The Butterfly Book Part 12

(9) =Argynnis alcestis=, Edwards, Plate X, Fig. 6, ?, _under side_ (The Ruddy Silver-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Very much like _aphrodite_, from which it may be most easily distinguished by the fact that the hind wings are uniformly dark cinnamon-brown, without any band of buff on the outer margin. Expanse, 2.50-3.00 inches. The insect flies from late June to the end of August.

_Egg._--Greenish, conoidal, with about eighteen vertical ribs.

_Caterpillar._--Head black, yellowish behind. The body velvety-black, ornamented with black spines which are yellowish at their basal ends.

The caterpillar feeds on violets.

_Chrysalis._--Reddish-brown or gray, irregularly mottled and striped with black, the abdominal segments slaty-gray, marked with black on the edges where the short angular projections are located.

This b.u.t.terfly is found in the Western States, extending from the prairie lands of northwestern Ohio to Montana. It largely replaces _aphrodite_ in these regions.

(10) =Argynnis nausicaa=, Edwards, Plate XI, Fig. 9, ? (The Arizona Silver-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The species is related to the foregoing, but is rather smaller in size. The upper side of the wings is dusky reddish-brown, with the characteristic markings of the genus. On the under side the fore wings are pink, laved with buff at the tip. The hind wings on this side are deep cinnamon-brown, mottled with buff on the inner two thirds; a narrow but clearly defined submarginal band of bright yellowish-buff surrounds them. The silvery spots are clearly marked. The female has the black markings broader and more conspicuous than the male. Expanse, 2.25-2.50 inches.

This insect is quite common in the mountain valleys of Arizona, at an elevation of from six to seven thousand feet above the level of the sea, and flies in July and August. We have no knowledge of the early stages, but it probably does not differ greatly in its larval state from the allied species of the genus.

(11)=Argynnis atlantis=, Edwards, Plate X, Fig. 9, ?; Plate V, Fig. 6, _chrysalis_ (The Mountain Silver-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This insect, which resembles _aphrodite_, is distinguished from that species by its smaller size, its somewhat narrower wings, the deeper brown color of the base of the wings on the upper side, and their darker color on the under side. The submarginal band is pale yellow, narrow, but distinct and always present. Expanse, 2.50 inches.

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XI | | | | | | 1. _Argynnis callippe_, Boisduval, ?. | | 2. _Argynnis callippe_, Boisduval, ?. | | 3. _Argynnis callippe_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 4. _Argynnis edwardsi_, Reakirt, ?. | | 5. _Argynnis edwardsi_, Reakirt, ?. | | 6. _Argynnis rhodope_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 7. _Argynnis bischoffi_, Edwards, ?. | | 8. _Argynnis cornelia_, Edwards, ?. | | 9. _Argynnis nausicaa_, Edwards, ?. | | 10. _Argynnis coronis_, Behr, ?. | | 11. _Argynnis coronis_, Behr, ?. | | | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE XI.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

_Egg._--Conoidal, with twelve to fourteen ribs, honey-yellow. The caterpillars are hatched in the fall, and hibernate without feeding until the following spring.

_Caterpillar._--The head is dark blackish-brown. The body is velvety-purple above, a little paler on the under side. The usual spines occur on the body, and are black, grayish at the base. The larva feeds on violets.

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is light brown, speckled, except on the abdominal segments, with black.

This species ranges from Maine to the mountains of western Pennsylvania, and thence southward along the central ridges of the Alleghanies into West Virginia. It is also found in Canada, and extends westward into the region of the Rocky Mountains. It is especially common in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and the Adirondacks.

(12) =Argynnis lais=, Edwards, Plate XIV, Fig. 12, ?; Fig. 13, ? (The Northwestern Silver-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The male is bright reddish-fulvous on the upper side, slightly obscured by fuscous at the base. The discal band of spots common to both wings is broken and irregular, and the spots on the hind wings are quite small. The fore wings on the under side are buff at the tips and pale red at the base and on the inner margin, lighter at the inner angle. The under side of the hind wings as far as the outer margin of the discal row of silvery spots is dark brown, mottling a yellowish ground. The submarginal band of the hind wings is pale yellow and moderately broad. The female is marked much as the male, but the discal band of spots on the upper side of the fore wings is confluent and broader, the fringes whitish, and the spots included between the sagittate marginal spots and the marginal lines paler than in the male s.e.x. Expanse, 2.00-2.20 inches.

