Butterflies and Moths (British)Furneaux, William S.
Science
Butterflies and Moths (British)
Furneaux, William S.
Butterflies -- Great Britain; Moths -- Great Britain
This is another of our commonest and most beautiful butterflies. Its
general appearance is such that it cannot possibly be mistaken for any
other. The upper side (Plate IV, fig. 1) is rendered conspicuous by the
beautiful eye-like marks at the costal angles of all four wings; and the
under surface is very richly decorated with a fine arrangement of black
and dark-brown patches and streaks.
Io is very abundant in all parts of England, and is well known in many
parts of Scotland and Ireland, but seems to be rare in the extreme north
of both of these countries.
Its food plant is the stinging nettle (_Urtica dioica_), and on this the
eggs are laid in April by females that have hybernated during the
winter.
The caterpillar is full grown at the end of June or beginning of July.
It is black, with numerous minute white wart-like projections. Its
spines also are black, and its claspers brown.
The chrysalis may be found suspended by the tail on some object in the
neighbourhood of the food plant, or sometimes on the food plant itself.
It is of a greenish colour, with yellowish patches, but turns darker as
the time approaches for the emerging of the perfect insect.
This event takes place in August, and the butterfly, after a brief
period on the wing, seeks out a sheltered spot for its winter nap.
_The Camberwell Beauty_ (_Vanessa Antiopa_)
The reader will be fortunate if he succeeds in netting a specimen of
this highly prized British butterfly. It derives its popular name from
the fact that a few were taken in Camberwell about a hundred and fifty
years ago; and since that time it has been seen and taken in variable
numbers in several parts of England. So widely distributed, indeed, are
its localities, and so few, comparatively, its appearances, that it
would be useless to attempt to give any hints as to where it may be
looked for. It is, however, a very common butterfly in many continental
countries, and foreign specimens may be obtained from any dealer in
entomological wares for a few pence each.
This rare British gem is illustrated in fig. 2 of Plate IV. Here it will
be seen that nearly the whole of the surface is covered with a rich
velvety purple brown, bordered with a black band containing blue spots;
and outside this is a border of white, finely dotted and streaked with
black. The continental specimens may be easily distinguished from the
genuine Britishers by a darker border with a decidedly yellow tinge.
The eggs of this species are generally laid on the young leaves of the
willow (_Salix alba_), in the spring, by females that have hybernated,
but sometimes the nettle (_Urtica dioica_) and the birch (_Betula alba_)
are selected for the food of the larvae.
The caterpillar is black and spiny, and has a row of seven rather large
reddish-brown spots on the back, commencing at the fifth segment.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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