. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. 412 THE SCARLET ADJUIJiAL. a good idea of its real beauty may be formed by imagining the ground color of the uppel wings to be pale chestnut, that of the under wings wood-brown, and all the spots to be com- posed of highly-burnished silver THYOBMHAS.— CyrfsCis Ihybdamas. UIDO.— Cethosia dido. TUKVIS.—Marpesia t/ietis. Agraulis moneia. To this family belongs the lirightly-colored genus Vanessa, of which the common Peacock Butterfly is a British example. This insect, which
. Animate creation : popular edition of "Our living world" : a natural history. Zoology; Zoology. 412 THE SCARLET ADJUIJiAL. a good idea of its real beauty may be formed by imagining the ground color of the uppel wings to be pale chestnut, that of the under wings wood-brown, and all the spots to be com- posed of highly-burnished silver THYOBMHAS.— CyrfsCis Ihybdamas. UIDO.— Cethosia dido. TUKVIS.—Marpesia t/ietis. Agraulis moneia. To this family belongs the lirightly-colored genus Vanessa, of which the common Peacock Butterfly is a British example. This insect, which is one f)f the finest butterflies, may be seen very plentifully in fields, roads, or woods, A\hen the beauty of its coloring never fails to attract admiration. One of the most notal)le i^eculiarities in this but- terfly is the uniform dark hues of the under side, which present a great contrast to the varied shades of blue and red which decorate the upper side. The object of this arrangement seems to be that the insect may be able to conceal itself from its foe at will, a purpose which is readily attained by a very simple manoeuvre. When the Peacock Buttei'fly thinks itself in danger, it flies straight- way to some shaded spot, such as a tree-trunk or old pal- ings, closes its wings over its back, and remains motion- less. The effect of this proceeding is, that the wide expanse of bright colors is suddenly replaced by a flat, dark, leaf- like object, which looks more like a piece of bark torn from the tree than an insect. The apparent vanishing of the butterfly has always a rather startling eifect, even to those who are acciistomed to it, the large, brilliant creature disappearing as mysteriously as if annihilated, or covered with the cap of darkness. The beaiitiful Scarlet Admiral, so well known by the broad, scarlet stripes that are drawn over the wings; the Large and Small Tortoise-shell Butterflies ; the Comma. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbr, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology
