The Butterfly Book Part 48

SUBFAMILY PIERINae (THE SULPHURS AND WHITES)

"Fly, white b.u.t.terflies, out to sea, Frail pale wings for the winds to try; Small white wings that we scarce can see Fly.

Here and there may a chance-caught eye Note, in a score of you, twain or three Brighter or darker of tinge or dye; Some fly light as a laugh of glee, Some fly soft as a long, low sigh: All to the haven where each would be,--Fly."

SWINBURNE.

_b.u.t.terfly._--For the most part medium-sized or small b.u.t.terflies, white or yellow in color, with dark marginal markings. In many genera the subcostal vein of the fore wing has five, or even in some cases six nervules, and the upper radial is lacking in this wing.

_Early Stages._--The eggs are spindle-shaped, marked with vertical ridges and cross-lines. The caterpillars are cylindrical, relatively long, generally green in color, longitudinally striped with darker or paler lines. The chrysalids are generally more or less pointed at the head, with the wing-cases in many of the genera greatly developed on the ventral side, forming a deep, keel-shaped projection upon this surface.

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE x.x.xIII | | | | 1. _Catopsilia agarithe_, Boisduval, ?. | | 2. _Catopsilia eubule_, Linnaeus, ?. | | 3. _Catopsilia eubule_, Linnaeus, ?, | | _under side_. | | 4. _Catopsilia philea_, Linnaeus, ?. | | 5. _Colias eurytheme_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 6. _Pyrameis huntera_, Fabricius, ?, | | _under side_. | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE x.x.xIII.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

This subfamily is very large, and is enormously developed in the tropics of both hemispheres. Some of the genera are very widely distributed in temperate regions, especially the genera _Pieris_ and _Colias_.

Genus DISMORPHIA, Hubner

"I saw him run after a gilded b.u.t.terfly; and when he caught it, he let it go again; and after it again; and over and over he comes, and up again; catched it again." SHAKESPEARE, _Coriola.n.u.s_.

_b.u.t.terfly._--The b.u.t.terflies are medium sized, varying much in the form of wing, in some species greatly resembling other _Pierinae_ in outline, but more frequently resembling the Ithomiid and Heliconiid b.u.t.terflies, which they mimic. Some of them represent transitional forms between the type commonly represented in the genus _Pieris_ and the forms found in the two above-mentioned protected groups. The eyes are not prominent.

The palpi are quite small. The basal joint is long, the middle joint oval, and the third joint small, oval, or slightly club-shaped. The antennae are long, thin, terminating in a gradually enlarged spindle-shaped club; the fore wings being sometimes oval, more frequently elongated, twice, or even three times, as long as broad, especially in the male s.e.x; the apex pointed, falcate, or rounded. The cell is long and narrow. The first subcostal vein varies as to location, rising either before or after the end of the cell, and, in numerous cases, coalescing with the costal vein, as is shown in the cut.

_Early Stages._--Of the early stages of these interesting insects we have no satisfactory knowledge.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 138.--Neuration of the genus _Dismorphia_.]

The species of the genus belong exclusively to the tropical regions of the New World. There are about a hundred species which have already been named and described, and undoubtedly there are many more which remain to be discovered. These insects can always be distinguished from the protected genera which they mimic by the possession of six well-developed ambulatory feet in both s.e.xes, the protected genera being possessed of only four feet adapted to walking.

(1) =Dismorphia melite=, Linnaeus, Plate x.x.xVII, Fig. 17, ?; Fig. 18, ?

(The Mime).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The figures in the plate make a description of the upper side unnecessary. On the under side the wings of the male are s.h.i.+ning white, except the costa, which is evenly dull ochreous from the base to the apex. The hind wings are ochreous, mottled with pale brown. The female, on the under side, has the fore wings very pale yellow, with the black spots of the upper side reproduced; the hind wings are deeper yellow, mottled with pale-brown spots and crossed by a moderately broad transverse pale-brown band of the same color.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The species is credited to our fauna on the authority of Reakirt. It is abundant in Mexico. It mimics certain forms of _Ithomiinae_.

Genus NEOPHASIA, Behr

"It was an hour of universal joy.

The lark was up and at the gate of heaven, Singing, as sure to enter when he came; The b.u.t.terfly was basking in my path, His radiant wings unfolded."

ROGERS.

_b.u.t.terfly._--Medium sized, white in color, more nearly related in the structure of its wings to the European genus _Aporia_ than to any other of the American pieridine genera. The upper radial is lacking, and the subcostal is provided with five branches, the first emitted well before the end of the cell; the second likewise emitted before the end of the cell and terminating at the apex; the third, fourth, and fifth rising from a common stalk at the outer upper angle of the cell.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 139.--Neuration of the genus _Neophasia_.]

