Chapter IV: Books About North American Butterflies (9)

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_Butterfly._--The male closely resembles the male of _L. melissa_ on the upper side. The female is paler than the male, which is unusual in this genus, and has a "washed-out" appearance. On the under side the markings are very like those found in _L. scudderi_. Expanse, 1.15 inch.

_Early Stages._--Entirely unknown.

The types which I possess came from Utah.

(29) =Lycæna pseudargiolus=, Boisduval and Leconte, Plate XXXI, Fig. 6, ♂; Fig. 7, ♀; Plate XXX, Fig. 32, ♂, _under side_; Plate V, Figs. 36, 43, 44, _chrysalis_ (The Common Blue).

_Butterfly._--This common but most interesting insect has been made the subject of most exhaustive and elaborate study by Mr. W.H. Edwards, and the result has been to show that it is highly subject to variation. It illustrates the phenomena of polymorphism most beautifully. The foregoing references to the plate cite the figures of the typical summer form. In addition to this form the following forms have received names:

(_a_) Winter form =lucia=, Kirby, Plate XXXI, Fig. 1, ♂; Plate XXX, Fig. 20, ♂, _under side_. This appears in New England in the early spring from overwintering chrysalids, and is characterized by the brown patch on the middle of the hind wing on the under side.

(_b_) Winter form =marginata=, Edwards, Plate XXXI, Fig. 2, ♂; Fig. 3, ♀; Plate XXX, Fig. 19, ♂, _under side_. This appears at the same time as the preceding form. The specimens figured in the plate were taken in Manitoba. This form is characterized by the dark margins of the wings on the under side.

(_c_) Winter form =violacea=, Edwards, Plate XXXI, Fig. 5, ♂. This is the common winter form. The spots below are distinct, but never fused or melted together, as in the two preceding forms.

(_d_) Form =nigra=, Edwards, Plate XXXI, Fig. 4, ♂. The wings on the under side are as in _violacea_, but are black above. It is found in West Virginia and occurs also in Colorado.

(_e_) Summer form =neglecta=, Edwards, Plate XXXI, Fig. 8, ♂; Fig. 9, ♀. This is smaller than the typical form _pseudargiolus_, also has the dark spots on the under side of the wings more distinct, and the hind wings, especially in the female, paler.

(_f_) Southern form =piasus=, Plate XXXI, Fig. 10, ♂. This form, which is uniformly darker blue on the upper side than the others, is found in Arizona.

There are still other forms which have been named and described.

_Early Stages._--These have been traced through all stages with minutest care. The egg is delineated in this book on p. 4, Fig. 7. The caterpillar is slug-shaped, and feeds on the tender leaves and petals of a great variety of plants.

The range of the species is immense. It extends from Alaska to Florida, and from Anticosti to Arizona.

(30) =Lycæna amyntula=, Boisduval, Plate XXXII, Fig. 7, ♂; Fig. 8, ♀ (The Western Tailed Blue).

_Butterfly._--Closely resembling _L. comyntas_, of which it may be only a slightly modified Western form. Until the test of breeding has been applied we cannot be sure of this. The figures in the plate give a very good representation of the upper side of the wings of this species.

_Early Stages._--But little has been found out concerning these.

It ranges from the eastern foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific in British America and the northern tier of Western States.

(31) =Lycæna comyntas=, Godart, Plate XXXI, Fig. 29, ♂; Fig. 30, ♀; Plate XXXII, Fig. 12, ♂, _under side_; Plate V, Figs. 42, 47, 48, _chrysalis_ (The Eastern Tailed Blue).

_Butterfly._--The blue of the upper side of the male in the plate is too dark; but the female and the under side of the wings are accurately delineated. The species is generally tailed, but specimens without tails occur. Expanse, 1.00-1.10 inch.

_Early Stages._--These are well known and have been fully described. The caterpillar feeds on leguminous plants.

This delicate little species ranges from the valley of the Saskatchewan to Costa Rica, and from the Atlantic to the foot-hills of the Western Cordilleras. It is common in the Middle and Western States, flitting about roadsides and weedy forest paths.

(32) =Lycæna isola=, Reakirt, Plate XXX, Fig. 33, ♀, _under side_; Fig. 38, ♀ (Reakirt's Blue).

_Butterfly._--The male on the upper side is pale lilac-blue, with the outer borders and the ends of the veins narrowly dusky. The female is brownish-gray on the upper side, with the wings at their base glossed with blue. In both sexes there is a rather conspicuous black spot on the margin of the hind wings between the first and second median nervules. The under side is accurately depicted in our plate, to which the student may refer. Expanse, 1.00 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The species occurs in Texas, Arizona, and Mexico.

(33) =Lycæna hanno=, Stoll, Plate XXXII, Fig. 3, ♂, _under side_ (The Florida Blue).

_Butterfly._--Larger than the preceding species, on the upper side resembling _L. isola_; but the blue of the male is not lilac, but bright purplish, and the female is much darker. On the under side a striking distinction is found in the absence on the fore wing of the postmedian band of large dark spots so conspicuous in _L. isola_. Expanse, .85 inch.

_Early Stages._--We have no information as to these.

The insect occurs in Florida and throughout the Antilles and Central America.

(34) =Lycæna isophthalma=, Herrich-Schäffer, Plate XXXII, Fig. 4, ♂ (The Dwarf Blue).

_Butterfly._--Light brown on the upper side in both sexes, with the outer margin of the hind wings set with a row of dark spots, which on the under side are defined by circlets of metallic scales. The under side is pale brown, profusely marked by light spots and short bands. Expanse, .75 inch.

_Early Stages._--Up to this time we have learned very little concerning them.

The species occurs in the Gulf States and the Antilles.

