The Butterfly Book Part 15

(39) =Argynnis atossa=, Edwards, Plate XIII, Fig. 12, ? (Atossa).

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XIV | | | | 1. _Argynnis meadi_, Edwards, ?. | | 2. _Argynnis meadi_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 3. _Argynnis Columbia_, Henry Edwards, | | ?. | | 4. _Argynnis adiante_, Boisduval, | | ?. | | 5. _Argynnis clio_, Edwards, ?. | | 6. _Argynnis clio_, Edwards, ?. | | 7. _Argynnis clio_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 8. _Argynnis opis_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 9. _Argynnis zerene_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 10. _Argynnis behrensi_, Edwards, ?. | | 11. _Argynnis aphrodite,_, Fabricius, | | ?, _under side_. | | 12. _Argynnis lais_, Edwards, ?. | | 13. _Argynnis lais_, Edwards, ?. | | 14. _Argynnis eurynome_, Edwards, ?. | | 15. _Argynnis eurynome_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 16. _Argynnis chitone_, Edwards, ?. | | 17. _Argynnis monticola_, Behr, ?. | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE XIV.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The upper side is bright yellowish-fulvous, with the wings at the base slightly dusted with brown. The margins of both wings are bordered by a single line, there being no trace of the outer line usually found in other species of the genus. The dark markings of the outer margin are almost entirely absent, and those of the discal and basil areas very greatly reduced. On the under side both wings are very pale, the spots entirely without silver, in some specimens even their location being but faintly indicated. The fore wings at the base and on the inner margin are laved with bright red.

?.--The female resembles the male, except that the red on the under side of the fore wings is in many specimens very bright and fiery. Expanse, ?, 2.50 inches; ?, 2.75-3.00 inches.

_Early Stages._--Entirely unknown.

This b.u.t.terfly, which is still rare in collections, has been taken in southern California. It may be an extreme variation of the next species, _A. adiante_, Boisduval.

(40) =Argynnis adiante=, Boisduval, Plate XIV, Fig. 4, ? (Adiante).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The wings on the upper side are bright fulvous; the black markings are slight. The fore wings on the under side are pale buff, much lighter at the apex, laved with orange-red at the base. The hind wings are pale buff, clouded with fawn color on the basal and discal areas. All the spots which are generally silvered in other species are in this species wholly devoid of silvery scales.

?.--The female is like the male, but the black markings on the upper side are heavier, and the basal area and inner half of the primaries are laved with brighter and deeper red. Expanse, ?, 2.30-2.40 inches; ?, 2.30-2.60 inches.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

This species is found in southern California, and is somewhat local in its habits, hitherto having been taken only in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

(41) =Argynnis artonis=, Edwards, Plate XII, Fig. 13, ?, _under side_ (Artonis).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--Closely resembling _A. eurynome_, Edwards, from which species it may be at once distinguished by the entire absence of silvery scales upon the under side of the wings, and also by the fact that the silver spots on the under side of the hind wings are not compressed and elongated as much as in _eurynome_, and by the further fact that all the dark marginal markings of the under side are obliterated.

?.--The female does not differ materially from the male, except that the dark markings on the upper side are all much heavier, standing out very distinctly upon the paler ground, and the marginal spots within the lunules are very light in color and relatively large. On the under side the fore wings are laved with red, very much as in the female of _A.

adiante._ Expanse, ?, 1.75-2.00 inches; ?, 2.00-2.15 inches.

_Early Stages._--These still remain to be ascertained.

This interesting b.u.t.terfly, which seems to indicate a transition between the b.u.t.terflies of the Adiante-group and those of the Eurynome-group, has been found in Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona.

(42) =Argynnis clio=, Edwards, Plate XIV, Fig. 5, ?; Fig. 6, ?; Fig. 7, ?, _under side_ (Clio).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Closely resembling _A. eurynome_ and _A. artonis_. Like _artonis_, the spots on the under side of the wing are without silver.

The female very closely resembles the female of _artonis_, and in fact I am unable to distinguish the types of the females of the two species by any marks which seem to be satisfactory. Expanse, ?, 1.75 inch; ?, 1.75-1.90 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

This species, which is as yet comparatively rare in collections, is found in Montana and the province of Alberta, in British America, at a considerable elevation.

(43) =Argynnis opis=, Plate XIV, Fig. 8, ?, _under side_ (Opis).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This species, which apparently belongs to the Eurynome-group, appears by the location of its markings to be closely related to _eurynome_, but on the upper side the wings of both the male and female are more heavily obscured with fuscous at the base; the dark markings are heavier than in _eurynome_, and in both s.e.xes it is smaller in size, being the smallest of all the species of the genus thus far found in North America. The spots on the under side of the wings are none of them silvered. Expanse, ?, 1.50 inch; ?, 1.60 inch.

