cochineal insects, and that, commer- cially speaking, they are just worth nothing at all, excepting the few paltry pence or shillings that the dealer gets for their little dried bodies occasionally ; so they are of 110 more use than poetry, painting, and music than flowers, rainbows, and all such unbusiness- like things. In fact, I have nothing to say in the butterfly's favour, except that it is a joy to the deep- minded and to the simple-hearted, to the sage, and, still better, to the child that it gives an earnest of a better world, not vaguely and generally, as does every " thing of beauty," but with clearest aim and purpose, through one of the most strikingly perfect and beautiful analo- gies that we can find throughout that vast Creation, where "All animals are living hieroglyphs." 1 The butterfly, then, in its own progressive stages of caterpillar, chrysalis, and perfect insect, is an emblem of the human soul's progress through earthly life and death, to heavenly life. Even the ancient Greeks, with their imperfect lights, 1 Bailey's " Festus." 26 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. recognised this truth, when they gave the same name, Psyche (Vvxrj}, to the soul, or spirit of life, and to the butterfly, and sculptured over the effigy of one dead the figure of a butterfly, floating away, as it were, in his breath ; while poets of all nations have since followed up the simile. And this analogy is not only a mere general resem- blance, but holds good through its minute details to a marvellous extent ; to trace which fully would require volumes, while in this place the slightest sketch only can be given. First, there is the grovelling caterpillar-state, em- blematical of our present imperfection, but yet the state of preparation and increase towards perfection, and that, too, which largely influences the future existence. Many troubles and changes are the lot of the cater- pillar. Repeated skin-shiftings and ceaseless industry in his vocation are necessary, that within his set time he may attain full growth and vigour. Then comes a mighty change : the caterpillar is to exchange his worm-like form and nature for an exist- ence unspeakably higher and better. But, as we have seen, to arrive at this glory there is only one condition, which is, that the creature must pass through another, and, as it might seem, a gloomy state one anything but cheerful to contemplate; for it must cease to eat, to move, and to the eye to live. Yet, is it really dead now, or do we, who have watched the creature thus far, despair and call it lost 1 Do we not rather rejoice that it rests from its labours, and that the period of its glorification is at hand 1 In the silent chrysalis state then our Psyche sleeps away awhile, unaffected by the vicissitudes around it; and, at last, when its appointed day arrives, bursts from its cerements, and rises in the air a winged and joyous being, to meet the sun which warmed it into new life. Now it is a butterfly, bright emblem of pleasure unalloyed. This happy consummation, however, is only for the PSYCHE. 27 chrysalis which, has not within it the devouring worm, the" fruit of the ichneumon's egg, harboured during the caterpillar state and emblem, in the human soul, of some deadly sin yielded to during life, and which after- wards becomes the gnawing " worm that dieth not.' 7 For in this case, instead of the bright butterfly, there issues forth from the chrysalis-shell only a swarm of black, ill-favoured flies, like a troop of evil spirits coming from their feast on a fallen soul. If a caterpillar were gifted with a foreknowledge of his butterfly future, so far transcending his inglorious present, we could imagine that he would be only im- patient to get through his caterpillar duties, and rejoice to enter the chrysalis state as soon as he was fitted for it. How short-sighted then would a caterpillar appear who should endeavour, while in that shape, to emulate the splendour of the butterfly by some wretched tem- porary substitute, adding a few more, or brighter stripes than nature had given it ; or, again, if one whose great change was drawing near, should attempt to conceal its visible approach by painting over the fading hues of health, and plastering up the wrinkles of its outward covering, so soon to be thrown off altogether ; instead of striving for inward strength and beauty, which would never decline, but be infinitely expanded in the but- terfly and regarding the earthly beauty's wane as the dawn of the celestial. . With these and similar reflections before us (which might be multiplied ad infinitum], we shall no longer look upon the caterpillar as a mere unsightly and troublesome reptile, the chrysalis as an unintelligible curiosity, and the butterfly as a pretty painted thing and nothing more ; but regard them as together forming one of those beautiful and striking illustrations with which the book of Nature has been so profusely en- riched by its GREAT AUTHOR ; not to be taken as sub- stitutes for His revealed Word, but as harmonious adjuncts, bringing