Butterflies

Lepidoptera The New Small Skipper Butterfly – Hesperia Lineola A few years since (1888) a butterfly was taken in one of our south-eastern counties that closely resembled the well-known Thaumas (or Linea), but which turned out to be a species not previously known in Britain. When, however, the distinguishing features of the new butterfly were […]

Lepidoptera The Black-veined White Butterfly – Aporia Cratagi This butterfly may now be regarded as one of our rarities. At one time it was rather abundant in certain localities in England, among which may be mentioned the neighbourhoods of Cardiff and Stroud, also parts of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Huntingdonshire, and the Isle of Thanet; but […]

Lepidoptera The Tailed Blue Butterfly – Lycana Batica We now come to a genus containing no less than ten species of beautiful little butterflies, known commonly as the ‘Blues;’ but one of them exhibits no trace of the colour so characteristic of the group, although it resembles the others in structure and habits. Fig. 87.-The […]

Lepidoptera The Northern Brown Butterfly – Erebia Athiops The colour of this species (Plate V, fig. 4) is a rich dark brown, with rust-coloured and black spotted bands arranged something like those of the last. The markings, however, are very variable. There are usually four black spots on the band of the fore wings, but […]

Lepidoptera The Swallow-tail Butterfly – Papilio Machaon Our first family (Papilionida) contains only one British species-the beautiful Swallow-tail (Papilio Machaon), distinguished at once from all other British butterflies by its superior size and the ‘tails’ projecting from the hind margin of the hind wings. This beautiful insect is figured on Plate I, where its bold […]

Lepidoptera The High-brown Fritillary Butterfly – Argynnis Adippe The upper side of this butterfly is so much like that of Aglaia that it would be difficult indeed to give a written description of one that did not almost equally well apply to the other; so we look to the under surface for the chief marks […]