_Caterpillar, etc._--The early stages are unknown.

This species is found in the territories of Alberta and a.s.siniboia, and in British Columbia among the foot-hills and the lower slopes of the mountain-ranges.

(13) =Argynnis oweni=, Edwards, Plate XII, Fig. 5, ?; Fig. 6, ?, _under side_ (Owen's Silver-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The wings on the upper side are dull reddish-fulvous, not much obscured with brown on the base, the black markings moderately heavy, the two marginal lines tending to flow together. The fore wings on the under side are yellowish-buff from the base to the outer row of spots, or in some specimens with the buff lightly laved with reddish; the nerves reddish-brown. The subapical patch is dark brown, with a small silvered spot; the five submarginal spots are small and obscurely silvered. The hind wings are dark brown on the discal area and outer margin, with a rather narrow grayish-buff submarginal band, strongly invaded by projections of the dark brown of the discal area. The spots of the outer discal row are generally well silvered; the inner spots less so in most cases.

?.--The female has the wings more or less mottled with yellowish outside of the mesial band. The black markings are very heavy in this s.e.x. On the under side the spots are well silvered.

The dark markings on the upper side of the wings of the male are much heavier than in _A. behrensi_. On the under side of the wings in both s.e.xes it may be distinguished from _behrensi_ by the fact that the ground-color toward the base is mottled with yellow, and not solid brown as in _behrensi_. Expanse, 2.25-2.40 inches.

This species abounds on Mount Shasta, in California, at an elevation of seven to eight thousand feet above sea-level.

(14) =Argynnis cornelia=, Edwards. Plate XI, Fig. 8, ? (Miss Owen's Fritillary).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The upper side of both wings is dark brown from the base to the mesial band of spots, with the exception of the outer end of the cell. The s.p.a.ce beyond the band is reddish-fulvous; the dark markings are not very heavy; the two marginal lines are fine, and confluent at the ends of the nervules. The under side of the fore wings is reddish-brown from the base to the outer margin on the inner half of the wing; the outer s.p.a.ces toward the apex are yellowish; the subapical patch is reddish-brown, inclosing a small silvery spot; the outer margin is reddish-brown, adorned with five small silvery spots toward the apex.

The hind wings on the under side are almost solid reddish-brown to the clear yellow submarginal belt, only slightly mottled on the discal area with buff. The spots are small and well silvered.

?.--The female on the upper side is duller red, with the dark markings heavier; the marginal spots on the fore wings are pale yellowish, and the marginal lines are confluent on the upper half of these wings. The wings on the under side in this s.e.x are as in the male, but the ground-color on the inner half of the wings is darker, and the spots are more brilliantly silvered. Expanse, 2.30-2.50 inches.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

This pretty species is found with _A. electa_ and _A. hesperis_ in Colorado. It was originally described from specimens taken at Manitou and Ouray, and named by Edwards in honor of a deceased daughter of Professor Owen of the University of Wisconsin.

(15) =Argynnis electa=, Edwards, Plate X, Fig. 8, ? (Electa).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The male is dull reddish-fulvous on the upper side. The black markings are narrow. The base of both wings is slightly obscured.

On the under side the fore wings are pale cinnamon-red, with the tip dark cinnamon-red. The hind wings are broadly dark cinnamon-red, mottled on the disk with a little buff. The submarginal band is buff, quite narrow, and often invaded by the ground-color of the inner area. The silvery spots are usually very well marked and distinct, though in a few instances the silvery color is somewhat obscured. The female has the black markings a little heavier than in the male; otherwise there is but little difference between the s.e.xes. Expanse, 2.00-2.25 inches.

_Caterpillar, etc._--The early stages are unknown.

This species has been confounded with _A. atlantis_, from which it is wholly distinct, being much smaller in size, the fore wings relatively broader, and the markings not so dark on the upper surface. It is found in Colorado and Montana, among the mountains.