(35) =Lycæna exilis=, Boisduval, Plate XXXII, Fig. 5, ♂ (The Pygmy Blue).

_Butterfly._--On the upper side this, which is the smallest of North American butterflies, very closely resembles the foregoing species, but may be instantly distinguished by the white spot at the inner angle of the fore wing and the white fringes of the same wing near the apex. The hind wings on the under side are set with a marginal series of dark spots ringed about with metallic scales. Expanse, .65 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The Pygmy is found in the Gulf States and throughout tropical America.

(36) =Lycæna ammon=, Lucas, Plate XXXI, Fig. 31, ♀; Plate XXX, Fig. 45, ♀, _under side_ (The Indian River Blue).

_Butterfly._--The male is brilliant lilac-blue on the upper side; the female shining violet-blue, with very dark and wide black borders on the fore wings and one or two conspicuous black eye-spots near the anal angle of the hind wings, each surmounted by a carmine crescent. The figure in Plate XXX gives a correct representation of the under side. Expanse, .95-1.10 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

This beautiful little insect is not uncommon in southern Florida, and also occurs in the Antilles and tropical America.

(37) =Lycæna marina=, Reakirt, Plate XXXI, Fig. 32, ♀; Plate XXX, Fig. 27, ♀, _under side_ (The Marine Blue).

_Butterfly._--The male, on the upper side, is pale dusky-lilac, the dark bands of the lower side appearing faintly on the upper side. The female is dark brown on the upper side, with the wings at the base shot with bright lilac-blue; the dark bands on the disk in this sex are prominent, especially on the fore wings. The under side of the wings is accurately depicted in Plate XXX and therefore requires no description. Expanse, 1.10 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

_Marina_ is found in Texas, Arizona, southern California, and southward.

(38) =Lycæna theonus=, Lucas, Plate XXXII, Fig. 6, ♀ (The West Indian Blue).

_Butterfly._--The male is shining lavender-blue, this color glossing the dark outer borders of the wings; the female is white, with the outer costal borders heavily blackish, the primaries shot with shining sky-blue toward the base. On the under side the wings are crossed by dark bands of spots, arranged much as in _L. marina_, but darker. The hind wings, near the anal angle, have conspicuous eye-spots both above and below. Expanse, .80 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

This lovely insect is found in the Gulf States and all over the hot lands of the New World.

SIZE

Size, like wealth, is only relative. The farmer who owns a hundred acres appears rich to the laborer whom he employs to cut his wheat; but many a millionaire spends in one month as much as would purchase two such farms. The earth seems great to us, and the sun still greater; but doubtless there are suns the diameter of which is equal to the distance from the earth to the sun, in which both earth and sun would be swallowed up as mere drops in an ocean of fire. In the animal kingdom there are vast disparities in size, and these disparities are revealed in the lower as well as in the higher classes. In the class of mammals we find tiny mice and great elephants; in the insect world we find beetles which are microscopic in size, and, not distantly related to them, beetles as large as a clenched fist. The disparity between a field-mouse and a sulphur-bottomed whale is no greater than the disparity in size which exists between the smallest and the largest of the beetle tribe. And so it is with the lepidoptera. It would take several thousands of the Pygmy Blue, _Lycæna exilis_, to equal in weight one of the great bird-wing butterflies of the Australian tropics. The greatest disparity in size in the order of the lepidoptera is not, however, shown in the butterflies, but among the moths. There are moths the wings of which do not cover more than three sixteenths of an inch in expanse, and there are moths with great bulky bodies and wings spreading from eight to nine inches. It would require ten thousand of the former to equal in weight one of the latter, and the disproportion in size is as great as that which exists between a shrew and a hippopotamus, or between a minnow and a basking-shark.

It is said that, taking the sulphur-bottomed whale as the representative of the most colossal development of flesh and blood now existing on land or in the sea, and then with the microscope reaching down into the realm of protozoan life, the common blow-fly will be ascertained to occupy the middle point on the descending scale. Man is, therefore, not only mentally, but even physically, a great creature, though he stands sometimes amazed at what he regards as the huge proportions of other creatures belonging to the vertebrates.

FAMILY IV

PAPILIONIDÆ (THE SWALLOWTAILS AND ALLIES)

The butterflies of this family in both sexes are provided with six ambulatory feet. The caterpillars are elongate, and in the genera _Papilio_ and _Ornithoptera_ have osmateria, or protrusive scent-organs, used for purposes of defense.

The chrysalids in all the genera are more or less elongate, attached at the anal extremity, and held in place by a girdle of silk, but they never lie appressed to the surface upon which pupation takes place, as is true in the _Erycinidæ_ and _Lycænidæ_.

SUBFAMILY PIERINÆ (THE SULPHURS AND WHITES)

"Fly, white butterflies, out to sea,
Frail pale wings for the winds to try;
Small white wings that we scarce can see Fly.
Here and there may a chance-caught eye
Note, in a score of you, twain or three
Brighter or darker of tinge or dye;
Some fly light as a laugh of glee,
Some fly soft as a long, low sigh:
All to the haven where each would be,--Fly."

SWINBURNE.

_Butterfly._--For the most part medium-sized or small butterflies, white or yellow in color, with dark marginal markings. In many genera the subcostal vein of the fore wing has five, or even in some cases six nervules, and the upper radial is lacking in this wing.

_Early Stages._--The eggs are spindle-shaped, marked with vertical ridges and cross-lines. The caterpillars are cylindrical, relatively long, generally green in color, longitudinally striped with darker or paler lines. The chrysalids are generally more or less pointed at the head, with the wing-cases in many of the genera greatly developed on the ventral side, forming a deep, keel-shaped projection upon this surface.

This subfamily is very large, and is enormously developed in the tropics of both hemispheres. Some of the genera are very widely distributed in temperate regions, especially the genera _Pieris_ and _Colias_.

