The Butterfly Book Part 33

This species is not uncommon on the high mountains of Colorado and New Mexico. It is regarded as a variety of the European _E. tyndarus_, Esper, by many. All the specimens of _tyndarus_ in my collection, and there are many, lack the ocelli on the fore wing, or they are very feebly indicated on the under side. Otherwise the two forms agree pretty closely.

(4) =Erebia epipsodea=, Plate XXV, Fig. 28, ? (The Common Alpine).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The wings are dark brown on the upper side, with four or five black ocelli, pupiled with white and broadly surrounded by red near the outer margin of the fore wings, and with three or four similar ocelli located on the upper side of the hind wings. The spots on the upper side reappear on the under side, and in addition the hind wings are covered by a broad curved median blackish band.

_Early Stages._--These have been carefully described by Edwards in "The b.u.t.terflies of North America," vol. iii, and by H.H. Lyman in the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xxviii, p. 274. The caterpillar feeds on gra.s.ses.

The species ranges from New Mexico (at high elevations) northward to Alaska. It is common on the mountains of British Columbia.

(5) =Erebia sofia= Strecker (=ethela=, Edwards), Plate XXV, Fig. 18, ?

(Sofia).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Dark brown on the upper side, with an even submarginal band of red spots on the primaries, and five similar spots on the secondaries, the last two of the latter somewhat distant from each other and from the first three, which are nearer the outer angle. On the under side the primaries are reddish, with the submarginal band as on the upper side, but paler. On the secondaries, which are a little paler below than above, the spots of the upper side are repeated, but they are yellowish-white, standing forth conspicuously upon the darker ground-color.

_Early Stages._--Hitherto undescribed.

_Sofia_ has been found at Fort Churchill in British America, in the Yellowstone National Park, and in a few localities in Colorado. It is still rare in collections. The figure in the plate is that of the female type of Edwards' _ethela_, _ethela_ being a synonym for _sofia_.

(6) =Erebia magdalena=, Strecker, Plate XXV, Fig. 17, ? (Magdalena).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Uniformly dark blackish-brown on both sides of the wings, with no spots or markings.

_Early Stages._--These have been partially described and figured by Edwards.

This species has thus far been found only in Colorado at an elevation of from ten to twelve thousand feet above sea-level.

There are two or three other species of this obscure genus, but they are rare boreal insects, of which little is as yet known.

Genus GEIROCHEILUS, Butler

_b.u.t.terfly._--Medium-sized b.u.t.terflies, dark in color, with light eye-like spots on the primaries and brown borders on the secondaries.

The antennae are short, with a gradually tapering club; the palpi are long, slender, compressed, well clothed with scales on the lower surface. The costa of the fore wings is strongly arched, the outer margin evenly rounded, the outer margin of the hind wings regularly scalloped. The costal vein of the primaries is somewhat thickly swollen at the base.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 119.--Neuration of the genus _Geirocheilus_.]

(1) =Geirocheilus tritonia=, Edwards, Plate XVIII, Fig. 21, ? (Tritonia).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The wings of the upper side are dark brown, with a submarginal row of white-centered ocelli below the apex of the primaries. The secondaries are marked with a submarginal band of red. On the under side the fore wings are as on the upper side. The hind wings have the submarginal band purplish-red, irrorated with whitish and dark-brown scales, on the inner edge relieved by a number of imperfectly developed ocelli, which are partially ringed about on the side of the base by pale yellow.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

_Tritonia_ occurs in southern Arizona and northern Mexico.

Genus NEOMINOIS, Scudder

_b.u.t.terfly._--Medium-sized, with the costa and inner margin of the fore wing straight, the outer margin of the same wing evenly rounded. The hind wings have the outer margin evenly rounded, and the costal margin quite strongly produced, or bent at an angle, just above the origin of the costal vein. The inner margin is straight. The costal vein of the fore wing is slightly swollen. The costal margin at the extremity of the second costal nervule is slightly bent inward; the upper discocellular vein is wanting; the lower radial vein is emitted from the lower discocellular a little below the point at which it unites with the middle discocellular. The middle discocellular of the hind wing appears as an inward continuation of the lower radial for some distance, when it bends upward suddenly to the origin of the upper radial. The head is small; the antennae are short, with a thin, gradually developed club; the palpi are slender, compressed, well clothed with long hairs below.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 120.--Neuration of the genus _Neominois_, enlarged.]

