The Butterfly Book Part 28

_Early Stages._--The life-history of the genus has not been carefully worked out, but an account has been published recently of the caterpillar of the only species found within our fauna, which shows that, while in general resembling the caterpillars of the genus _Basilarchia_, the segments are adorned with more branching spines and with short fleshy tubercles, giving rise to small cl.u.s.ters of hairs.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 109.--Neuration of the genus _Adelpha_.]

The chrysalids are of peculiar form, with bifid heads and broad wing-cases. They are generally brown in color, with metallic spots. The only species in our fauna is confined to southern California, Arizona, and Mexico.

(1) =Adelpha californica=, Butler, Plate XXII, Fig. 2, ? (The Californian Sister).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Easily recognized by the large subtriangular patch of orange-red at the apex of the primaries. In its habits and manner of flight it closely resembles the species of the genus _Basilarchia_.

Expanse, 2.50-3.00 inches.

_Early Stages._--So far as is known to the writer, these have not been described, except partially by Henry Edwards in the "Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences," vol. v, p. 171. The caterpillar feeds upon oaks.

The insect is found in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Mexico.

Genus CHLORIPPE, Boisduval

(The Hackberry b.u.t.terflies)

_b.u.t.terfly._--Small b.u.t.terflies, generally some shade of fulvous, marked with eye-like spots on the posterior margin of the secondaries, and occasionally upon the outer margin of the primaries, the fore wings as well as the hind wings being in addition more or less strongly spotted and banded with black. The eyes are naked; the antennae are straight, provided with a stout, oval club; the palpi are porrect, the second joint heavily clothed with hairs, the third joint short, likewise covered with scales. The costal vein of the fore wing is stout. The first subcostal vein alone arises before the end of the cell. The cell is open in both wings.

_Egg._--The eggs, which are deposited in cl.u.s.ters, are nearly globular, the summit broad and convex. The egg is ornamented by from eighteen to twenty rather broad vertical ribs, having no great elevation, between which are numerous faint and delicate cross-lines.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 110.--Neuration of the genus _Clorippe_, ?.]

_Caterpillar._--The head is subquadrate, with the summit crowned by a pair of diverging stout coronal spines which have upon them a number of radiating spinules. Back of the head, on the sides, is a frill of curved spines. The body is cylindrical, thickest at the middle, tapering forward and backward from this point. The a.n.a.l prolegs are widely divergent and elongated, as in many genera of the _Satyrinoe_.

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is compressed laterally and keeled on the dorsal side, concave on the ventral side, the head distinctly bifid. The cremaster is very remarkable, presenting the appearance of a flattened disk, the sides studded with hooks, by means of which the chrysalis is attached to the surface, from which it depends in such a manner that the ventral surface is parallel to the plane of support.

The caterpillars feed upon the _Celtis_, or hackberry.

There are a number of species, mainly confined to the southwestern portion of the United States, though some of them range southward into Mexico. Two only are known in the Middle States. The species are double-brooded in the more northern parts of the country, and the caterpillars produced from eggs laid by the second brood hibernate.

(1) =Chlorippe celtis=, Boisduval and Leconte, Plate XXIII, Fig. 3, ?; Fig. 4, ?; Fig. 11, ?, _under side_ (The Hackberry b.u.t.terfly).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The primaries at the base and the secondaries except at the outer angle pale olive-brown, the rest of the wings black. The dark apical tract of the primaries is marked by two irregular, somewhat broken bands of white spots. There is a red-ringed eye-spot between the first and second median nervules, near the margin of the fore wing, and there are six such spots on each hind wing. On the under side the ground-color is grayish-purple; the spots and markings of the upper side reappear on this side.

?.--The female has the wings, as is always the case in this genus, much broader and not so pointed at the apex of the primaries as in the male s.e.x, and the color is much paler. Expanse, ?, 1.80 inch; ?, 2.10 inches.

_Early Stages._--These are beautifully described and delineated by Edwards in "The b.u.t.terflies of North America," vol. ii. The caterpillar feeds on the hackberry (_Celtis occidentalis_).

This species is found generally from southern Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. It is not, so far as is known, found on the Pacific coast.

(2) =Chlorippe antonia=, Edwards, Plate XXIII, Fig. 12, ? (Antonia).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Bright yellowish-fulvous on the upper side. Easily distinguished from _celtis_ by the two eye-spots near the margin of the primaries. Expanse, 1.75-2.00 inches.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

_Antonia_ is found in Texas.

