The Butterfly Book Part 22

_b.u.t.terfly._--Upon the upper side the wings are marked much as in _P.

camillus_, but are prevalently bright fulvous, with the dark markings quite slight in most specimens. On the under side the wings are pale yellowish-fulvous. The female usually has the secondaries crossed by a broad median band of very pale spots. Expanse, ?, 1.25 inch; ?, 1.50 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The habitat of this species is the Sierras of California and Nevada.

(13) =Phyciodes picta=, Edwards, Plate XVII, Fig. 20, ?, _under side_; Fig. 21, ? (The Painted Crescent-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The b.u.t.terfly in both s.e.xes somewhat closely resembles _P.

phaon_ on the upper side. On the under side the fore wings are red on the median area, with the base, the costa, the apex, and the outer margin pale yellow; the black markings very prominent. The hind wings on the under side are nearly immaculate yellow. Expanse, ?, .80-1.10 inch; ?, 1.10-1.25 inch.

_Early Stages._--These may be found described with minute exactness by Mr. W.H. Edwards in the pages of the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xvi, pp. 163-167. The egg is yellowish-green. The caterpillar moults five times. When mature it is about six tenths of an inch long, armed with seven princ.i.p.al rows of short spines, which appear to vary in color in the spring and fall broods, being light brown in the June brood and greenish-yellow in the October brood. The prevalent color of the caterpillar is some shade of yellowish-or greenish-brown, mottled with lighter and darker tints. The chrysalis is yellowish-brown. The food-plants of the caterpillar are various species of aster.

This species is found as far north as Nebraska, and is abundant in Colorado and New Mexico, ranging southward through Arizona into Mexico.

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XVIII | | | | 1. _Phyciodes tharos_, Drury, ?. | | 2. _Phyciodes tharos_, Drury, ?. | | 3. _Phyciodes tharos_, var. _marcia_, | | Edwards, ?. | | 4. _Phyciodes tharos_, var. _marcia_, | | Edwards, ?. | | 5. _Phyciodes barnesi_, Skinner, ?. | | 6. _Argynnis snyderi_, Skinner, ?. | | 7. _Argynnis platina_, Skinner, ?. | | 8. _Eresia texana_, Edwards, ?. | | 9. _Eresia texana_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 10. _Synchloe janais_, Drury, ?. | | 11. _Synchloe lacinia_, Hubner, ?. | | 12. _Eresia ianthe_, Fabricius, ?. | | 13. _Melitaea anicia_, var. _beani_, | | Skinner, ?. | | 14. _Brenthis astarte_, Doubleday and | | Hewitson, ?. | | 15. _Brenthis astarte_, Doubleday and | | Hewitson, ?, _under side_. | | 16. _Brenthis helena_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 17. _Brenthis helena_, Edwards, ?. | | 18. _Debis creola_, Skinner, ?. | | 19. _Debis creola_, Skinner, ?. | | 20. _Debis portlandia_, Fabricius, ?. | | 21. _Geirocheilus tritonia_, Edwards, ?. | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE XVIII.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

Genus ERESIA, Doubleday

_b.u.t.terfly._--Small b.u.t.terflies, closely resembling the species of the genus _Phyciodes_ in the neuration of the wings, and only differing from them in the outline of the outer margin of the primaries, which are more or less excavated about the middle. In the style of the markings they differ somewhat widely from the b.u.t.terflies of the genus _Phyciodes_, notably in the absence of the crescents on the margins of the wings. The wings on the upper side are generally some shade of deep brown or black, marked with spots and bands of white or fulvous, the median band on the hind wings being generally more or less conspicuous. In the pattern of their markings they ill.u.s.trate a transition from the genus _Phyciodes_ to the genus _Synchloe._

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 93.--Neuration of the genus _Eresia_, slightly enlarged.]

_Egg._--Hitherto undescribed.

_Caterpillar._--Cylindrical, with seven rows of spines, one dorsal, and three lateral on each side; the spines are short, blunt, and armed with short bristles. The head is subcordate, with the vertices rounded. It moults four times.