Genus DISMORPHIA, Hübner

"I saw him run after a gilded butterfly; and when he caught it, he
let it go again; and after it again; and over and over he comes,
and up again; catched it again." SHAKESPEARE, _Coriolanus_.

_Butterfly._--The butterflies are medium sized, varying much in the form of wing, in some species greatly resembling other _Pierinæ_ in outline, but more frequently resembling the Ithomiid and Heliconiid butterflies, which they mimic. Some of them represent transitional forms between the type commonly represented in the genus _Pieris_ and the forms found in the two above-mentioned protected groups. The eyes are not prominent. The palpi are quite small. The basal joint is long, the middle joint oval, and the third joint small, oval, or slightly club-shaped. The antennæ are long, thin, terminating in a gradually enlarged spindle-shaped club; the fore wings being sometimes oval, more frequently elongated, twice, or even three times, as long as broad, especially in the male sex; the apex pointed, falcate, or rounded. The cell is long and narrow. The first subcostal vein varies as to location, rising either before or after the end of the cell, and, in numerous cases, coalescing with the costal vein, as is shown in the cut.

_Early Stages._--Of the early stages of these interesting insects we have no satisfactory knowledge.

The species of the genus belong exclusively to the tropical regions of the New World. There are about a hundred species which have already been named and described, and undoubtedly there are many more which remain to be discovered. These insects can always be distinguished from the protected genera which they mimic by the possession of six well-developed ambulatory feet in both sexes, the protected genera being possessed of only four feet adapted to walking.

(1) =Dismorphia melite=, Linnæus, Plate XXXVII, Fig. 17, ♂; Fig. 18, ♀ (The Mime).

_Butterfly._--The figures in the plate make a description of the upper side unnecessary. On the under side the wings of the male are shining white, except the costa, which is evenly dull ochreous from the base to the apex. The hind wings are ochreous, mottled with pale brown. The female, on the under side, has the fore wings very pale yellow, with the black spots of the upper side reproduced; the hind wings are deeper yellow, mottled with pale-brown spots and crossed by a moderately broad transverse pale-brown band of the same color.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The species is credited to our fauna on the authority of Reakirt. It is abundant in Mexico. It mimics certain forms of _Ithomiinæ_.

Genus NEOPHASIA, Behr

"It was an hour of universal joy.
The lark was up and at the gate of heaven,
Singing, as sure to enter when he came;
The butterfly was basking in my path,
His radiant wings unfolded."

ROGERS.

_Butterfly._--Medium sized, white in color, more nearly related in the structure of its wings to the European genus _Aporia_ than to any other of the American pieridine genera. The upper radial is lacking, and the subcostal is provided with five branches, the first emitted well before the end of the cell; the second likewise emitted before the end of the cell and terminating at the apex; the third, fourth, and fifth rising from a common stalk at the outer upper angle of the cell.

_Early Stages._--The egg is flask-shaped, fluted on the sides, recalling the shape of the "pearl-top" lamp-chimney. The caterpillar, in its mature form, is about an inch long. The body is cylindrical, terminating in two short anal tails. The color is dark green, with a broad white band on each side, and a narrow band of white on the back. The feet are black, and the prolegs greenish-yellow. The chrysalis is dark green, striped with white, resembling the chrysalids of the genus _Colias_, but somewhat more slender. The caterpillar feeds upon conifers. But one species is known.

(1) =Neophasia menapia=, Felder, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 7, ♂ (The Pine White).

_Butterfly._--The insect on the under side sometimes has the outer margin of the secondaries marked with spots of bright pinkish-red, resembling in this style of coloration certain species of the genus _Delias_ of the Indo-Malayan fauna.

_Early Stages._--These have been thoroughly described by Edwards in his third volume. The caterpillar infests the pine-trees and firs of the northern Pacific States. The larva lets itself down by a silken thread, often a hundred feet in length, and pupates on the ferns and shrubbery at the foot of the trees. It sometimes works great damage to the pine woods.

Genus TACHYRIS, Wallace

"The virtuoso thus, at noon,
Broiling beneath a July sun,
The gilded butterfly pursues
O'er hedge and ditch, through gaps and mews;
And, after many a vain essay
To captivate the tempting prey,
Gives him at length the lucky pat,
And has him safe beneath his hat;
Then lifts it gently from the ground;
But, ah! 't is lost as soon as found.
Culprit his liberty regains,
Flits out of sight, and mocks his pains."

COWPER.

This genus, which includes about seventy species, may be distinguished from all other genera belonging to the _Pierinæ_ by the two stiff brush-like clusters of hairs which are found in the male sex attached to the abdominal clasps. All of the species belonging to the genus are found in the Old World, with exception of the species described in this book, which has a wide range throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the New World. The peculiarities of neuration are well shown in the accompanying cut, in which the hind wing has been somewhat unduly magnified in proportion to the fore wing.

_Early Stages._--The life-history of our species has not been thoroughly studied, but we have ascertained enough of the early stages of various species found in the tropics of the Old World to know that there is a very close relationship between this genus and that which follows in our classification.

(1) =Tachyris ilaire=, Godart, Plate XXXV, Fig. 4, ♂; Fig. 5, ♀ (The Florida White).

_Butterfly._--The hind wings of the male on the under side, which is not shown in the plate, are very pale saffron. The under side of the wings in the female is pearly-white, marked with bright orange-yellow at the base of the primaries. A melanic form of the female sometimes occurs in which the wings are almost wholly dull blackish on both sides.

_Early Stages._--We know, as yet, but little of these.

The insect is universally abundant in the tropics of America, and occurs in southern Florida.

