Butterflies and Moths, Shown to the ChildrenWood, Theodore
General
Butterflies and Moths, Shown to the Children
Wood, Theodore
Butterflies -- Juvenile literature; Moths -- Juvenile literature
Sometimes this butterfly is known as the Clouded Sulphur. It appears
in the same places, and at the same time of the year, as the “clouded
yellow,” but is hardly ever quite as common. Generally, indeed, you may
see ten or twelve “clouded yellows” to one Pale Clouded Yellow. You can
easily tell it by its much paler colour, for its wings are quite light
yellow instead of rich orange, while sometimes one meets with a Pale
Clouded Yellow which is really almost white. And, besides that, the
black border of the upper wings, instead of being nearly the same width
all the way along, is very broad at the top and very narrow at the
bottom, while even in the male it is marked with several yellow spots.
This pretty butterfly is quite a seaside insect, and sometimes it
may be seen fluttering over the waves a long way out from the shore.
Indeed, there seems to be very little doubt that now and then it flies
right across the Straits of Dover, and reaches this country from France!
The caterpillar of the Pale Clouded Yellow is olive-green in colour,
sprinkled with black dots, and with two yellow lines along its back and
another on each side. It feeds on clovers and trefoils.
[Illustration: PLATE XIV
1. Swallow-tail
2. Swallow-tail Caterpillar]
PLATE XIV
THE SWALLOW-TAIL (1 and 2)
This is the finest of all our British butterflies, and a most beautiful
creature it is as it flits to and fro in the sunshine. But I am afraid
that you are not very likely to see it alive, for it is only found in
the fens of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, while even there it is not as
common as it used to be. But if ever you spend a summer holiday in the
Norfolk Broads you may, perhaps, see one of these lovely butterflies
flying swiftly past you.
The caterpillar is almost as handsome as the butterfly. It is bright
green in colour, with velvety-black rings, which are spotted with red.
And just behind its head it has an odd little forked organ, from which
it pours out a drop of liquid when it is frightened. This liquid has a
very nasty smell, and no doubt it prevents birds from feeding upon the
caterpillar.
This caterpillar feeds upon hog’s fennel, wild carrot, and marsh
milk-parsley. When it has reached its full size it climbs up the stem
of a reed, fastens itself to it by spinning a kind of silken belt round
its body, and turns into a yellowish-green chrysalis, from which the
butterfly appears during the following summer.
PLATE XV
THE ORANGE TIP (1 and 2)
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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