_Early Stages._--Nothing is known of these.

The types came from Bald Mountain, in the Caribou mining district of British Columbia.

(44) =Argynnis bischoffi=, Edwards, Plate XI, Fig. 7, ? (Bischoff's Fritillary).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The fore wings on the upper side are bright reddish-fulvous, the base of the primaries and the inner half of the secondaries being heavily obscured by blackish, so as to conceal the markings. Both wings have moderately heavy black marginal borders. The other markings are as in _A. eurynome_. On the under side the fore wings are buff, laved with reddish at the base. The hind wings are pale buff, with the basal and discal areas mottled with green. The marginal belt is clear buff. In some specimens the spots on the under side are not silvered; in others they are well silvered.

?.--The female on the upper side is very pale buff, slightly laved with fulvous on the outer margin of both wings. All the markings are heavy; the margins of both wings are solid black, the spots within the lunules being pale and almost white. The fore wings at the base and the inner half of the hind wings are almost solid black. On the under side the wings are very much as in the male, and the same variation as to the silvering of the spots is found. Expanse, ?, 1.80 inch; ?, 1.90 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The types of this genus came from Sitka, in Alaska. It may be an extreme boreal variation of _A. eurynome_.

(45) =Argynnis eurynome=, Edwards, Plate XII, Fig. 7, ?; Plate XIV, Fig.

14, ?; Fig. 15, ?, _under side_ (Eurynome).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The wings on the upper side are bright yellowish-fulvous, but little obscured at the base. The outer margins are edged by two fine lines which are occasionally confluent. The under side of the fore wings is pale buff, laved with cinnamon-brown at the base and along the nervules; the spots on the margin and in the apical area are well silvered. The hind wings on the under side are buff, with the basal and discal areas mottled with pale brown or pale olive-green.

The marginal belt is broad and clear buff; all the spots are well silvered.

?.--The female is like the male, but paler, with the dark markings, especially those of the margin, heavier. The marginal spots inclosed by the lunules are much paler than the ground-color, and in many specimens almost white. On the under side the wings in this s.e.x are like those of the male, but the fore wings are more heavily laved with cinnamon-brown at the base. Expanse, ?, 1.70-2.00 inches; ?, 2.00 inches.

_Early Stages._--Mr. Edwards, in "The b.u.t.terflies of North America,"

vol. ii, has given us a beautiful figure of the egg of this species. Of the other stages we have no knowledge.

_A. eurynome_ is a very common b.u.t.terfly in Colorado, Montana, and British America, and is the representative of a considerable group, to which the four preceding species belong, if, indeed, they are not local races or climatic varieties of _eurynome_, a fact which can be demonstrated only by the careful breeding of specimens from various localities. There is a fine field here for study and experiment.

(46) =Argynnis montivaga=, Behr, Plate X, Fig. 5, ?, _under side_ (Montivaga).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This species in both s.e.xes very closely approximates the foregoing. The main points of distinction consist in the somewhat darker red of the upper side of the wings, the slightly heavier dark markings, and the absence on the under side, especially of the hind wings, of the olive-green shade which is characteristic of typical specimens of _A.

eurynome._ The mottling of the basal and median areas on this side is reddish-brown. The spots are more or less silvered on the under side.

Expanse, ?, 1.75 inch; ?, 1.90 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

This species is found in the Sierras of California and among the mountains of Nevada.

(47) =Argynnis egleis=, Boisduval, Plate XIII, Fig. 13, ?; Fig. 14, ?, _under side_; Fig. 15, ? (Egleis).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The ground-color of the wings on the upper side is deep fulvous, with rather heavy black markings. The wings on the under side are pale fulvous, mottled with buff on the subapical inters.p.a.ces of the fore wings. The basal and discal areas of the hind wings are mottled with brown, which in many specimens is of a distinctly purplish shade.

In some specimens the inner half of the primaries is rather heavily laved with red. The spots on the under side are either silvered or without silver, in the latter case being pale buff.

?.--The female is much like the male, but paler. The red on the under side of the primaries is deeper, and the purplish-brown on the inner surface of the secondaries is also darker. Expanse, ?, 2.25 inches; ?, 2.50 inches.

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

This is a common species in California and Nevada. For many years it has been placed in all catalogues at the end of the list of the species of this genus, where I also leave it, though to my way of thinking its proper location is near _A. rupestris_. It certainly reveals but small affinity to the species of the Eurynome group.

Besides the species of _Argynnis_ enumerated in the foregoing pages and delineated upon the plates, there are several others of more or less doubtful validity credited to our fauna, and a number of varieties which have received names. With all of these the more advanced student will become familiar as he prosecutes his researches, but it is not necessary to speak of them here.

A RACE AFTER A b.u.t.tERFLY