Genus PIERIS, Schrank

(The Whites)

"And there, like a dream in a swoon, I swear
I saw Pan lying,--his limbs in the dew
And the shade, and his face in the dazzle and glare
Of the glad sunshine; while everywhere,
Over, across, and around him blew
Filmy dragon-flies hither and there,
And little white butterflies, two and two.
In eddies of odorous air."

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY.

_Butterfly._--Medium-sized butterflies, white in color, marked in many species on both the upper and under sides with dark brown. The antennæ are distinctly clubbed, moderate in length. The palpi are short, delicate, compressed, with the terminal joint quite short and pointed. The subcostal vein of the primaries has four branches, the first subcostal arising before the end of the cell, the second at its upper outer angle, and the third and fourth from a common stem emitted at the same point. The outer margin of the primaries is straight, the outer margin of the secondaries more or less evenly rounded.

_Egg._--The egg is spindle-shaped, with vertical raised ridges.

_Caterpillar._--Elongate, the head hemispherical, very slightly, if at all, larger in diameter than the body. The caterpillars feed upon cruciferous plants.

_Chrysalis._--Attached by the anal extremity, and held in place by a silk girdle; slightly concave on the ventral side; convex on the dorsal side, with a distinct or pointed hump-like projection on the thorax. At the point where the thoracic and abdominal segments unite in some species there is in addition a distinct keel-shaped eminence, and at the head the chrysalis is furnished with a short conical projection.

(1) =Pieris monuste=, Linnæus, Plate XXXV, Fig. 1, ♂; Fig. 2, ♀ (The Great Southern White).

_Butterfly._--The upper side of the wings, depicted in the plate, requires no comment. On the under side the black marginal markings of the primaries reappear as pale-brown markings. The hind wing is pale yellow or grayish-saffron, crossed by an ill-defined pale-brown transverse band of spots, and has the veins marked with pale brown, and interspersed between them pale-brown rays on the interspaces.

_Early Stages._--What we know of these is derived principally from Abbot through Boisduval, and there is opportunity here for investigation.

The species has a wide range through tropical America, and is not uncommon in the Gulf States.

(2) =Pieris beckeri=, Edwards, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 8, ♂; Fig. 9, ♀ (Becker's White).

_Butterfly._--This species, through the green markings of the under side of the hind wings, concentrated in broad blotches on the disk, recalls somewhat the species of the genus _Euchloë_, and by these markings it may easily be discriminated from all other allied species.

_Early Stages._--These have been in part described by Edwards in the second volume of "The Butterflies of North America."

The species ranges from Oregon to central California, and eastward to Colorado.

(3) =Pieris occidentalis=, Reakirt, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 13, ♂ (The Western White).

_Butterfly._--Not unlike the preceding species on the upper side, but easily distinguished by the markings of the under side of the wings, which are not concentrated in blotches, but extend as broad longitudinal rays on either side of the veins from the base to the outer margin.

_Early Stages._--These require further investigation. We do not, as yet, know much about them.

The species has a wide range in the mountain States of the West, where it replaces the Eastern _P. protodice_.

(4) =Pieris protodice=, Boisduval and Leconte, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 10, ♂; Fig. 11, ♀; Plate II, Fig. 7, _larva_; Plate V, Figs. 66, 67, _chrysalis_ (see also p. 12, Fig. 26) (The Common White).

_Butterfly._--Allied to the foregoing species, especially to _P. occidentalis_; but it may always be quickly distinguished by the pure, immaculate white color of the hind wings of the male on the under side, and by the fact that in the female the hind wings are more lightly marked along the veins by gray-green.

Winter form =vernalis=, Edwards, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 18, ♂. What has been said of the typical or summer form does not hold true of this winter form, which emerges from chrysalids which have withstood the cold from autumn until spring. The butterflies emerging from these are generally dwarfed in size, and in the males have the dark spots on the upper side of the wings almost obsolete or greatly reduced, and the dark markings along the veins on the under side well developed, as in _P. occidentalis_. The females, on the contrary, show little reduction in the size and intensity of any of the spots, but rather a deepening of color, except in occasional instances.

_Early Stages._--The life-history of this insect has often been described. The caterpillar feeds upon cruciferous plants, like many of its congeners.

It ranges from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to the Gulf States.

(5) =Pieris sisymbri=, Boisduval, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 12, ♂ (The California White).

_Butterfly._--Smaller in size than the preceding species, with the veins of the fore wing black, contrasting sharply with the white ground-color. All the spots are smaller and more regular, especially those on the outer margin of the fore wing, giving the edge an evenly checkered appearance. On the under side the hind wings have the veins somewhat widely bordered with gray, interrupted about the middle of the wing by the divergence of the lines on either side of the veins in such a way as to produce the effect of a series of arrow-points with their barbs directed toward the base. The female is like the male, with the markings a little heavier. A yellow varietal form is sometimes found.

_Early Stages._--The life-history is given and illustrated by Edwards in his second volume. The caterpillar, which is green, banded with black, feeds upon the _Cruciferæ_.

(6) =Pieris napi=, Esper, Plate II, Figs. 8, 9, _larva_; Plate V, Figs. 57, 63, 64, _chrysalis_ (The Mustard White).

_Butterfly._--This is a Protean species, of which there exist many forms, the result of climatic and local influences. Even the larva and chrysalis show in different regions slight microscopic differences, for the influences which affect the imago are operative also in the early stages of development. The typical form which is found in Europe is rarely found in North America, though I have specimens from the northern parts of the Pacific coast region which are absolutely indistinguishable from European specimens in color and markings. I give a few of the well-marked forms or varieties found in North America to which names have been given.