_Egg._--The egg is somewhat barrel-shaped, broader at the base than at the top, with the summit rounded. The sides are ornamented with fourteen or fifteen vertical raised ridges, which are quite broad, and sometimes fork or run into each other. On the sides these ridges seem to be regularly excised at their bases, and between them on the surface are many horizontal raised cross-lines, giving the depressed surface the appearance of being filled with shallow cells.

_Caterpillar._--The mature caterpillar has the head globular, the body cylindrical, gradually tapering backward, and provided with two very short conical a.n.a.l horns.

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is formed under the surface of the earth; it is rounded, somewhat carinate, or keel-shaped, where the wing-cases unite on the ventral side. The head is rounded, the thorax strongly arched, the dorsal side of the abdomen very convex. On either side of the head are small cl.u.s.ters of fine processes shaped somewhat like an Indian club, the thickened part studded with little spur-like projections. These can only be seen under the microscope.

But two species of the genus are known within our faunal limits.

(1) =Neominois ridingsi=, Edwards, Plate XXV, Fig. 15, ? (Ridings'

Satyr).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side is well depicted in the plate. The under side is paler than the upper side, and the basal and median areas of both wings are profusely mottled with narrow pale-brown striae, the secondaries crossed by a darker mesial band, the outer margin of which is sharply indented. Expanse, 1.50 inch.

_Early Stages._--These have been beautifully ascertained, described, and figured by Edwards in the third volume of "The b.u.t.terflies of North America." The egg, larva, and chrysalis agree with the generic description already given, which is based upon the researches of Edwards.

It is found in the Mountain States of the Pacific coast.

(2) =Neominois dionysius=, Scudder, Plate XXV, Fig. 16, ? (Scudder's Satyr).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Distinguished from the preceding species by the larger and paler submarginal markings on the upper side of the wings and the pale color of the basal tract in both wings. On the under side the median band of the secondaries is narrower and more irregularly curved than in _ridingsi_, with the dentations of the outer margin more sharply produced. Expanse, 1.90 inch.

_Early Stages._--Nothing has been written on the early stages, but no doubt they agree closely with those of the other species.

It is found in Utah, Colorado, and Arizona.

"Hast thou heard the b.u.t.terflies, What they say betwixt their wings?"

TENNYSON, _Adeline_.

Genus SATYRUS, Westwood

(The Wood-nymphs)

"Fluttering, like some vain, painted b.u.t.terfly, From glade to glade along the forest path."

ARNOLD, _Light of Asia_.

_b.u.t.terfly._--b.u.t.terflies of medium size, their wings marked with eye-like spots, or ocelli. Upon the upper surface they are generally obscurely colored of some shade of gray or brown, occasionally marked with bands of yellow. On the under side the wings are generally beautifully striated and spotted, with the eye-like spots more prominent. The costal vein at the base is greatly swollen; the median and submedian veins less so. The first and second subcostal nervules arise very near the end of the cell, slightly before it. The outer margin of the fore wing is evenly rounded; the outer margin of the hind wing somewhat scalloped; the head small, the eyes of moderate size, full, naked; the antennae gradually thickening to a broadly rounded club, which is slightly depressed; the palpi slender, compressed, profusely clothed beneath with long hairs. The fore legs are very small.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 121.--Neuration of the genus _Satyrus_. (After Scudder.)]

_Egg._--Short, barrel-shaped, greatly diminis.h.i.+ng in size on the upper half; truncated at the summit; the sides furnished with a large number of vertical ribs, not very high, with numerous delicate cross-lines between them. At the summit the ribs are connected by a waved, raised elevation.

_Caterpillar._--Head globular; body cylindrical, tapering from the middle forward and backward; provided with short and slender diverging a.n.a.l horns.