The genera and species of British butterflies : described and arranged according to the system now adopted in the British Museum / by H. Noël Humphreys ; illustrated by plates, in which all the species and varieties are represented, accompanied by their respective caterpillars, and the plants on which they feed.

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Life Sciences)

Not having found space to give many representations of mere " varieties" in the preceding Plates of British Butterflies, I have introduced in the Additional Title Page three of the most remarkable that occur among our native species.The large insect in the lower part of the page is a rich and very beautiful variety of the common V. Urticw, which differs in several particulars from any variety I have previously met with (see page 27).It is in the possession of W. P. Russell, Esq., of Monks Eleigh, Suffolk, and was obtained during the season of 1859.From the deep cream-coloured bordering of the anterior wings, and the disposition of the dark brown-black to fill up nearly all the remainder of the fore-wings, it appears probable that it may be a hybrid between /.Urticw and V. Antiopa.Above the variety of V. Urticw are two of the remarkable varieties of C. Phileas (the Small Meadow Copper), which occur in certain localities not unfrequently.In the lower of the two specimens, all the usually rich copper-colour is replaced by a milky white ; while in the upper one it is the black that has disappeared, leaving white in its place.(See page 46).* With the exception of a few root-feeders.vill INTRODUCTION.segments next the head, which are each furnished with a pair of true legs, there are two segments without legs, the next four being each furnished with a pair of the above-named pro-legs ;then follow two segments without legs, succeeded by the last segment, to which is attached a final pair of pro-legs, frequently somewhat different in character to the other four pairs.This distribution is, however, not universal among the Caterpillars of Moths and Butterflies, though nearly so among the latter.The larve of some Moths, those called the Loopers, for instance, have the pro-legs differently disposed, and, among Butterflies, the onisciform Caterpillars of some kinds must be mentioned, which, while they have the gaily coloured skin and markings of Caterpillars, have nearly the form of the Woodlouse, to which the term enisciform refers.The general appearance of Caterpillars is greatly varied by the nature of the skin, and the clothing or other appendages with which it is furnished.Some are nearly smooth and glossy, others have the skin of velvety texture, others are covered with small tubercles, surmounted by a black or coloured point, sometimes naked, but from which emerges frequently a slender filament, or a tuft, more or less spread, of shining hairs ; others are entirely covered with a thick * From which we have still-pillage, pilfer, &c.It is, however, rare in the metropolitan counties, though there are records of its occasional capture in Hampshire, Sussex, Kent, and even Middlesex.It emerges from the chrysalis in May, and is seen till the end of August, but must be sought in its own favourite localities, the Fens of Huntingdon and Cambridgeshire, or at Whittlesea Mere, which is another of its haunts.Norwich, Yaxley, and Pulborough in Sussex, are also named as places where it has been recently captured in some plenty.The Caterpillar (No. 3) is found in June and September, there being two broods according to Continental entomologists.It feeds upon many plants common to B * Pins that do not corrode, and which are sold by all vendors of collecting apparatus.