The Butterfly Book Part 21

(3) =Phyciodes vesta=, Edwards, Plate XVII, Fig. 17, ?; Fig. 18, ?; Fig. 19, ?, _under side_ (Vesta).

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XVII | | | | 1. _Melitaea alma_, Strecker, ?. | | 2. _Melitaea elada_, Hewitson, ?. | | 3. _Melitaea chara_, Edwards, ?. | | 4. _Melitaea chara_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 5. _Melitaea harrisi_, Scudder, ?. | | 6. _Melitaea harrisi_, Scudder, ?, | | _under side_. | | 7. _Melitaea whitneyi_, Behr, ?. | | 8. _Melitaea whitneyi_, Behr, ?, | | _under side_. | | 9. _Melitaea wrighti_, Edwards, ?. | | 10. _Melitaea wrighti_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 11. _Melitaea minuta_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 12. _Melitaea minuta_, Edwards, ?. | | 13. _Melitaea hoffmanni_, Behr, ?. | | 14. _Melitaea hoffmanni_, Behr, ?, | | _aberration_. | | 15. _Melitaea thekla_, Edwards, ? | | _under side_. | | 16. _Melitaea thekla_, Edwards, ?. | | 17. _Phyciodes vesta_, Edwards, ?. | | 18. _Phyciodes vesta_, Edwards, ?. | | 19. _Phyciodes vesta_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 20. _Phyciodes picta_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 21. _Phyciodes picta_, Edwards, ?. | | 22. _Phyciodes phaon_, Edwards, ?. | | 23. _Phyciodes phaon_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 24. _Phyciodes ismeria_, Boisduval and | | Leconte, ?. | | 25. _Phyciodes ismeria_, Boisduval and | | Leconte, ?, _under side_. | | 26. _Phyciodes montana_, Behr, ?, | | _under side_. | | 27. _Phyciodes montana_, Behr, ?. | | 28. _Phyciodes nycteis_, Doubleday and | | Hewitson, ?, _under side_. | | 29. _Phyciodes nycteis_, Doubleday and | | Hewitson, ?. | | 30. _Phyciodes nycteis_, Doubleday and | | Hewitson, ?. | | 31. _Phyciodes orseis_, Edwards, ?. | | 32. _Phyciodes camillus_, Edwards, ?. | | 33. _Phyciodes camillus_, Edwards, ?. | | 34. _Phyciodes camillus_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 35. _Phyciodes batesi_, Reakirt, ?. | | 36. _Phyciodes batesi_, Reakirt, ?, | | _under side_. | | 37. _Phyciodes pratensis_, Behr, ?. | | 38. _Phyciodes pratensis_, Behr, ?, | | _under side_. | | 39. _Eresia punctata_, Edwards, ?. | | 40. _Phyciodes mylitta_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 41. _Phyciodes mylitta_, Edwards, ?. | | 42. _Eresia frisia_, Poey, ?. | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE XVII.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--On the upper side it closely resembles the winter form _marcia_ of _Phyciodes tharos_, Drury; but the black markings are more evenly distributed. The under side is a pale yellowish-fulvous, and the black markings are slight.

?.--The female is like the male, but paler. Expanse, ?, 1.15 inch; ?, 1.25 inch.

_Early Stages._--The chrysalis has been described by Edwards in the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xi, p. 129. This is all we know of the early life of the insect.

It is found in Texas and Mexico.

(4) =Phyciodes phaon=, Edwards, Plate XVII, Fig. 22, ?; Fig. 23. ?, _under side_ (Phaon).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The ground-color of the male is paler on the upper side than in _Phyciodes tharos_, and the black markings are much heavier. The median band on the fore wings is yellowish. The wings on the under side are yellow, shaded with fulvous on the primaries, on which the dark markings are heavy.

?.--Like the male. Expanse, ?, .90 inch; ?, 1.25 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

This insect inhabits the Gulf States, and has been occasionally taken in Kansas.

(5) =Phyciodes tharos=, Drury, Plate XVIII, Fig. 1, ?; Fig. 2, ?; var.

=marcia=, Edwards, Plate XVIII, Fig. 3, ?; Fig. 4, ?; Plate V, Figs.

20-22, _chrysalis_ (The Pearl Crescent).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This very common and well-known little insect scarcely needs to be described. The upper side is bright fulvous, with heavy black borders; all the other dark markings are slight. The wings on the under side are paler, with the dark markings of the upper side showing through, and there are additional markings of brown on the hind wings.

Expanse, ?, 1.25 inch; ?, 1.65 inch.

_Early Stages._--The early stages of this insect have been worked out with the most extreme care by Mr. Edwards, and the reader who is curious to know about them should consult "The b.u.t.terflies of North America."

