THE CAMBERWELL BEAUTY. (Vanessa Antiopa.)
([Plate VIII]. fig. 3.)
Many years ago, when Camberwell was a real village, luxuriating in its willows, the entomologists of the day were delighted by the apparition, in that suburb, of this well-named "Beauty," whose name since then has always been associated with Camberwell—certainly not a promising place in the present day for a butterfly hunt, for, though it has its "beauties" still, they are not of the lepidopterous order, nor game for any net that the entomologist usually carries. Since then it has been found at intervals, and in very variable abundance, in a wide range of localities.
The arrangement of colours in this butterfly is most remarkable and unusual, by reason of the sudden contrast between the pale whitish border and the velvet depth of the colours it encloses.
The inmost portion of all the wings is a deep rich chocolate brown, then comes a band of black, including a row of large blue spots, and succeeded by an outer border of pale yellow tint, partially dappled with black specks.
The caterpillar feeds on the willow (which accounts for its former appearance in Camberwell). It is thorny, black, with white dots, and a row of large red spots down the back.
The chrysalis is very angular, and blackish with tawny spots.
The butterfly comes out of the chrysalis late in the autumn, and is seen from August till October; but a great proportion of those observed in this country have survived the winter, and have been seen abroad again in the spring. It has been frequently seen feasting on over-ripe or rotten fruit, and at such times may be often surprised and captured with ease.