The Butterfly Book Part 67

_Early Stages._--These have not yet been studied.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 171.--Neuration of the genus _Prenes_, enlarged.]

(1) =Prenes ocola=, Edwards, Plate XLVI, Fig. 34, ? (The Ocola Skipper).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Accurately depicted in the plate. The under side is like the upper side, but a shade paler. The under side of the abdomen is whitish. Expanse, 1.45-1.60 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

This is a Southern species, found commonly in the Gulf States, and ranging northward to Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, and Indiana.

Genus CALPODES, Hubner

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 172.--Neuration of the genus _Calpodes_, enlarged.]

_b.u.t.terfly._--Rather large, stout; head broad; antennae as in the preceding genus, but stouter. The neuration, considerably enlarged, is accurately delineated in the cut.

_Egg._--Hemispherical, ornamented with irregular, more or less pentagonal cells.

_Caterpillar._--Cylindrical, slender, tapering forward and backward from the ninth segment, rapidly diminishing in size posteriorly; the head relatively small, the neck not much strangulated; spiracles surrounded by radiating blackish bristles.

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is relatively slender, gently convex both on the ventral and dorsal aspects, with a curved delicate frontal tubercle.

The tongue-case is long and projects for a considerable distance beyond the somewhat short cremaster.

(1) =Calpodes ethlius=, Cramer, Plate XLV, Fig. 3, ?; Plate VI, Fig. 48, _chrysalis_ (The Brazilian Skipper).

_b.u.t.terfly._--There can be no mistaking this robust and thick-bodied species. The wings on the under side are dull olive, blackish at the base of the primaries, with all the spots of the upper side repeated.

Expanse, 2.00-2.15 inches.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar feeds on the leaves of the canna.

It is common in the Gulf States, and ranges north to South Carolina. A stray specimen was once taken at West Farms, New York. Southward it ranges everywhere through the Antilles to Argentina, in South America.

Genus LERODEA, Scudder

_b.u.t.terfly._--The antennae are about half as long as the costa; the club is robust, slightly elongated, with a distinct crook at the extremity; the palpi have the third joint erect, minute, and bluntly conical. The neuration is represented in the cut.

_Early Stages._--These are not known.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 173.--Neuration of the genus _Lerodea_, enlarged.]

(1) =Lerodea eufala=, Edwards, Plate XLVI, Fig. 33, ? (Eufala).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The plate shows the upper side of the female. The male is not different, except that the fore wings are a little more pointed at the apex. The under side is like the upper side, but a shade paler. The lower side of the abdomen is whitish. When seen on the wing the creature looks like a small _Prenes ocola_. Expanse, 1.10-1.20 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

This b.u.t.terfly is found in the Gulf States.

Genus LIMOCh.o.r.eS, Scudder

_b.u.t.terfly._--The antennae are about half as long as the costa; the club is robust, elongate, with a very short terminal crook; the palpi have the third joint erect, short, bluntly conical. The male has a linear discal stigma on the upper side of the fore wing, as shown in the cut.

_Egg._--Hemispherical, somewhat flattened on the top, the surface broken up by delicate raised lines into pentagonal cells.

_Caterpillar._--Largest on the fourth and fifth abdominal segments, tapering to either end. The larvae feed on gra.s.ses, and construct a tube-like nest of delicate films of silk between the blades.

_Chrysalis._--Comparatively slender, strongly convex on the thoracic segments and on the dorsal side of the last segments of the abdomen. On the ventral side the chrysalis is nearly straight. The cremaster, which is short, is bent upward at an oblique angle with the line of the ventral surface.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 174.--Neuration of the genus _Limoch.o.r.es_, enlarged.]

(1) =Limoch.o.r.es taumas=, Fabricius, Plate XLVII, Fig. 20, ?; Plate VI, Fig. 44, _chrysalis_ (The Fawny-edged Skipper).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the male is excellently portrayed in the plate. The female is without the tawny edge on the fore wing, the entire wing being olivaceous, with three small subapical spots and a median row of four spots beyond the end of the cell, increasing in size toward the inner margin. On the under side in both s.e.xes the wings are uniformly dull olivaceous, with the spots of the upper side repeated. The costa of the male is edged with red on this side, as well as on the upper side.

Expanse, ?, 1.00 inch; ?, 1.20 inch.

_Early Stages._--The reader who wishes to know about them may consult the pages of "The b.u.t.terflies of New England." The caterpillar feeds on gra.s.ses.

The insect ranges from Canada to the Gulf, and westward to Texas, Colorado, and Montana.

(2) =Limoch.o.r.es manataaqua=, Scudder, Plate XLVI, Fig. 30, ? (The Cross-line Skipper).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The male on the upper side is dusky-olive, with a black discal streak below the cell, which is slightly touched with reddish, becoming deeper and clearer red on the costa at the base. The wings on the under side are more or less pale gray, with a transverse series of pale spots on the primaries, and a very faint curved discal series of similar spots on the secondaries. The female, the upper side of which is well shown in the plate, is marked below much like the male. Expanse, 1.10-1.20 inch.

_Early Stages._--These have been described by Scudder.

The insect occurs in New England and Canada, and ranges westward to Nebraska.

(3) =Limoch.o.r.es pontiac=, Edwards, Plate XLVI, Fig. 16, ?; Fig. 17, ?

(Pontiac).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This fine insect is so well represented in the plate as to require but little description. The wings are pale red, clouded with dusky on the under side, the spots of the upper side being indistinctly repeated. Expanse, ?, 1.15 inch; ?, 1.25 inch.

_Early Stages._--Little is known of these.

The insect ranges from Ma.s.sachusetts to Iowa and Nebraska, and seems to have its metropolis about the southern end of Lake Michigan.

(4) =Limoch.o.r.es palatka=, Edwards, Plate XLVI, Fig. 21, ? (The Palatka Skipper).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the male needs no description. The female closely resembles the female of _L. byssus_, which is shown in the plate at Fig. 20, but differs from the female of that species in having the median spots on the primaries much reduced in size, the band of spots being greatly interrupted beyond the end of the cell. On the hind wing the female has the entire surface of the secondaries inside of the broad outer band fulvous, as shown in the figure of the male, and not simply marked by a transverse narrow band of spots. On the under side the fore wings are bright fulvous, clouded with black at the base and near the outer angle. The hind wings are uniformly dull reddish-brown. This species has been identified by Dr. Scudder with a species named _dion_ by Edwards, but which is a very different thing.

Expanse, ?, 1.50-1.65 inch; ?, 1.90-2.00 inches.

_Early Stages._--We know nothing of these.

The insect is confined to Florida, all the specimens which I have seen coming from the region of the Indian River.