Butterflies [pp. 368-369]

368 APPLETONS' JO LTBNAL OF POPULAR [JUNE 19,
BUTTERFLIES.
HE opening of summer suggests
these "winged thoughts" or
"flying gems," which have been the
delight of all childhood spent in country air. We do not, however, sympathize with that taste for insects which
manifests itself in collecting rare specimens, for little other purpose than to
impale them on pins. Probably the
" Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals" does not concern itself with
the death-agonies of butterflies, and sci.
entific curiosity has the matter all
its own way, repaying the world for
its loss of these colored jewels of the
air, by colorless pictures on pages
that partake very little of the air and
the sunshine. The worst of it is,
that it is for the "rare species"
that these insectarians hunt, and the
game most subject to the spear and
bow-we mean fingers, and nets, and
pins-"is the rare and beautiful thing
which perhaps has not a dozen of its
like in as many leagues.
But the humanity which protects
animals, and the gastronomic taste
which cares for fishes, and the agricultural prudence which saves the
birds, have no motives for befriend-
ing these ornaments of sylvan Nature, and hence some of the most
wonderful of them are passing away
before the growth of towns, the
destructiveness of children, and,
worst of all, the nets of students of
natural history.
Of the known and existing varieties, we select a few for pictorial illustration and brief description.
The large Tortoise-shell Butterfly has the upper part of its
wings of a tawny yellow color,
and of a blackish-brown below,
with darker spots bordered by
a black band. There is a stripe A
of yellowish color running down
the middle of the wings. It is
found in July and Septembe r on
the oak, the elm, the willow,
and many fruit-trees. There is ~ ~
a smaller variety, which has all i~
the showy characteristics of the
larger.~~~~~~~~~I~:
The larvae of the two are dif- m
fereht. The former is bluish or
brownish, with an orange-col- a
ored lateral line, bristling with
yellowish hairs. The chrysalis f'
is angular, of a red tint, and
ornamented with golden metallic
spots. The caterpillar of the ~
latter is bristly, blackish, and
has four yellowish lines.
Another magnificent variety
is the Peacock Butterfly. The
children know it by the four
beautiful peacock-eyes, one on
Large Tortoise-shell Butterfly.
Cabbage Butterfly, or Pierls brassicae.
Parnassus Apollo.
Peacock Butterfly.
each wing. The eyes on the upper
wings are reddish in the middle, and
surrounded by a yellow circle. The
other two eyes or spots are blackbrown, within gray circles. The upper
part of the wings is of a russet-brown,
the under part blackish. This, the
Vanessa Io of science, is met with in
the woods and fields, and in flower-gardens. It seems to love to contrast itself with delicate flower-bells, or the
spray of leaves, but it is probably careless of this union of insect with floral
beauty, and more interested in its
food.
The months of June and Septem ber also give us the Convolvulus
Sphinx, which is more of a great
moth than a butterfly. It has brown
wings, and the prominent abdomen
is striped in transverse bands alter nately black and red. It takes its
name from the habit of its cater pillar, which lives on the various
kinds of convolvuli, but chiefly the
wild species. In some of the kindred
of this moth, the chief attraction is
in the larval and not in the winged
insect. For instance, the caterpil lar of the privet hawk-moth, when
in repose, of all others of the genus
Sphinx, most resembles the sphinx
of fable, from which the genus takes
its name. It is of a fine apple green, with seven oblique stripes,
half violet and half white, placed on
each side of its body, and three or
four small white spots beyond these
stripes. The stigmata are orange,
the head is green, bordered with
black. The extremity of the body
has a smooth horn of black and yel low. It lives principally upon
the privet, the lilac, and the ash tree.
To this class also belongs the
Death's-Head Moth, the largest
of the species. It derives the
name from the pale-yellow out line of a human skull, on the
W black ground of its thorax. This
'-:funereal symbol, joined to the
plaintive cry which the moth
W< emits when frightened, has someIg~~- times inspired the whole popula ~ tion of a country with terror.
When its appearance has coin~ cided with epidemic disease,
m~ this doleful sylph of the night
has been looked upon as the
' messenger of death. Science
however, sees in it the butterfly
of the shadow, only less beauti ful than its winged brother of
W the day.
Of butterflies proper, there
Xa are some even more magnificent
than those we have illustrated
and described. There is the
Swallow-tailed Butterfly, named
368
APPLETONS' JO U'RA-L OF POPULAR
[JUNE 19,