(_a_) Winter form =oleracea-hiemalis=, Harris, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 16, ♂ (see also p. 5, Fig. 9, and p. 13, Fig. 27). The wings are white above in both sexes. Below the fore wings are tipped with pale yellow, and the entire hind wing is yellow. The veins at the apex of the fore wings and on the hind wings are margined with dusky.

(_b_) Aberrant form =virginiensis=, Edwards, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 14, ♂. The wings are white above, slightly tipped at the apex of the fore wings with blackish. Below the wings are white, faintly, but broadly, margined with pale dusky.

(_c_) Form =pallida=, Scudder, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 15, ♀. In this form the wings are white above and below, with a small black spot on the fore wing of the female above, and hardly any trace of dark shading along the veins on the under side.

(_d_) Alpine or arctic form =bryoniæ=, Ochsenheimer, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 17, ♀. In this form, which is found in Alaska, Siberia, and the Alps of Europe, the veins above and below are strongly bordered with blackish, and the ground-color of the hind wings and the apex of the fore wings on the under side are distinctly bright yellow.

(_e_) Newfoundland variety =acadica=, Edwards, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 19, ♀. This form is larger than the others, and in markings intermediate between _pallida_ and _bryoniæ_. The under side in both sexes and the upper side in the female are distinctly yellowish.

_Early Stages._--These are well known and have often been described, but some of the varietal forms need further study.

The species ranges from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Alaska to the northern limits of the Gulf States.

(7) =Pieris rapæ=, Linnæus, Plate XXXV, Fig. 3, ♀; Plate II, Figs. 11, 12, _larva_; Plate V, Figs. 58, 65, _chrysalis_ (The Cabbage-butterfly).

_Butterfly._--This common species, which is a recent importation from Europe, scarcely needs any description. It is familiar to everyone. The story of its introduction and the way in which it has spread over the continent has been well told by Dr. Scudder in the second volume of "The Butterflies of New England," p. 1175. The insect reached Quebec about 1860. How it came no man knows; perhaps in a lot of cabbages imported from abroad; maybe a fertile female was brought over as a stowaway. At all events, it came. Estimates show that a single female of this species might be the progenitor in a few generations of millions. In 1863 the butterfly was already common about Quebec, and was spreading rapidly. By the year 1881 it had spread over the eastern half of the continent, the advancing line of colonization reaching from Hudson Bay to southern Texas. In 1886 it reached Denver, as in 1884 it had reached the head waters of the Missouri, and it now possesses the cabbage-fields from the Atlantic to the Pacific, to the incalculable damage of all who provide the raw material for sauer-kraut. The injury annually done by the caterpillar is estimated to amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

INSTINCT

Two city fathers were standing in the market-place beside a pile of cabbages. A naturalist, who was their friend, came by. As he approached, a cabbage-butterfly, fluttering about the place lit on the straw hat of one of the dignitaries. The naturalist, accosting him, said: "Friend, do you know what rests upon your head?" "No," said he. "A butterfly." "Well," said he, "that brings good luck." "Yes," replied the naturalist; "and the insect reveals to me the wonderful instinct with which nature has provided it." "How is that?" quoth the city father. "It is a cabbage-butterfly that rests upon your head."

Genus NATHALIS, Boisduval

"The butterflies, gay triflers
Who in the sunlight sport."

HEINE.

_Butterfly._--The butterfly is very small, yellow, margined with black. The upper radial vein in the fore wing is wanting. The subcostal has four nervules, the third and fourth rising from a common stalk emitted from the upper outer corner of the cell, the first and second from before the end of the cell. The precostal vein on the hind wing is reduced to a small swelling beyond the base. The palpi are slender; the third joint long and curved; the second joint oval; the third fine, spindle-shaped, and pointed. The antennæ are rather short, with a somewhat thick and abruptly developed club.

_Early Stages._--Very little is known of these.

Three species belong to this genus, which is confined to the subtropical regions of the New World, one species only invading the region of which this volume treats.

(1) =Nathalis iole=, Boisduval, Plate XXXII, Fig. 21, ♂; Fig. 22, ♀ (The Dwarf Yellow).

_Butterfly._--This little species, which cannot be mistaken, and which requires no description, as the plate conveys more information concerning it than could be given in mere words, ranges from southern Illinois and Missouri to Arizona and southern California. Its life-history has not yet been described. Expanse, 1.00-1.25 inch.

The identification of this species with _N. felicia_, Poey, which is found in Cuba, is doubtfully correct. The two species are very closely allied, but, nevertheless, distinct from each other.

Genus EUCHLOË, Hübner

(=Anthocharis= _of authors_)

(The Orange-tips)

"When daffodils begin to peer,
With, heigh! the doxy over the dale,
Why, then comes in the sweet o' the year;
For the red blood reigns in the winter's pale."

SHAKESPEARE.

_Butterfly._--Small butterflies, white in color, with the apical region of the primaries dark brown, marked with spots and bands of yellowish-orange or crimson. On the under side the wings are generally more or less profusely mottled with green spots and striæ.

_Egg._--Spindle-shaped (see p. 4, Fig. 6), laterally marked with raised vertical ridges, between which are finer cross-lines.

_Caterpillar._--The caterpillar, in its mature stage, is relatively long, with the head small.

_Chrysalis._--With the head relatively enormously projecting; wing-cases compressed, and uniting to form a conspicuous keel-shaped projection, the highest point of which lies at the juncture of the two ends of the silk girdle where they are attached to the supporting surface.

There are numerous species of this genus, and all are exceedingly pretty.

(1) =Euchloë sara=, Boisduval, Plate XXXII, Fig. 28, ♂; Fig. 29, ♀ (Sara).

_Butterfly._--The wings on the upper side in both sexes are shown in the figures above cited. On the under side the hind wings are marked with dark irregular patches of greenish-brown scales loosely scattered over the surface, and having a "mossy" appearance.

