The Butterfly Book Part 64

One of the best ways of adding to a collection is by the method known as exchanging. A collector in one part of the country may find species which are rare, or altogether unknown, in another part of the country.

By a system of exchanges with other collectors he is able to supply the gaps which may exist in his collection. No one, however, cares to effect exchanges with collectors who are careless or slovenly in the preparation of their specimens, or inaccurate in naming them. A collector who contemplates making an exchange should, as the first step, prepare double lists, in one of which he gives the names and the number of specimens of either s.e.x of the b.u.t.terflies which he is able to offer in exchange; in the other he sets forth the things which he desires to obtain. The first list is said to be a list of "offerta"; the second is a list of "desiderata." As an ill.u.s.tration of the manner in which such lists may be conveniently arranged, I give the following:

OFFERTA

Papilio turnus, ? 3; ? 4.

Dimorphic var. glaucus, ? 6.

Colias alexandra, ? 4; ? 6.

DESIDERATA

Papilio nitra, ?.

Papilio brevicauda, orange-spotted var.

The collector who receives these lists of offerta and desiderata will be able to decide what his correspondent has which he desires, and what there may be in his own collection which the correspondent wishes that he can offer in exchange; and the process of exchange is thus immediately facilitated.

Persons who exchange insects with others should always be extremely careful as to the manner of packing the specimens, and the directions given in the introductory portion of this book should be very carefully followed. Too much care cannot be taken in preventing damage to specimens in transit.

Genus ANCYLOXYPHA, Felder

_b.u.t.terfly._--Very small, the antennae very short, the club straight, bluntly pointed. The palpi have the third joint long, slender, and suberect. The neuration of the wings is shown in the cut. The abdomen is slender, extending beyond the hind margin of the secondaries. The fore wings are without a discal stigma.

_Egg._--Hemispherical, marked with lozenge-shaped cells; yellow when laid, later marked with orange-red patches.

_Caterpillar._--The entire life-history has not yet been ascertained.

The caterpillars live upon marsh gra.s.ses; they construct for themselves a nest by drawing together the edges of a blade of gra.s.s with bands of silk. In form they do not differ from other hesperid larvae.

_Chrysalis._--Not as yet accurately known.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 164.--Neuration of the genus _Ancyloxypha_.]

(1) =Ancyloxypha numitor=, Fabricius, Plate XLVII, Fig. 2, ? (Numitor).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side is correctly delineated in the plate. On the under side the fore wings are black, margined on the costa and on the outer margin with reddish-fulvous. The hind wings are pale fulvous.

Expanse, .75-.95 inch.

_Early Stages._--What has been said in reference to these in connection with the description of the genus must suffice for the species.

This pretty little insect is widely distributed, and abounds among gra.s.ses about watercourses. It ranges from the province of Quebec to eastern Florida, thence westward across the Mississippi Valley as far as the Rocky Mountains.

Genus COPaeODES, Speyer

_b.u.t.terfly._--The antennae are very short; the club is thick, straight, rounded at the tip; the palpi are as in the preceding genus. The neuration of the wings is represented in the cut. The abdomen is slender, extending beyond the hind margin of the secondaries. The male is provided in most species with a linear stigma.

_Early Stages._--These have not as yet been described.

(1) =Copaeodes procris=, Edwards, Plate XLVII, Fig. 9, ? (Procris).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The plate gives an excellent idea of the upper side of this diminutive species. On the under side the wings are colored as on the upper side, save that the fore wings at the base near the inner margin are blackish, and that the hind wings are a trifle paler than on the upper side. The s.e.xes do not differ in color. Expanse, .75-1.00 inch.

This pretty little b.u.t.terfly is a Southern species, is found plentifully in Texas and Arizona, and occurs also very commonly in southern California.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 165.--Neuration of the genus _Copaeodes_.]

(2) =Copaeodes wrighti=, Edwards, Plate XLVII, Fig. 10, ? (Wright's Skipper).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This species may be easily distinguished from the preceding by the dark fringes of both the fore and the hind wing and by the different arrangement of the discal stigma on the fore wing. On the under side it is colored very much as _procris_. Expanse, .75-1.10 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The species is found in the Mohave Desert and southern California.

(3) =Copaeodes myrtis=, Edwards, Plate XLVII, Fig. 11, ? (Myrtis).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This diminutive little species may be readily recognized by the plate. The fore wings are somewhat broadly margined with dusky at the apex and along the outer margin; the hind wings on the costa are broadly and on the outer edge narrowly margined with dusky. On the under side the fore wings are blackish at the base. Expanse, .75 inch.

The only specimens of this b.u.t.terfly that I have ever seen came from Arizona. The type is figured in the plate.

Genus ERYNNIS, Schrank

_b.u.t.terfly._--The antennae are short, less than half the length of the costa; the club is robust, with a very minute terminal crook; the palpi have the third joint minute, suberect, and bluntly conical. There is a discal stigma on the fore wing of the male.

_Egg._--Somewhat spherical.

_Caterpillar._--Feeds upon gra.s.ses, and is stouter in form than most hesperid larvae, and sluggish in proportion to its stoutness. It does not make a nest, but conceals itself between the leaves of gra.s.s at the point where they unite with the stem, and is not very difficult to discover.

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is elongated, cylindrical. Our knowledge of this stage is not very accurate as yet.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 166.--Neuration of the genus _Erynnis_, enlarged.]

(1) =Erynnis manitoba=, Scudder, Plate XLVI, Fig. 2, ?; Fig. 3, ? (The Canadian Skipper).

_b.u.t.terfly_, ?.--The upper side of the wings is depicted in the plate.

On the under side the wings are paler, the fore wings fulvous on the cell, pale gray at the apex and on the outer margin. There is a black shade at the base of the primaries, and a black streak corresponding in location to the discal stigma on the upper side. The hind wings are pale ferruginous, except a broad streak along the inner margin, which is whitish. All the light spots of the upper side of both wings reappear on the under side, but are more distinctly defined, and are pearly-white in color.

?.--The female, on the under side of the fore wing, has the black discal streak replaced by a broad ferruginous shade. The hind wings are darker, and the light spots stand forth more conspicuously upon the darker ground. Expanse, ?, 1.25 inch; ?, 1.30 inch.

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

The Canadian Skipper is found across the entire continent north of a line roughly approximating the boundary between the United States and the Dominion of Canada. Along the Western Cordilleras it descends into the United States, as far south as Colorado and northern California.

(2) =Erynnis morrisoni=, Edwards, Plate XLVI, Fig. 26, ?; Fig. 27, ?

(Morrison's Skipper).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the wings in both s.e.xes is sufficiently well delineated in the plate to obviate the necessity for description.

On the under side the fore wings are pale fulvous, black at the base and ferruginous at the tip, the ferruginous shade interrupted by the subapical pale spots, which on this side of the wing are pearly-white.

The hind wings are deep ferruginous, obscured on the inner margin by long pale-brown hairs. From the base to the end of the cell there is a broad silvery-white ray. Beyond the cell the curved postmedian band of fulvous spots which appears above reappears as a band of pearly-white, which stands forth conspicuously on the dark ground. Expanse, ?, 1.20 inch; ?, 1.20-1.35 inch.