The Butterfly Book Part 68

(5) =Limoch.o.r.es byssus=, Edwards, Plate XLVI, Fig. 20, ? (Byssus).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Allied to the preceding species. The discal stigma of the male upon the fore wings is much longer than in _L. palatka_. The outer margin of the secondaries is not as sharply defined as in that species, but shades insensibly into the lighter greenish-fulvous of the basal part of the wing. The female on the upper side is distinguished from the female of the preceding species by the restriction of the discal band of spots on the hind wing to a few small light-colored s.p.a.ces beyond the end of the cell, and by the regular continuation of the band of yellow spots across the primaries from the subapical spots to the submedian nervule near the middle of the inner margin. On the under side the primaries and the secondaries are very bright, clear orange-red, with the base and inner margin of the primaries brightly laved with blackish.

The median series of spots in the male are very faintly indicated on the fore wings, but are more strongly indicated on those of the female.

Expanse, ?, 1.45 inch; ?, 1.65 inch.

_Early Stages._--We know little of these.

The insect is found in Florida.

(6) =Limoch.o.r.es yehl=, Skinner, Plate XLVI, Fig. 40, ? (Skinner's Skipper).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the male is shown in the plate. On the under side the wings are lighter, the secondaries uniformly pale cinnamon-brown, marked with a semicircle of four yellowish round spots, with a small spot on the cell toward the base. Expanse, 1.25-1.35 inch.

_Early Stages._--Unknown.

The species has been taken in Florida, and is as yet not common in collections. The figure is that of the type.

Genus EUPHYES, Scudder

_b.u.t.terfly._--The antennae have the club stout, elongate, furnished with a short crook at the end; the palpi are densely scaled; the third joint is slender, bluntly conical, projecting beyond the vest.i.ture of the second joint. The neuration is shown in the cut.

_Egg._--Hemispherical.

_Caterpillar._--The head small, body cylindrical, tapering forward and backward from the middle, the body profusely covered with minute tapering hairs arising from small, wart-like protuberances.

_Chrysalis._--Thus far undescribed.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 175.--Neuration of the genus _Euphyes_, enlarged.]

(1) =Euphyes verna=, Edwards, Plate XLVI, Fig. 32, ? (The Little Gla.s.s-wing).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the male is correctly delineated in the plate. On the under side the wings are paler, inclining to purplish-red.

The spots of the upper side are repeated, but in addition about the middle of the hind wings there is a semicircle of pale spots. Expanse, ?, 1.15 inch; ?, 1.35 inch.

_Early Stages._--We do not know much of these; what little we do know may be found recorded in the pages of "The b.u.t.terflies of New England."

The caterpillar feeds on gra.s.ses.

It ranges from southern New England to Virginia, westward to Kansas, and northward to the province of Alberta. It is quite common in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.

(2) =Euphyes metacomet=, Harris, Plate XLVI, Fig. 31, ? (The Dun Skipper).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The male is dark in color on the upper side, and on the under side the wings are a shade lighter, the lower side of the abdomen being generally paler. The female has some faint traces of translucent apical spots near the costa, and two minute translucent spots on either side of the second median nervule near its origin. On the under side the spots of the upper side reappear. There is a faint trace of a semicircle of pale spots about the middle of the hind wing. The female specimens vary on the under side from pale brown to a distinctly purplish-brown.

Expanse, ?, 1.15 inch; ?, 1.30 inch.

_Early stages._--Next to nothing is known of these.

It ranges from Quebec to the Carolinas, and westward to Texas, New Mexico, and the British possessions east of the Rocky Mountains, as far north as the lat.i.tude of the northern sh.o.r.es of Lake Superior.

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XLVIII | | | | 1. _Thanaos persius_, Scudder, ?. | | 2. _Thanaos somnus_, Lintner, ?. | | 3. _Thanaos naevius_, Lintner, ?. | | 4. _Thanaos martialis_, Scudder, ?. | | 5. _Thorybes bathyllus_, Smith and Abbot, | | ?. | | 6. _Thorybes pylades_, Scudder, ?. | | 7. _Thanaos petronius_, Lintner, ?. | | 8. _Lerema accius_, Smith and Abbot, ?. | | 9. _Thanaos pacuvius_, Lintner, ?. | | 10. _Thanaos lucilius_, Lintner, ?. | | 11. _Thanaos juvenalis_, Fabricius, ?. | | 12. _Thanaos funeralis_, Lintner, ?. | | 13. _Thorybes epigena_, Butler, ?. | | 14. _Pholisora libya_, Scudder, ?. | | 15. _Thanaos horatius_, Scudder, ?. | | 16. _Pholisora hayhursti_, Edwards, ?. | | 17. _Thanaos icelus_, Lintner, ?. | | 18. _Colias eurytheme_, Boisduval, ?, | | _albino_. | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE XLVIII.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

Genus OLIGORIA, Scudder

_b.u.t.terfly._--The antennae are as in the preceding genus; the palpi have the third joint minute and almost entirely concealed in the thick vest.i.ture of the second joint. The neuration is represented in the cut.

_Early Stages._--We know very little of these, and there is here a field for investigation.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 176.--Neuration of the genus _Oligoria_, enlarged.]

(1) =Oligoria maculata=, Edwards, Plate XLVI, Fig. 35, ? (The Twin-spot).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the male is as shown in the plate. The female closely resembles the male, but the spots on the fore wing are larger. On the under side the wings are brown, almost as dark as on the upper side. The primaries are whitish near the outer angle. The spots of the upper side of the primaries are reproduced on the lower side. The hind wings have three conspicuous pearly-white spots about the middle, two located one on either side of the second median nervule, and one removed from these, located between the upper radial and the subcostal nervule. Expanse, ?, 1.40 inch; ?, 1.50 inch.

_Early Stages._--But little is known of these.

This is a Southern species, found abundantly in Florida, and ranging northward into Georgia and the Carolinas. A specimen is reported to have been taken near Albany, New York, and diligent collecting may show that it has a far more northern range than has heretofore been supposed.

Genus POANES, Scudder

_b.u.t.terfly._--The antennae are short; the club is stout, bent, ac.u.minate at the tip. The third joint of the palpi is slender, cylindrical, short.

The neuration of the genus is shown in the cut.

_Early Stages._--Nothing is known of these, and they await investigation.

(1) =Poanes ma.s.sasoit=, Scudder, Plate XLVII, Fig. 21, ?; Fig. 22, ?

(The Mulberry-wing).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the wings in both s.e.xes is correctly shown in the plate. On the under side the fore wings are black, with the costa and the outer margin bordered with reddish, with three small subapical light spots and two or three median spots. On the under side the hind wings are bright yellow, bordered on the costa and on the outer margin for part of their distance with reddish-brown. The female on the under side is more obscurely marked than the male, and the hind wings are more or less gray in many specimens, lacking the bright yellow which appears upon the wings of the male. There is considerable variation on the under side of the wings. Expanse, ?, 1.15 inch; ?, 1.20 inch.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 177.--Neuration of the genus _Poanes_, enlarged.]

_Early Stages._--Not known.

The species ranges from New England westward as far as Nebraska, and its range does not appear to extend south of Pennsylvania, though it has been reported from Colorado, and even from northern Texas, in the West.

Genus PHYCANa.s.sA, Scudder

_b.u.t.terfly._--Antennae short; club straight, with a small crook at the end. The palpi are as in the preceding genus, but a trifle longer. The neuration is shown in the cut, and is very much like that of the preceding genus.

_Early Stages._--These are wholly unknown.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 178.--Neuration of the genus _Phycana.s.sa_, enlarged.]