There are several forms which are regarded by recent writers as varieties and may probably be such. Of these we give the following:

(_a_) Variety =reakirti=, Edwards, Plate XXXII, Fig. 31, ♂; Fig. 32, ♀ (Reakirt's Orange-tip) =flora=, Wright, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 4, ♂; Fig. 5, ♀. This form hardly differs at all from the form _sara_, except in being smaller, and having the margins of the hind wings marked with dark spots at the ends of the veins.

(_b_) Variety =Stella=, Edwards, Plate XXXII, Fig. 35, ♂; Fig. 36, ♀ (Stella). The females of this form are prevalently yellowish on the upper side of the wings; otherwise they are marked exactly as the preceding variety.

(_c_) Variety =julia=, Edwards, Plate XXXII, Fig. 34, ♂; Plate XXXIV, Fig. 6, ♀, _under side_ (Julia). The only distinction in this form is the fact that the black bar dividing the red apical patch from the white on the remainder of the wing is broken, or tends to diminution at its middle.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The species, in all its forms, belongs to the mountain States of the Pacific coast. _Flora_, Wright, is regarded by Beutenmüller, who has given us the latest revision of the genus, as identical with _sara_. It comes nearer the variety _reakirti_ than any other form, as will be seen by an examination of the plates which give figures of the types. Expanse, 1.25-1.75 inch.

(2) =Euchloë ausonides=, Boisduval, Plate XXXII, Fig. 24, ♂; Fig. 25, ♀; Plate XXXIV, Fig. 3, ♂, _under side_ (Ausonides).

_Butterfly._--On the under side the fore wings are greenish; the hind wings are marked with three irregular green bands, the outer one forking into six or seven branches toward the outer and inner margins. Expanse, 1.65-1.90 inch.

_Early Stages._--The larva and chrysalis are described by Edwards in "The Butterflies of North America," vol. ii. The caterpillar is pale whitish-green, with dark-green longitudinal stripes on the side and back. It feeds on cruciferous plants.

_Ausonides_ ranges from Arizona to Alaska, and eastward to Colorado.

(3) =Euchloë creusa=, Doubleday and Hewitson, Plate XXXII, Fig. 23, ♂; Plate XXXIV, Fig. 2, ♀, _under side_ (Creusa).

_Butterfly._--Similar to the preceding species, but smaller, the white more lustrous on the under side, and the green markings on the under side of the wings heavier. Expanse, 1.20-1.40 inch.

_Early Stages._--We know very little of these.

The species is reported from California, Colorado, and Alberta. I possess a singular varietal form or aberration from Arizona, in which the black spot on the upper side of the primaries fills the outer half of the cell.

(4) =Euchloë rosa=, Edwards, Plate XXXII, Fig. 39, ♂, _under side_ (Rosa).

_Butterfly._--Pure white, without any red at the tip of the primaries. The transapical black band is broken in the middle, and a black bar closes the cell. The under side is well represented in the plate. Expanse, 1.35-1.40 inch.

_Early Stages._--Entirely unknown.

The species is found in Texas.

(5) =Euchloë cethura=, Felder, Plate XXXII, Fig. 26, ♂; Fig. 27, ♀; form =morrisoni=, Edwards, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 1, ♂ (Cethura).

_Butterfly._--This delicate little insect, for the identification of which the plates will abundantly serve, has been regarded as existing in two varietal forms, one of which has been named after the indefatigable collector Morrison, whose death is still lamented by the elder generation of American entomologists. The varietal form is characterized by the heavier green markings of the under side of the wings. Expanse, 1.25-1.40 inch.

(6) =Euchloë pima=, Edwards, Plate XXXII, Fig. 33, ♂ (The Pima Orange-tip).

_Butterfly._--This beautiful and well-marked species, the most brilliant of the genus, is yellow on the upper side in both sexes. The red of the upper side appears on the lower side. The hind wings are heavily marked with solid green bands. Expanse, 1.50 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The only specimens thus far known have come from Arizona.

(7) =Euchloë genutia=, Fabricius, Plate XXXII, Fig. 37, ♂; Fig. 38, ♀; Plate II, Fig. 5, _larva_; Plate V, Fig. 59, _chrysalis_; Fig. 6, p. 4, _egg_ (The Falcate Orange-tip).

_Butterfly._--This species is readily recognized by the decidedly falcate tip of the fore wings. The first brood appears in early spring. It is single-brooded in the Northern States, but is double-brooded in the western portions of North Carolina, where I have taken it quite abundantly late in the autumn. Expanse, 1.30-1.50 inch.

_Early Stages._--The life-history is well known. The caterpillar feeds on _Sisymbrium_, _Arabis_, _Cardamine_, and other cruciferous plants.

It ranges from New England to Texas, but is not found, so far as is known, in the regions of the Rocky Mountains and on the Pacific coast.

(8) =Euchloë lanceolata=, Boisduval, Plate XXXII, Fig. 30, ♂ (Boisduval's Marble).

_Butterfly._--The figure gives a correct idea of the upper surface of the male. The female on the upper side is marked with light-black spots on the outer margin near the apex. On the under side in both sexes the apex of the primaries and the entire surface of the secondaries, except a small spot on the costa, are profusely sprinkled with small brown scales. The veins of the hind wing are brown. Expanse, 1.65-1.95 inch.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar, which feeds upon _Turritis_, is green, shaded on the sides with pale blue, striped laterally with white, and covered with transverse rows of minute black points, each bearing a short black bristle. We know nothing of the other stages.

The species ranges from northern California to Alaska.

