*

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. {122}

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.

No spot can be pointed out where one can _expect_ to meet with this fine
insect; but it has appeared singly at intervals in the following localities
among others:--Scotland, Ayrshire; Durham; Scarborough; York; Darlington;
Sheffield; Manchester; Lake District; Appleby; Coventry; Peterborough;
Oxford; Burton-on-Trent; Norfolk; Lincolnshire; Suffolk; Bristol; Ely;
Shrewsbury; Plymouth; Teignmouth; Kent; Ashford; Bromley; Tenterden;
Ramsgate; various places in neighbourhood of London; Epping; Hampshire;
Isle of Wight; Lewes; Worthing. {123}

On the Continent this is a common butterfly, in many places being the most
abundant of all the _Vanessas_.

* * * * *

THE LARGE TORTOISESHELL BUTTERFLY. (_Vanessa Polychloros._)

(Plate IX.