_Chrysalis._--Cylindrical, abdomen stout, head-case short, beveled, nearly square at top, the vertices pyramidal. There are three rows of small tubercles on the dorsal side of the abdomen.

The caterpillars so far as known feed upon various _Compositae_, as _Diclippa_ and _Actinomeris_.

The genus, which is somewhat doubtfully separable from _Phyciodes_, and probably possesses only subgeneric value, is well represented in Central and South America. But three species are found in the faunal region of which this book treats.

(1) =Eresia frisia=, Poey, Plate XVII, Fig. 42, ? (Frisia).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Upper side reddish-fulvous, clouded with fuscous at the base. On the basal area are waved black lines, separate on the hind wings, more or less blended on the fore wings. The outer border is broadly black. Between this border and the basal third the wing is crossed by irregular black bands, the s.p.a.ces between which are paler fulvous than the base and the hind wings, those near the outer margin being whitish. These bands are continued broadly across the hind wings.

The wings on the under side are fulvous, mottled with dark brown and white, and spotted with conspicuous white spots. The male and the female closely resemble each other. Expanse, 1.40 inch.

The early stages are wholly unknown.

The only locality within the limits of the United States in which this insect has been found is Key West, in Florida. It is abundant in the Antilles, Mexico, Central and South America.

(2) =Eresia texana=, Edwards, Plate XVIII, Fig. 8, ?; Fig. 9, ?, _under side_ (The Texan Eresia).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Black on the upper side of the wings, shading into reddish-brown on the basal area. The fore wings are spotted on the median and limbal areas with white, and the hind wings are adorned by a conspicuous median band of small white spots. On the under side the fore wings are fulvous at the base, broadly dark brown beyond the middle. The light spots of the upper side reappear on the lower side. The hind wings on the under side are marbled wood-brown on the basal area and the inner margin, darker brown externally. The white macular band of the upper side reappears on this side, but less distinct than above. Expanse, ?, 1.25-1.50 inch; ?, 1.60-1.75 inch.

_Early Stages._--For the only account of the life-history of this species the reader is referred to the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xi, p. 127, where the indefatigable Edwards gives us an interesting account of his original observations.

This insect ranges from Texas into Mexico. It has been confounded by some with a closely allied insect, =Eresia ianthe=, Fabricius, and to show the difference we have given in Plate XVIII, Fig. 12, a representation of that species, by means of which the reader will be enabled to mark the difference on the upper surfaces of the two species.

(3) =Eresia punctata=, Edwards, Plate XVII, Fig. 39, ? (The Dotted Eresia).

_b.u.t.terfly._--A lengthy description of this little species is scarcely necessary, as the figure in the plate will suffice for its accurate determination. Nothing is known of its early stages. Expanse, 1.10 inch.

It is found in New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. It has been recently declared to be identical with _E. tulcis_, Bates, an opinion I am not quite prepared to accept, but which, if correct, will force us, according to the law of priority, to subst.i.tute the name given by Bates for that given by Edwards.

Genus SYNCHLOe, Boisduval (The Patched b.u.t.terflies)

_b.u.t.terfly._--Medium-sized or small b.u.t.terflies, rather gaily colored, although the species found in the United States are not very brilliant.

They may be distinguished structurally from the b.u.t.terflies of the two preceding genera not only by their larger size and the spindle-formed third article of the palpi, which in the genera _Eresia_ and _Phyciodes_ is thin and pointed like a needle, but also by the fact that the lower discocellular vein of the fore wings is generally quite straight and not bowed or angled as in the before-mentioned genera.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 94.--Neuration of the genus _Synchloe_, enlarged.]

_Egg._--Similar in appearance to the eggs of the genus _Phyciodes_: obovoid, truncated, and slightly depressed at top, rounded at the bottom; the lower three fifths with shallow depressions; the upper part with about twenty-four light blunt-edged ribs. The eggs are laid in cl.u.s.ters upon the leaves of _Helianthus_.

