COUNTRY LIFE
Plant and Butterfly
I have received many charming corroborations of the preference of autumnal butterflies for particular plants, and it seems that Admirals, very rare in some quarters this year, are plentiful elsewhere. One letter sets two problems that perhaps some reader will answer with more assurance than I can muster, though melanism in butterflies is not unknown. The letter queries come from Scotland : " This summer I have been favoured with a quite unusual number of butterfly guests, the Buddleia and Ceratostigma being no doubt the attraction. Red Admirals I have entertained before now ; but this summer there has been a splendid fellow, an All- black. What is he? Another unknown insect has pale blue spots on his handsome orange and black wings. The black butterfly is a very strong flier and very big, and I owe him gratitude for visiting me when the world seems upside down."
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