Lanes margined with trees, especially elms, or the verges of woods, are the most likely places in which to find the butterfly. At one time and another it has been observed in nearly every county of England and Wales, and also in some parts of Scotland, but not in Ireland. It appears to be more or less common in all counties around London, extending to Somerset in the west; to Cambs, Norfolk, and Suffolk in the east; and to Northampton and Warwick in the Midlands.
Abroad it is found throughout the greater part of Europe, Asia Minor, and eastward to the Himalayas.
The Small Tortoiseshell (Vanessa urticæ).
This butterfly is one of the most ubiquitous as well as prettiest that we have in this country. Its reddish-orange colour, marked with yellow patches, black spots, and blue crescents, gives it a charming appearance as it sits on a flower, or even on the ground, with wings fully expanded to the sunlight. When the wings are closed up, however, the butterfly seems to disappear, as the under side of the wings is quite sombre in colour. The only bright spot on the under side is the yellowish central area of the fore wing, and when the wings are held erect over the insect's back this is not seen, but only the tips of these wings, which are of the same dull colour as the hind wings.
Fig. 22.
The ground colour is subject to modification as regards the shade of red in the orange, and this may be intense or reduced to just a mere tinge. Specimens have been taken on the wing in which the colour was some shade of buff, and the same kind of colour change will sometimes result from an over-long exposure to the action of ammonia. The black markings vary in size, and sometimes those on the costal area are more or less connected or even confluent (Fig. [22]); a greater or lesser amount of blackish suffusion on the hind wings (Fig. [23]) generally accompanies confluence of the costal spots on fore wings. The two black spots between veins 2 and 4 occasionally enlarge and unite, or, on the other hand, they decrease in size to vanishing point. Some specimens have black scales between the second costal spot and the black spot on the inner margin, and the space between these two spots may be entirely covered with black and so form a central transverse band (var. polaris). A modification of this form is shown on Plate [38,] lower figure. The yellow patch between the second and third costal black spots is sometimes continued right across the wings to the yellow spot on the inner margin, and in this respect resembles an Indian form of the species named ladakensis. Dwarf specimens result, in most cases, when the caterpillars have fed on hop (Humulus); at least, this is so in confinement.