_Caterpillar._--Varying in color, generally black or some shade of red or brown, covered with spines which are arranged as in the genus _Melitaea_ and are thickly beset with diverging bristles. The caterpillar moults four times.

_Chrysalis._--Shaped as in the genus _Melitaea_, light in color, blotched with dark brown or black spots and lines.

The genus is well represented in Central and South America. Some of the species are polymorphic, many varieties being produced from a single batch of eggs. The result has been considerable confusion in the specific nomenclature.

(1) =Synchloe janais=, Drury, Plate XVIII, Fig. 10, ? (The Crimson-patch).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Fore wings black above, spotted with white; hind wings black above, marked in the center with a broad band of crimson. On the under side the markings of the upper side of the fore wings are reproduced. The hind wings on the under side are black at the base and on the outer third; immediately at the base is a yellow bar; across the middle is a broad yellow band laved outwardly by red, upon which are numerous black spots. There is a marginal row of yellow spots and an inner row of smaller white spots on the limbal area. Expanse, 2.50-3.00 inches.

_Early Stages._--What is known of these is contained in articles published by Mr. William Schaus, "Papilio," vol. iii, p. 188; and by Henry Edwards, "Entomologica Americana," vol. iii, p. 161, to which the reader may refer.

The habitat of the species is Texas, Mexico, and Central America. The insect is very variable in the markings both of the upper and under sides, and several so-called species are only varietal forms of this.

(2) =Synchloe lacinia=, Hubner, Plate XVIII, Fig. 11, ?; form =crocale=, Edwards, Plate XXIV, Fig. 8, ?, _under side_; Fig. 9, ?

(Lacinia).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This is a protean species, a dozen or more well-marked varietal forms being produced, many of them from a single batch of eggs.

The wings on the upper side are black; both primaries and secondaries are crossed about the middle by a band of spots, generally broken on the primaries and continuous on the secondaries. These spots in the typical form _lacinia_ are fulvous, and the bands are broad. In the form _crocale_ the spots are white, the bands narrow. A great variety of intergrading forms are known and are represented in the author's collection, most of them bred specimens reared from the egg. On the under side the fore wings are marked as on the upper side. The hind wings on the under side are black, with a marginal row of spots, a transverse straight median band, a short basal band, and a costal edging, all bright straw-yellow; in addition there is a submarginal row of small white spots and a crimson patch of variable size at the a.n.a.l angle. Expanse, ?, 1.50-2.00 inches; ?, 1.75-2.75 inches.

_Early Stages._--These are described fully by Edwards in the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xxv, p. 286.

_Lacinia_ ranges from Texas and New Mexico to Bolivia.

FAUNAL REGIONS

That branch of zoological science which treats of the geographical distribution of animals is known as zoogeography. None of the zoological sciences has contributed more to a knowledge of the facts with which zoogeography deals than the science of entomology.

Various divisions of the surface of the earth, based upon the character of the living beings which inhabit them, have been suggested. At the present time, however, it is agreed that in a general way five major subdivisions are sufficient for the purposes of the science, and we therefore recognize five faunal regions, namely, the _Palaearctic_, which includes the temperate regions of the eastern hemisphere; the _Indo-Malayan_, covering the tropics of Asia and the islands lying south of that great continent, including Australia; the _Ethiopian_, covering the continent of Africa south of the lands bordering on the Mediterranean, and extending northward into the southern part of Arabia; the _Neotropical_, covering the continent of South America and the islands of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico; and, finally, the _Nearctic_, covering the temperate and polar regions of North America.

The b.u.t.terflies with which this volume deals are mostly nearctic species, only a few species representing the neotropical region being found as stragglers into the extreme southern portion of the United States.

These five faunal regions are characterized by the presence of certain groups of insects which are more or less peculiar to them. In the Palaearctic Region, for instance, we find a very great development of the _Satyrinae_, of the genera _Argynnis_, _Melitaea_, and _Lycaena_, and of the genus _Colias_. The genus _Papilio_ is but poorly represented, there being only three species found on the entire continent of Europe, and comparatively few in Asia north of the Himalayan mountain-ranges.