The Butterflies of the British IslesSouth, Richard
Science
The Butterflies of the British Isles
South, Richard
Butterflies -- Great Britain; Butterflies -- Great Britain -- Identification; Lepidoptera -- Great Britain
The chrysalis may be of various tints, ranging from pale brown, through
grey to greenish; the markings are black, but these are sometimes only
faint. It is to be found in similar situations to those chosen by the
caterpillar of the last species, but often under the lower rail of a
fence or board of a wooden building. Where caterpillars have been
feeding in a garden, they often enter greenhouses, among other places,
to pupate; and where these structures are heated during the winter, the
butterflies sometimes emerge quite early in the year. Distributed
throughout the British Islands, except the Hebrides and Shetlands. It is
common over the whole of Europe, and extends through Asia to China and
Japan. In America, where it was introduced into the United States some
forty-five years ago, it has now spread northwards into Canada, and also
southwards.
The Green-veined White (_Pieris napi_).
This butterfly is not often seen away from its favourite haunts in the
country; these are woods, especially the sunny sides, leafy lanes, and
even marsh land. As in the case of the two Whites previously noticed,
there are always two broods in the year. The first flight of the
butterflies is in May and June, occasionally as early as April in a
forward season. These specimens have the veins tinged with grey and
rather distinct, but are not so strongly marked with black as those
belonging to the second flight, which occurs in late July and throughout
August. This seasonal variation, as it is called, is also most clearly
exhibited on the under side. In the May and June butterfly (Plate 13,
left side) the veins below are greenish-grey, and those of the hind
wings are broadly bordered also with this colour. In the bulk of the
July and August specimens (Plate 13, right side) only the nervures are
shaded with greenish-grey, and the nervules are only faintly, or not at
all, marked with this colour.
[Illustration: _Pl._ 8.
=Small White Butterfly.=
_Eggs, natural size and enlarged; caterpillar and chrysalids._]
[Illustration: _Pl._ 9.
=Large White Butterfly (Summer Brood).=
1, 2 _male_; 3, 4 _female_.]
Now and then a specimen of the first brood may assume the characters
properly belonging to the specimens of the second brood; and, on the
other hand, a butterfly of the second brood may closely resemble one of
the first brood. As a rule, however, the seasonal differences referred
to are fairly constant. By rearing this species from the egg it has been
ascertained that part (sometimes the smaller) of a brood from eggs laid
in June attains the butterfly stage the same year, and the other part
remains in the chrysalis until the following spring, the butterflies in
each set being of the form proper to the time of emergence.
The strongly-marked specimens (Plate 14) are from Ireland, and are of
the first or spring brood. The seasonal variation in this species is not
so well defined in Ireland as in England.
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