(3) =Chlorippe montis=, Edwards, Plate XXII, Fig. 7, ?; Fig. 8, ? (The Mountain Emperor).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Very closely allied to _C. antonia_ in the style and location of the markings, but tinted with pale ashen-gray on the upper side of the wings, and not yellowish-fulvous as in the last-named species. Expanse, ?, 1.75 inch; ?, 2.15 inches.

The early stages are unknown.

_Montis_ occurs in Arizona and Colorado, and by some writers is regarded as a varietal form of _antonia_, in which opinion they may be correct.

(4) =Chlorippe leilia=, Edwards, Plate XXIII, Fig. 11, ? (Leilia).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Like _antonia_, this species has two extra-median eye-spots on the primaries, and thus may be distinguished from _celtis_.

From _antonia_ it may be separated by its larger size and the deeper reddish-brown color of the upper surfaces. Expanse, 2.10-2.50 inches.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

So far we have received this b.u.t.terfly only from Arizona.

(5) =Chlorippe alicia=, Plate XXIII, Fig. 9, ?; Fig. 10, ? (Alicia).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Very bright fawn at the base of the wings, shading into pale buff outwardly. There is but one eye-spot on the primaries. The six eye-spots on the secondaries are black and very conspicuous. The marginal bands are darker and heavier than in any other species of the genus. Expanse, ?, 2.00 inches; ?, 2.50 inches.

The early stages are only partially known.

_Alicia_ ranges through the Gulf States from Florida to Texas.

(6) =Chlorippe clyton=, Boisduval and Leconte, Plate XXIII, Fig. 5, ?; Fig. 6, ?; Plate III, Fig. 20, _larva_; Plate IV, Figs. 15-17, _chrysalis_ (The Tawny Emperor).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The fore wings without an extra-median eye-spot, and the secondaries broadly obscured with dark brown or blackish, especially on the outer borders, so that the eye-spots are scarcely, if at all, visible.

?.--Much larger and paler in color than the male, the eye-spots on the secondaries conspicuous. Expanse, ?, 2.00 inches; ?, 2.50-2.65 inches.

_Early Stages._--The life-history has been carefully worked out, and the reader who wishes to know all about it should consult the writings of Edwards and Scudder.

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXIII | | | | 1. _Chlorippe flora_, Edwards, ?. | | 2. _Chlorippe flora_, Edwards, ?. | | 3. _Chlorippe celtis_, Boisd.-Lec., ?. | | 4. _Chlorippe celtis_, Boisd.-Lec., ?. | | 5. _Chlorippe clyton_, Boisd.-Lec., ?. | | 6. _Chlorippe clyton_, Boisd.-Lec., ?. | | 7. _Chlorippe montis_, Edwards, ?. | | 8. _Chlorippe montis_, Edwards, ?. | | 9. _Chlorippe alicia_, Edwards, ?. | | 10. _Chlorippe alicia_, Edwards, ?. | | 11. _Chlorippe leilia_, Edwards, ?. | | 12. _Chlorippe antonia_, Edwards, ?. | | 13. _Chlorippe celtis_, Boisd.-Lec., ?, | | _under side_. | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE XXIII.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

This species is occasionally found in New England, and ranges thence westward to Michigan, and southward to the Gulf States. It is quite common in the valley of the Ohio.

(7) =Chlorippe flora=, Edwards, Plate XXIII, Fig. 1, ?; Fig. 2, ?

(Flora).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The ground-color is bright reddish-fulvous on the upper side. The usual markings occur, but there is no eye-spot, or ocellus, on the primaries. The hind wings are not heavily obscured with dark brown, as in _clyton_, and the six ocelli stand forth conspicuously upon the reddish ground. The hind wings are more strongly angulated than in any other species. The borders are quite solidly black.

?.--The female is much larger than the male, and looks like a very pale female of _clyton_. Expanse, ?, 1.75 inch; ?, 2.35 inches.

_Early Stages._--The life-history has been described by Edwards in the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xiii, p. 81. The habits of the insect in its early stages and the appearance of the larva and chrysalis do not differ widely from those of _C. clyton_, its nearest ally.

_Flora_ is found in Florida and on the borders of the Gulf to Texas.