its great truths more home to our understandings, just as the engravings in a book are 2& BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. not designed as substitutes for the text, but to elucidate and strengthen the ideas in the reader's mind. While the poet draws from the butterfly many a pleasant similitude, and the moralist many a solemn teaching, the artist (who should be poet and moralist too) dwells upon these beings with fondest delight, find- ing in them images of joy and life when seen at large in the landscape, and rich stores of colour-lessons when studied at home in the cabinet. The owners of many a name great in the arts have been enthusiastic collectors of butterflies. Our distin- guished countryman, Thomas Stothard, was one of their devotees, and the following anecdote, extracted from his published life, shows how he was led to make them his special study : " He was beginning to paint the figure of a reclining sylph, when a difficulty arose in his own mind how best to represent such a being of fancy. A friend who was present said, l Give the sylph a butterfly's wing, and then you have it.' i That I will,' exclaimed Stothard ; ' and to be correct I will paint the wing from the butterfly itself.' He sallied forth, extended his walk to the fields, some miles distant, and caught one of those beautiful insects ; it was of the species called the Peacock. Our artist brought it carefully home, and commenced sketching it, but not in the painting room ; and leaving it on the table, a servant swept the pretty little creature away, before its portrait was finished. On learning his loss, away went Stothard once more to the fields to seek another butterfly. But at this time one of the tortoise-shell tribe crossed his path, and was secured. He was astonished at the com- bination of colour that presented itself to him in this small but exquisite work of the Creator, and from that moment determined to enter on a new and difficult field the study of the . insect department of Natural History. He became a hunter of butterflies. The more he caught, the greater beauty did he trace in their infinite variety, and he would often say that no one THE ARTIST AND THE BUTTERFLY. ,29 knew what he owed to these insects they had taught him the finest combinations in that difficult branch of art colo uring. ' ' The above doubtless has its parallel in the experience of many artistic minds, whose very nature it is to ap- preciate to the full the perfections set forth in a butterfly, admiring " The velvet nap which on his wings doth lie, The silken down with which his back is dight, His broad outstretched horns, his airy thigh, His glorious colours and his glistening eye." SPENSER. 30 BRITISH BUTTERFLIES. CHAPTEE IV. BUTTERFLIES IN THE CABINET HOW TO CATCH THEM APPARATUS GOING OUT WEATHER LOCALITIES LOCAL BUTTERFLIES INCOGNITOS FIELD WORK FAVOURITE STATIONS BEWARE OF THE BRAMBLE. THE mention of butterflies "in the cabinet" leads at once to the question, ho^ to get them there j or, in other words, How TO CATCH A BUTTERFLY. This is a question often less difficult to answer in words than in action, for many of our butterflies are gifted not only with strong prejudices against the inside of a net, but with very strong powers of escaping from that unpleasant situation. Still, by aid of proper ap- paratus, a sure eye and hand, and often, of a good pair of legs, there is no butterfly, however fleet and wary, that we may not feel ourselves a tolerable match for. Firstly, then, as to the out-door apparatus required. This is simple enough, a net and pocket-boxes, with a few pins, being the only essentials. 1 Variously constructed nets are used, according to fancy, but the choice may lie between two chief forms : the Clap-net and the Ring-net. The former certainly gives more power in a fair chase, but the latter has the advantage of being the lighter, more portable, and less conspicuous of the two. Both of these instruments are shown in the accompany- ing figures. (1) As beginners in entomology are, I know, often glad to be informed of some reliable dealer from whom to procure the apparatus required for the pursuit, I have pleasure in here giving the name of Mr. T. Cooke, of 513, New Oxford Street (a central and accessible situation), where all the apparatus mentioned in this work, and numerous other natural history articles, are to be found, good and cheap, I believe. For the guidance of young amateurs, I will mention the prices of a few of the more necessary articles I have myself purchased or examined at the above establishment. Cane ring-nets, with stick, and ready for use, 2s. ; ring-net, with three- jointed metal ring and screw'socket, 4s. 6d. ; pocket collecting-boxes, corked, Bd. to Is. each ; store-boxes, 14 in. by 10 in. corked top and bottom, 2s. Qd. ; drying houses, for securely keeping setting-boards when in use, and con- taining eleven corked setting-boards and drawer for pins, &c. 10s. 6d. ; sheet cork, for lining cabinets, 7 in. by 3 in. Is. doz. sheets ; entomological pins, three sizes, mixed, Is. oz.