Genus CATOPSILIA, Hübner

(The Great Sulphurs)

"A golden butterfly, upon whose wings
There must be surely character'd strange things,

* * * * *

Onward it flew, ... then high it soar'd,
And downward suddenly began to dip,
As if, athirst with so much toil, 't would sip
The crystal spout-head; so it did, with touch
Most delicate, as though afraid to smutch
Even with mealy gold the waters clear."

KEATS, _Endymion_.

_Butterfly._--Large butterflies, brilliant lemon-yellow or orange-yellow, marked with a few darker spots and with a narrow band of brown, especially in the female sex, on the outer margin of the primaries. They are very quick and vigorous in flight, more so than is the case in any of the preceding genera.

_Egg._--The eggs are spindle-shaped, flat at the base, and acutely pointed, with a few longitudinal ribs and a multitude of delicate cross-lines.

_Caterpillar._--The caterpillar is relatively long, with the head small; the segments somewhat moniliform, resembling beads strung together, the surface covered with a multitude of minute papillæ ranged in transverse rows.

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is strongly concave on the dorsal side, with the head greatly produced as a long, pointed, conical projection; the wing-cases are compressed and form a very wide, keel-shaped projection on the ventral side. This peculiar formation of the wing-cases reaches its greatest development in this genus.

The butterflies of this genus are mainly tropical. Four or five species, however, are found in the warmer parts of the United States, and one of them ranges north as far as northern New Jersey, and has been occasionally taken even in northern Illinois.

(1) =Catopsilia eubule=, Linnæus, Plate XXXIII, Fig. 2, ♂; Fig. 3, ♂, _under side_; Plate II, Figs. 2, 4, _larva_; Plate V, Figs. 60-62, _chrysalis_ (The Cloudless Sulphur).

_Butterfly._--This splendid and vigorous butterfly is found from New England and Wisconsin to Patagonia, being very abundant in the tropics, where it congregates in great swarms upon moist places by the side of streams. It haunts in great numbers the orange-groves of the South, and is very fond of flowers. It is rare on the northern limits of its range, though quite common on the coast of New Jersey. Expanse, 2.50 inches. The caterpillar feeds on leguminous plants, but especially upon the different species of _Cassia_.

(2) =Catopsilia philea=, Linnæus, Plate XXXIII, Fig. 4, ♂ (The Red-barred Sulphur).

_Butterfly._--This is another noble species of this fine genus, which includes some of the showiest insects of the subfamily. It may be readily recognized by the bar of deep orange crossing the cell of the primaries, and by the orange tint on the outer margin of the hind wings. Expanse, 3.00-3.50 inches.

_Early Stages._--But little is as yet known of these. The larva feeds on the same kinds of plants as the larva of _C. eubule_. It occurs in Texas, and is said to have also been found in Illinois as a straggler. It is abundant in Mexico, Central America, and southward.

(3) =Catopsilia agarithe=, Boisduval, Plate XXXIII, Fig. 1, ♂ (The Large Orange Sulphur).

_Butterfly._--About the same size as _C. eubule_, but deep orange on both sides of the wings. The wings of the female are bordered somewhat heavily with brown, and are duller in color than those of the male. Expanse, 2.50-2.75 inches.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar, which resembles that of _eubule_, feeds upon various species of _Cassia_. The chrysalis is also much like that of =eubule=. We need, however, fuller information than that which we possess, drawn, for the most part, from the pages of authors who wrote in the last century.

The species occurs in the hot parts of the Gulf States, and is common throughout tropical America.

Genus KRICOGONIA, Reakirt

_Butterfly._--Medium sized, bright yellow on the upper and lower sides, with some dark markings, especially in the male. The primaries in the male are generally quite strongly falcate.

_Early Stages._--Nothing has, as yet, been satisfactorily ascertained in relation to these.

The genus is not large, and is confined to the tropical regions of the New World, being represented in our fauna in the vicinity of the city of Brownsville, in Texas.

(1) =Kricogonia lyside=, Godart (form =terissa=, Lucas), Plate XXXIV, Fig. 20, ♂; Fig. 21, ♀ (Lyside).

_Butterfly._--This insect, which may easily be distinguished from all its allies by its peculiar markings, is found in Florida and Texas, and is widely spread over the Antilles and tropical America. We know nothing of its life-history. A number of closely allied forms, reckoned as species, are known from the Antilles and Central America. They are so closely related to each other that it is believed that they are possibly only varieties or local races. We cannot, however, be sure of this until the test of breeding has been applied. Expanse, 1.90-2.10 inches.

Genus MEGANOSTOMA, Reakirt

(The Dog-face Butterflies)

"Let me smell the wild white rose,
Smell the woodbine and the may;
Mark, upon a sunny day,
Sated from their blossoms rise,
Honey-bees and butterflies."

JEAN INGELOW.

_Butterfly._--Closely resembling those of the following genus, _Colias_, from which they may be readily distinguished by the more acutely pointed apex of the fore wings and by the remarkable coloration of these wings in the male sex, the dark outer borders being disposed upon the lighter ground-color so as to present the appearance of a rude outline of the head of a dog, whence these butterflies have sometimes been called the "dog-face butterflies."

_Egg._--Fusiform, strongly pointed at the apex, broader at the base, the sides marked with a few delicate ridges, between which are numerous cross-lines.

_Caterpillar._--Elongate, cylindrical, the head relatively small, striped on either side by a whitish lateral line, each segment having a transverse darker line. They feed upon leguminous plants.

_Chrysalis._--Pointed at the head, convex on the abdominal segments on the dorsal side, with a decided hump on the thorax. The wing-covers unite to form a moderately deep carinate, or keel-shaped, projection on the ventral side, not, however, nearly as large as in the genus _Catopsilia_.

But two species of the genus are found within our fauna, one widely distributed throughout the Southern and Southwestern States, the other confined to the Pacific coast.