Dr. Scudder also has minutely and laboriously described the early stages in "The b.u.t.terflies of New England." The egg is light greenish-yellow.

The caterpillar, which feeds upon various species of aster and allied _Compositae_, is dark brown after the third moult, its back dotted with yellow, adorned with short, black, bristly spines, which are yellow at the base. The chrysalis is grayish-white, mottled with dark spots and lines.

This species is one of many dimorphic species, the winter form _marcia_, which emerges in spring, having the under side brighter, and the light markings more conspicuous on that side than in the summer form, which has been called _morpheus_. Concerning all of this, and the way in which cold affects the color of b.u.t.terflies, the reader will do well to consult the splendid pages of Edwards and of Scudder.

The pretty little Pearl Crescent ranges from southern Labrador to Florida; in fact, all over North America north of Texas and south of the region of Hudson Bay, except the Pacific coast of California.

(6) =Phyciodes batesi=, Reakirt, Plate XVII, Fig. 35, ?; Fig. 36, ?, _under side_ (Bates' Crescent-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--On the upper side much like _P. tharos_, with the black markings very heavy. The under side of the hind wings is uniformly pale fulvous or yellow, with a row of faint submarginal brown spots.

?.--Like the male. Expanse, ?, 1.25 inch; ?, 1.50-1.65 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

This species ranges from New York to Virginia, and westward to Ohio.

(7) =Phyciodes pratensis=, Behr, Plate XVII, Fig. 37, ?; Fig. 38, ?, _under side_ (The Meadow Crescent-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The b.u.t.terfly resembles the preceding species on the upper side, but the ground-color is much paler and the black markings are not so heavy. The under side of the wings is pale fulvous, spotted with yellow.

?.--The female has the black markings of the upper side heavier than the male, and all the spots pale yellow. The markings on the under side are heavier than in the male s.e.x. Expanse, ?, 1.15 inch; ?, 1.40 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The range of this species is the Pacific coast from Oregon to Arizona.

(8) =Phyciodes orseis=, Edwards, Plate XVII, Fig. 31, ? (Orseis).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The dark markings on the upper side are much heavier than in either of the two preceding species, and the fulvous spots are smaller, the marginal crescents more regular and distinct. The markings on the under side are also much heavier than in _P. batesi_ or _P.

pratensis._

?.--The female is like the male, but all the dark markings are heavier and the pale markings lighter. Expanse, ?, 1.35 inch; ?, 1.60 inch.

_Early Stages._--These remain to be described.

_Phyciodes orseis_ ranges from Washington Territory in the north to Mexico in the south.

(9) =Phyciodes camillus=, Edwards, Plate XVII, Fig. 32, ?; Fig. 33, ?; Fig. 34, ?, _under side_ (The Camillus Crescent).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The male is more like _P. pratensis_, but the light spots on the primaries are paler, on the secondaries brighter, fulvous.

The dark markings on the under side are less p.r.o.nounced than in _pratensis_.

?.--The female is much like the male. Expanse, ?, 1.30 inch; ?, 1.50 inch.

_Early Stages._--These are wholly unknown.

The species is reported from British Columbia, Colorado, Montana, Kansas, and Texas.

(10) =Phyciodes mylitta=, Edwards, Plate XVII, Fig. 40, ?, _under side_; Fig. 41, ? (The Mylitta Crescent).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--Broadly bright fulvous on the upper side, with the dark markings slight; on the under side closely resembling _P. tharos_, var.

_marcia_, Edwards.

?.--The female is like the male, but paler. Expanse, ?, 1.15 inch; ?, 1.25-1.50 inch.

_Early Stages._--These have been described by Mr. Harrison G. Dyar in the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xxiii, p. 203. The eggs are laid in cl.u.s.ters upon the thistle (_Carduus_). The caterpillar in its final stage after the fourth moult is black, yellowish below, with a faint twinned yellow dorsal line and faint lines of the same color on the sides. The spines, which are arranged in six rows, are black; those of segments four, five, and six, yellow. The chrysalis is dull wood-brown.

This species has a wide range in the region of the Rocky Mountains, extending from Washington to Arizona, and eastward to Colorado.

(11) =Phyciodes barnesi=, Skinner, Plate XVIII, Fig. 5, ? (Barnes'

Crescent-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--Very like the following species, with the light fulvous of the upper side of the wings more widely extended, causing the dark markings to be greatly restricted. The figure in the plate is, in this species as in most others, that of the type, and I am under obligations to Dr. Skinner for kind permission to have the use of the specimen. Expanse, 1.75 inch.

The type came from Colorado Springs.

(12) =Phyciodes montana=, Behr, Plate XVII, Fig. 26, ?, _under side_; Fig. 27, ? (The Mountain Crescent-spot).