This butterfly was mentioned as English by Merret in 1667, and by Ray in 1710. Albin in 1731, who wrote of it as the White Butterfly with black veins, figures the caterpillar and the chrysalis, and states that caterpillars found by him in April turned to chrysalids early in May and to butterflies in June. Moses Harris in 1775 gave a more extended account of the butterfly's life-history, and what he then wrote seems to tally almost exactly with what is known of its habits to-day. This species has seemingly always been somewhat uncertain in its appearance in England. Authors from Haworth (1803) to Stephens (1827) mention Chelsea, Coombe Wood in Surrey, and Muswell Hill in Middlesex, among other localities for the butterfly. It has also been recorded at one time or another, between 1844 and 1872, from many of the Midland and Southern counties. In 1867 it was found in large numbers, about mid-summer, in hay fields in Monmouthshire. The latest information concerning the appearance of the species in South Wales relates to the year 1893, when several caterpillars and four butterflies were noted on May 22 in the Newport district. At one time it was not uncommon in the New Forest, but no captures of the butterfly in Hampshire have been recorded during the last quarter of a century. At the present time it is probably most regularly obtained in a Kentish locality, presumably in the Isle of Thanet, which is only known to a few collectors. It may be mentioned that some thirty years ago caterpillars of the Black-veined White could be obtained from a Canterbury dealer at a few shillings per gross.
The species is widely distributed, and often abundant, on the Continent, and its range extends through Western and Northern Asia to Yesso, Northern Japan.
The Large White (Pieris brassicæ).
This butterfly is probably almost as familiar to those who dwell in towns as it must be to those who live in the country. It is perhaps unnecessary to describe it in any detail, and it may therefore suffice to say that it is white with rather broad black tips to the fore wings; there are some black scales along the front margin of these wings, and on the basal area of all the wings. The male has a black spot on the front margin of the hind wings, and the female has, in addition, two roundish black spots on the fore wings, with a black dash from the lower one along the inner margin.
As there is a rather important difference between the specimens of the spring (vernal) and the summer (æstival) broods, figures of a male and a female of each brood, and showing the upper and under sides, are given. Those on Plate [6] represent the spring form, which was at one time considered to be a distinct species, and named chariclea by Stephens. Plate [9] shows the summer form. The chief point of difference is to be noted in the tips of the fore wings, which in the spring butterflies are usually, but not invariably, greyish; in the summer butterflies the tips are black, as a rule, but not in every case.
Occasionally the black on tip of the fore wing in the female is increased in width, and from it streaks project inwards towards the upper discal spot. In some examples of the male there is a more or less distinct blackish spot on the disc of the fore wings. Very rarely the ground colour is creamy or sulphur tinted.
The greenish tinge about the veins, sometimes seen in these butterflies, is due to some accidental cause, probably injury to the veins.
