Insects at home; being a popular account of insects, their structure, habits and transformations . shown one of our handsomestButterflies, the celebrated Purple Emperor, or Emperor ofMorocco {Ajpatura Iris). This genus differs from Vanessa inhaving the club of the antennae long instead of knobbed, as isshown at Fig. 6, and the club nearly straight. The eyes arewithout hairs, the hind wings scalloped, and the first pair oflegs are not used for walking. At Fig. a is shown one of thesepartially developed limbs. Those legs that are seen at Fig. 3are the second pair, the first pair being tucked up


Insects at home; being a popular account of insects, their structure, habits and transformations . shown one of our handsomestButterflies, the celebrated Purple Emperor, or Emperor ofMorocco {Ajpatura Iris). This genus differs from Vanessa inhaving the club of the antennae long instead of knobbed, as isshown at Fig. 6, and the club nearly straight. The eyes arewithout hairs, the hind wings scalloped, and the first pair oflegs are not used for walking. At Fig. a is shown one of thesepartially developed limbs. Those legs that are seen at Fig. 3are the second pair, the first pair being tucked up under thefront of the thorax. Only one species inhabits England. Tho?e of my readers who do not restrict their studies to n D 2 404 INSECTS AT HOME. contemporary literature are doubtless familiar with PeterPindars poem on Sir Joseph Banks and the Emperor ofMorocco, certainly one of the best of his inimitable witticismsat the expense of science. The present insect is the Emperorof Morocco, who led Sir Joseph such a chase, and left him atlast in the hands of an exasperated market-gardener. XLII. 1. Arge Galatltea. 2. Erebia blandina. 3. Apatnra Iris, a. Apatnra, non-walking fore-leg. 6, Do., club of antenna. f. Do., larva. Its popular name of Purple Emperor is a very appropriateone, at least as far as regards the male insect. The groundcolour of the upper wings is brown-black in some lights, but inothers is a rich shining purple, this effect being produced bythe shape and arrangement of the scales, as can be seen byexamining a specimen under the microscope. The light-coloured bands and spots are white, pure white in the male,and yellowish-white in the female. Beneath, the general colouris rust-red, blotched with black, grey, and here and there blue. CATCHING THE PUKPLE EMPEROR. 405 When I first began to collect the British Butterflies, thePurple Emperor was considered one of the great prizes ofentomologists—hardly inferior, in fact, to the Great Copper,which seems to have total


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectentomology, bookyear1