British Butterflies

by Alexander Morrison Stewart

It is also a rather local species, being confined to the South of England and Ireland. Both caterpillar and chrysalis are very like those of the last species; the spines, however, are rust-coloured. It feeds on Plantain. The perfect insect is out from May to July.

The Comma Butterfly (Vanessa c-Album), [Plate V.], Fig. 3. —The tatterdemalion of the family, it looks, indeed, as if some hungry caterpillars had been dining on its wings, and had been scared away in the middle of the feast, leaving all sorts of rags and tatters to attest their visit. The costal margin is the only line left entire; all the others are deeply scalloped and indented. Two tails form the longest projections from the middle of the outer edge of the hind-wings. The ground colour is a uniform rusty red, varied with black spots arranged in the same order as in other species of this genus. There is a dark border round the outer margin of both wings. The under side is strikingly different from the upper, and looks extraordinarily like a dry, withered leaf, the more so on account of its ragged outline. In the middle of the hind-wing is a very clear comma-shaped mark; from this the insect takes its name.

The caterpillar is yellowish on the back for the first five segments, then white to the tail; under side brown. The spines are shorter than in others of this group. It feeds on Hop, Elm, Gooseberry, Nettle, Willow, and Sloe. The chrysalis is brown, with gilt points. The butterfly appears in July and is rather local, being found mostly in the Midlands and Wales. It has been recorded for Scotland, but not of late years.

The Large Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Vanessa Polychloros), [Plate V.], Fig. 5.—The ground colour of this handsome species is a tawny yellow, marked with three large black patches along the costa of the fore-wing; between these patches the colour is somewhat lighter. There are four other black spots occupying the centre of the wing, which also has a black border dotted with brown; hind-wing tawny, with one black patch on the upper margin, but not extending inward to the body as a similar spot does in the next species (Urticæ). The dark border is continued along this wing, and is studded with blue spots edged with a paler line. This species might be confused by the novice with the next, but not if the two were together for comparison; then the points in which they differ are seen to be distinct and permanent. In Urticæ the light ground between the costal blotches is yellow and the outer spot blue-white; there are only three black spots in the centre of the wing, the largest one being continued down to the margin, which is not the case with the corresponding spot in Polychloros. On the hind-wing the black patch continues downward towards the bottom angle and inwards to the body, whereas this spot neither goes in nor down in Polychloros. Lastly, the ground colour in Urticæ is of a bright red, almost a scarlet, with the blue spots extending into both wings.

The caterpillar of Polychloros is brown, spiny, and striped along the back and sides; it feeds on Elm, Willow, and Cherry, during the summer months. The butterfly appears in August.

It is by no means so common with us as its smaller and gayer cousin, being confined mostly to the South of England. There are occasional records for Scotland; I was present when a specimen was captured by a friend on the coast of Argyllshire in the year 1887.

The Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly (Vanessa Urticæ), [Plate V.], Fig. 4.—Among the many puzzling problems that naturalists have to solve, few present greater attractions than those relating to the migration and hibernation of animals. The birds have long claimed the attention of ornithologists in this respect, but the insects have in a great measure been neglected. However, there are signs of a revival. Migratory and hibernating butterflies are well enough represented in the British list to supply material for much patient and useful research. The facts about them are not all known—not by any means. We know, or fancy we do, that the dominating factor in both cases is the food-supply, but that there are other and important elements to be considered is beyond dispute. The Small Tortoiseshell is a hibernating species, but why does it not deposit its eggs in the autumn, and go the way of all flesh and butterflies? Could it not evolve a method of securing its eggs so that the young caterpillars might have a fair chance of survival when ushered into the world? Or has it found it easier and safer to take care of these eggs itself during the long winter months, and then, when returning spring once more brings the Nettle-shoots above ground, launch forth upon the wing once more, to seek and to find a home and a larder for its numerous children to be? What would be the fate of these eggs if laid in the autumn? Who can tell? Various enemies and agencies would be constantly at work seeking to destroy them. The Nettles have all died down and left hardly a trace behind. And what the rain and wind had not scattered far and wide, the ants and beetles would account for.

The Small Tortoiseshell is perhaps the best known of all our coloured butterflies, occurring, as it does, all over the country from Land’s End to John o’ Groats. It is very like the last species, though smaller and brighter; but as I pointed out the various distinguishing marks in describing Polychloros, I need not go into them again.

The caterpillars feed in companies when young, spreading themselves over the Nettles as they grow older. They are black on the back with a checkered double line along the sides; across each segment is a row of branched spines with numerous small simple hairs between. The chrysalis hangs by the tail; it is grey-brown, with gilt points. The eggs are laid in May, and the butterfly appears towards the end of June, and continues more or less abundant until October, when the females retire to some safe corner in old walls or outhouses, there to await the passing of the winter.