(1) =Meganostoma eurydice=, Boisduval, Plate XXXVI, Fig. 1, ♂; Fig. 2, ♀ (The Californian Dog-face).

_Butterfly._--The splendid purplish iridescence of the fore wings of the male is only faintly indicated in the plate. This beautiful insect is peculiar to the Pacific coast, and there is a wide difference in appearance between the sexes. Expanse, 1.80-2.00 inches.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar feeds upon _Amorpha californica_. The life-history has been accurately described, and the various stages depicted, by Edwards.

(2) =Meganostoma cæsonia=, Stoll, Plate XXXVI, Fig. 3, ♂; Fig. 4, ♀ (The Southern Dog-face).

_Butterfly._--The sexes are much alike in this species, which ranges widely over the Southern States, and is found even in southern Illinois and sometimes still farther north. Expanse, 2.25 inches.

_Early Stages._--These have been fully described by various authors, most carefully by Edwards.

Genus COLIAS, Fabricius

(The Sulphurs)

"Above the arching jimson-weeds flare twos
And twos of sallow-yellow butterflies,
Like blooms of lorn primroses blowing loose
When autumn winds arise."

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY

_Butterfly._--Medium-sized butterflies, yellow or orange in color, with black borders upon the wings. In many species this border is heavier in the female than in the male.

_Egg._--The egg is spindle-shaped, thickest at the middle, tapering at the apex and at the base, generally attached by an enlarged disk-like expansion to the point on which it is laid. The upper extremity is rounded; the sides are marked by small vertical ridges, between which are delicate cross-lines.

_Caterpillar._--The caterpillars strongly resemble in appearance those of the preceding genus, from which, superficially, they cannot be distinguished by any anatomical peculiarities. They feed upon _Leguminosæ_, and especially upon clover (_Trifolium_).

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalids do not generally differ in appearance from the chrysalids of the genus _Meganostoma_, though the wing-cases do not form as high a keel-shaped projection from the ventral side as in that genus.

This genus is very extensive, being represented throughout the temperate regions of both hemispheres, and also occurring in the cooler portions of South America, especially along the ranges of the Andes. One species is found in temperate South Africa. The brightly colored butterflies, which are sometimes found congregating in immense numbers in moist places, are familiar objects, and swarm upon the clover-fields and by the roadside in the summer months throughout the United States.

(1) =Colias meadi=, Edwards, Plate XXXVI, Fig. 5, ♂; Fig. 6, ♀ (Mead's Sulphur).

_Butterfly._--The wings on the upper side are orange, greenish on the under side. The discal spot on the lower side is centered with green. Expanse, 1.75 inch.

_Early Stages._--The life-history has been written by Edwards, and may be found in the pages of the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xxi, p. 41. The larva feeds on clover.

The species is alpine in its habits, and is found in Colorado from nine to twelve thousand feet above sea-level.

(2) =Colias elis=, Strecker, Plate XXXVI, Fig. 13, ♂; Fig. 14, ♀ (Strecker's Sulphur).

_Butterfly._--This species is discriminated from the preceding principally by the narrower black margins on the wings of the male and the more abundant yellow maculation of the borders in the female. Expanse, 1.55-1.90 inch.

_Early Stages._--Closely resembling those of the preceding species, of which it may be only a varietal form.

The habitat of the species is on the lofty peaks of the Western Cordilleras.

(3) =Colias eurytheme=, Boisduval, Plate XLVIII, Fig. 18, ♀; Plate XXXIII, Fig. 5, ♂, _under side_; Plate II, Fig. 1, _larva_; Plate V, Fig. 53, _chrysalis_ (Eurytheme).

_Butterfly._--This species has been made in recent years the subject of exhaustive study, and has been discovered to be strongly polymorphic--that is to say, liable to great variation. Not only does albinism assert itself in the production of white forms, but there are many seasonal and climatic forms. We are not yet through with our studies, and there is doubtless much more to be ascertained. The figures cited above represent the typical form of the species. We have given, in addition to these, the following forms:

(_a_) Winter form =ariadne=, Edwards, Plate XXXVI, Fig. 7, ♂; Fig. 8, ♀. This form, emerging from chrysalids which have overwintered, is like the type in having the fore wings tinged with orange. Expanse, 1.75 inch.

(_b_) Winter form =keewaydin=, Edwards, Plate XXXVI, Fig. 9, ♂; Fig. 10, ♀. This is a larger form, more deeply flushed with orange, though not quite as deeply as shown in the plate. Expanse, 1.85 inch.

(_c_) Summer form =eriphyle=, Edwards, Plate XXXV, Fig. 15, ♂; Plate XLIII, Fig. 3, ♂, _under side_. This summer form differs from typical _C. eurytheme_ in being yellow and not laved with orange. Expanse, 2.00 inches.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar feeds on clover, as do most of the species of the genus.

The range of _eurytheme_ is very wide. It extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Canada to the far South, though rare in the lower parts of Florida and Texas in the hot lands.

(4) =Colias philodice=, Godart, Plate I (Frontispiece), Fig. 4, ♂; Fig. 5, ♀; Plate II, Fig. 10, _larva_; Plate V, Figs. 54, 55, _chrysalis_ (The Common Sulphur).

_Butterfly._--We are all familiar with this species, the "puddle butterfly" of our childhood, which sits in swarms on moist places by the wayside, and makes the clover-fields gay with the flash of yellow wings in summer. There are many aberrational forms, albinos and negroes, white forms and dark forms, dwarfed forms and large forms, but in the main the species is remarkably constant, and seasonal forms and distinctly local races do not abound as in the case of the preceding species. Expanse, ♂, 1.25-1.80 inch; ♀, 1.60-2.25 inches.

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The Butterfly BookChapter IV: Books About North American Butterflies (9)

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