The White Admiral ([Plate IV], fig. 5) is neither so pretty nor so common as its red namesake, but it is nevertheless a fine insect, although the chief beauty is reserved for the under surface. Above, the ground colour is a very dark rusty brown, relieved by bands and spots of white. The under surface is beautifully marked with silvery blue, bright orange brown, and white, the latter being arranged just like the corresponding colour on the upper side.
It will be observed that this butterfly does not belong to the Vanessa genus; so, while we may look for family resemblances, we shall observe a few features in which it differs from the preceding species.
It is not by any means abundant, being unknown in Scotland and Ireland, and confined in England almost exclusively to the oak woods of the south, where its food plant—the honeysuckle (Lonicera Periclymenum)—abounds. Here it may be seen during July, gracefully sailing among the trees and across the open spaces.
The caterpillar is very different from those of the Vanessas. Its colour is dark green, with a narrow white stripe along each side. There are very conspicuous branched spines on the third and two following segments, also on the eleventh and twelfth; and smaller spines on most of the others. All the spines are of a brownish colour, with pink tips. While it is yet very small it prepares its winter quarters by bending round the remains of a leaf on which it has been feeding, securing the edges by silken threads, and then binding it to the stem of the plant. Soon after, the petiole becomes detached from the stem, and the little caterpillar then rests suspended in its snug swinging cradle, where it remains perfectly secure till the following April, when the warm sun calls it out to feed on the opening leaves. It continues at this till about the beginning of June, and then changes to a beautiful angular and eared chrysalis, of a bright green colour, marked with brown, and having brilliant silvery spots and streaks.
Family—Apaturidæ
The Purple Emperor (Apatura Iris)
This grand insect is the only British member of its family, and richly deserves its popular title. The male, which is figured on [Plate V] (fig. 1), exhibits a most gorgeous imperial purple, which is reflected at certain angles only from the upper surface of his large and powerful wings. His flight is lofty and vigorous, and among the topmost branches of majestic oaks, where he defies the efforts of would-be capturers. Unlike our other butterflies, he is also a very quarrelsome creature, and will not hesitate to fiercely attack a brother Emperor who dares approach the branch he has selected for his throne.
Many attempts have been made to capture this prized creature by means of a large net mounted on the end of a pole twenty or thirty feet in length, but the wielding of such a cumbersome implement against so powerful an insect is no mean task, and but few fall a prey to such a snare. But it so happens that this imperial personage has a very depraved appetite, the indulgence in which has often brought him to ruin. Instead of searching out the sweets so bounteously supplied by the blossoms that are so attractive to other lepidopterous insects, he delights in sipping the waters of the filthiest puddles, and imbibing the odoriferous moisture of dung and the decomposing carcases of animals. So deeply seated is this depravity of taste that the Emperor may be netted with ease while indulging in his sumptuous feast, and is even to be taken at times with the fingers.
The knowledge of this peculiarity of the imperial palate has led entomologists to abandon the awkward net, and to bait the woods with viands that alone can entice his highness from his lofty seat; and many a splendid specimen has been easily captured while enjoying the luxurious juice of a dead cat, stoat, or rabbit, or of a seething mass of pig's dung.
The female is larger than her mate, and does not display the beautiful purple reflections that adorn the male. She is very different, too, in her habits, for she sits nearly all day on high branches of trees, giving her attention to the graver duties of an imperial mother, and is consequently but seldom seem. She lays her eggs in July on the sallow (Salix Caprea) or the poplar (Populus), and in less than a fortnight the young caterpillars are hatched.