(16) =Argynnis columbia=, Henry Edwards, Plate XIV, Fig. 3, ? (The Columbian Silver-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The male has the upper side of the fore wings pale reddish-fulvous. In the median band of both wings the spots do not flow together, but are separate and moderately heavy. The under side of the fore wings is pale fulvous, buff at the tip; spots silvered. The hind wings on the under side are light rusty-red, but little mottled with buff on the disk; the submarginal band is narrow, buff, and sometimes almost wholly obscured by the darker ground-color. The spots, which are small, are well silvered. The female is much lighter than the male, and, as usual, the dark lines are heavier than in that s.e.x. The spots of the median band are bent and partly lanceolate, and the light spots of the outer border are whitish. Expanse, 2.25-2.50 inches.

_Caterpillar, etc._--The early stages have not as yet been worked out.

This species, which is related to _electa_, may easily be distinguished from it by the pale marginal series of light spots, in the male, between the sagittate spots and the dark outer marginal lines, which latter are confluent, forming a solid dark outer border to the wing, while in _electa_ they are separated by a narrow band of light-brown spots. The female is also much lighter and larger than in _electa_, as has been pointed out. The types which came from the Caribou mining region of British Columbia are in my possession, as are those of most of the other North American species of the genus.

(17) =Argynnis hesperis=, Edwards, Plate XII, Fig. 1, ?; Fig. 2, ?

(Hesperis).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The male on the upper side of the wings is fulvous, shaded with dark fuscous for a short distance from the base. The black spots of the median band are rather broad, and seem to coalesce through dark markings along the nervules. The under side of the fore wings is pale ferruginous, tinged with a little buff at the tips, which, together with the outer margin, are somewhat heavily clouded with dark ferruginous.

The under side of the hind wings is dark ferruginous, with a narrow buff submarginal band, which in some specimens is almost lost. The female is paler than the male in the ground-color of the upper side, the black markings are heavier, the marginal lines fuse, as do also the sagittate marginal markings, leaving the marginal spots between them, which are quite light in color, deeply bordered on all sides by black. The under side is like that of the male, but darker and richer in color. In neither s.e.x are the light spots marked with silver; they are opaque, yellowish-white. Expanse, 2.25-2.40 inches.

_Caterpillar, etc._--The life-history remains to be learned.

This insect is not uncommon among the mountains of Colorado.

(18) =Argynnis hippolyta=, Edwards, Plate XII, Fig. 10, ? (Hippolyta).

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XII | | | | | | 1. _Argynnis hesperis_, Edwards, ?. | | 2. _Argynnis hesperis_, Edwards, ?. | | 3. _Argynnis cypris_, Edwards, ?. | | 4. _Argynnis cypris_, Edwards, ?. | | 5. _Argynnis oweni_, Edwards, ?. | | 6. _Argynnis oweni_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 7. _Argynnis eurynome_, Edwards, ?. | | 8. _Argynnis rupestris_, Behr, ?. | | 9. _Argynnis rupestris_, Behr, ?, | | _under side_. | | 10. _Argynnis hippolyta_, Edwards, ?. | | 11. _Argynnis laura_, Edwards, ?. | | 12. _Argynnis laura_, Edwards, ?. | | 13. _Argynnis artonis_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE XII.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

_b.u.t.terfly._--The male is fulvous upon the upper side, all the dark markings being heavy and black, and the basal areas of the wings clouded with fuscous, this dark clouding on the hind wings reaching down and nearly covering the inner angle. The fore wings on the under side are buff, laved with pale red at the base, marked with ferruginous on the outer margin and about the subapical spots. The submarginal and subapical spots are silvered, especially the latter. The hind wings are deep ferruginous, mottled with buff. The submarginal band is buff, narrow, and dusted with more or less ferruginous. All the spots are well silvered. The female has the basal area of the fore wings bright pinkish-fulvous, and the belt of the secondaries almost lost in the deep ground-color.

(19) =Argynnis bremneri=, Edwards, Plate X, Fig. 7, ? (Bremner's Silver-spot).