_Early Stages._--The egg is flask-shaped, fluted on the sides, recalling the shape of the "pearl-top" lamp-chimney. The caterpillar, in its mature form, is about an inch long. The body is cylindrical, terminating in two short a.n.a.l tails. The color is dark green, with a broad white band on each side, and a narrow band of white on the back. The feet are black, and the prolegs greenish-yellow. The chrysalis is dark green, striped with white, resembling the chrysalids of the genus _Colias_, but somewhat more slender. The caterpillar feeds upon conifers. But one species is known.

(1) =Neophasia menapia=, Felder, Plate x.x.xIV, Fig. 7, ? (The Pine White).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The insect on the under side sometimes has the outer margin of the secondaries marked with spots of bright pinkish-red, resembling in this style of coloration certain species of the genus _Delias_ of the Indo-Malayan fauna.

_Early Stages._--These have been thoroughly described by Edwards in his third volume. The caterpillar infests the pine-trees and firs of the northern Pacific States. The larva lets itself down by a silken thread, often a hundred feet in length, and pupates on the ferns and shrubbery at the foot of the trees. It sometimes works great damage to the pine woods.

Genus TACHYRIS, Wallace

"The virtuoso thus, at noon, Broiling beneath a July sun, The gilded b.u.t.terfly pursues O'er hedge and ditch, through gaps and mews; And, after many a vain essay To captivate the tempting prey, Gives him at length the lucky pat, And has him safe beneath his hat; Then lifts it gently from the ground; But, ah! 't is lost as soon as found.

Culprit his liberty regains, Flits out of sight, and mocks his pains."

COWPER.

This genus, which includes about seventy species, may be distinguished from all other genera belonging to the _Pierinae_ by the two stiff brush-like cl.u.s.ters of hairs which are found in the male s.e.x attached to the abdominal clasps. All of the species belonging to the genus are found in the Old World, with exception of the species described in this book, which has a wide range throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the New World. The peculiarities of neuration are well shown in the accompanying cut, in which the hind wing has been somewhat unduly magnified in proportion to the fore wing.

_Early Stages._--The life-history of our species has not been thoroughly studied, but we have ascertained enough of the early stages of various species found in the tropics of the Old World to know that there is a very close relations.h.i.+p between this genus and that which follows in our cla.s.sification.

(1) =Tachyris ilaire=, G.o.dart, Plate x.x.xV, Fig. 4, ?; Fig. 5, ? (The Florida White).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The hind wings of the male on the under side, which is not shown in the plate, are very pale saffron. The under side of the wings in the female is pearly-white, marked with bright orange-yellow at the base of the primaries. A melanic form of the female sometimes occurs in which the wings are almost wholly dull blackish on both sides.

_Early Stages._--We know, as yet, but little of these.

The insect is universally abundant in the tropics of America, and occurs in southern Florida.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 140.--Neuration of the genus _Tachyris_. Hind wing relatively enlarged.]

Genus PIERIS, Schrank

(The Whites)

"And there, like a dream in a swoon, I swear I saw Pan lying,--his limbs in the dew And the shade, and his face in the dazzle and glare Of the glad suns.h.i.+ne; while everywhere, Over, across, and around him blew Filmy dragon-flies. .h.i.ther and there, And little white b.u.t.terflies, two and two.

In eddies of odorous air."

JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY.

_b.u.t.terfly._--Medium-sized b.u.t.terflies, white in color, marked in many species on both the upper and under sides with dark brown. The antennae are distinctly clubbed, moderate in length. The palpi are short, delicate, compressed, with the terminal joint quite short and pointed.

The subcostal vein of the primaries has four branches, the first subcostal arising before the end of the cell, the second at its upper outer angle, and the third and fourth from a common stem emitted at the same point. The outer margin of the primaries is straight, the outer margin of the secondaries more or less evenly rounded.

_Egg._--The egg is spindle-shaped, with vertical raised ridges.

_Caterpillar._--Elongate, the head hemispherical, very slightly, if at all, larger in diameter than the body. The caterpillars feed upon cruciferous plants.

_Chrysalis._--Attached by the a.n.a.l extremity, and held in place by a silk girdle; slightly concave on the ventral side; convex on the dorsal side, with a distinct or pointed hump-like projection on the thorax. At the point where the thoracic and abdominal segments unite in some species there is in addition a distinct keel-shaped eminence, and at the head the chrysalis is furnished with a short conical projection.