The Butterfly Book Part 7

NORTH AMERICA NORTH OF MEXICO

"Lo, the bright train their radiant wings unfold!

With silver fringed, and freckled o'er with gold: On the gay bosom of some fragrant flower They, idly fluttering, live their little hour; Their life all pleasure, and their task all play, All spring their age, and suns.h.i.+ne all their day."

MRS. BARBAULD

ORDER LEPIDOPTERA SUBORDER RHOPALOCERA (b.u.t.tERFLIES)

FAMILY I

NYMPHALIDae (THE BRUSH-FOOTED b.u.t.tERFLIES)

The family of the Nymphalidae is composed of b.u.t.terflies which are of medium and large size, though a few of the genera are made up of species which are quite small. They may be distinguished from all other b.u.t.terflies by the fact that the first pair of legs in both s.e.xes is atrophied or greatly reduced in size, so that they cannot be used in walking, but are carried folded up upon the breast. The fore feet, except in the case of the female of the snout-b.u.t.terflies (Libytheinae), are without tarsal claws, and hence the name "Brush-footed b.u.t.terflies"

has been applied to them. As the anterior pair of legs is apparently useless, they have been called "The Four-footed b.u.t.terflies," which is scientifically a misnomer.

_Egg._--The eggs of the Nymphalidae, for the most part, are dome-shaped or globular, and are marked with raised longitudinal lines extending from the summit toward the base over the entire surface or over the upper portion of the egg. Between these elevations are often found finer and less elevated cross-lines. In a few genera the surface of the eggs is covered with reticulation arranged in geometrical patterns (see Fig.

1).

_Caterpillar._--The caterpillars of the Nymphalidae, as they emerge from the egg, have heads the diameter of which is larger than that of the body, and covered with a number of wart-like elevations from which hairs arise. The body of the immature larva generally tapers from before backward (see Plate III, Figs. 7 and 11). The mature larva is cylindrical in form, sometimes, as in the Satyrinae, thicker in the middle. Often one or more of the segments are greatly swollen in whole or in part. The larvae are generally ornamented with fleshy projections or branching spines.

_Chrysalids._--The chrysalids are for the most part angular, and often have strongly marked projections. As a rule, they hang with the head downward, having the cremaster, or a.n.a.l hook, attached to a b.u.t.ton of silk woven to the under surface of a limb of a tree, a stone, or some other projecting surface. A few boreal species construct loose coverings of threads of silk at the roots of gra.s.ses, and here undergo their transformations. The chrysalids are frequently ornamented with golden or silvery spots.

This is the largest of all the families of b.u.t.terflies, and it is also the most widely distributed. It is represented by species which have their abode in the cold regions of the far North and upon the lofty summits of mountains, where summer reigns for but a few weeks during the year; and it is enormously developed in equatorial lands, including here some of the most gloriously colored species in the b.u.t.terfly world. But although these insects appear to have attained their most superb development in the tropics, they are more numerous in the temperate regions than other b.u.t.terflies, and a certain fearlessness, and fondness for the haunts of men, which seems to characterize some of them, has brought them more under the eyes of observers. The literature of poetry and prose which takes account of the life of the b.u.t.terfly has mainly dealt with forms belonging to this great a.s.semblage of species.

In the cla.s.sification of the brush-footed b.u.t.terflies various subdivisions have been suggested by learned authors, but the species found in the United States and the countries lying northward upon the continent may be all included in the following six groups, or subfamilies:

1. The _Euploeinoe_, the Euploeids.

2. The _Ithomiinoe_, the Ithomiids.

3. The _Heliconiinoe_, the Heliconians.

4. The _Nymphalinoe_, the Nymphs.

5. The _Satyrinoe_, the Satyrs.

6. The _Libytheinoe_, the Snout-b.u.t.terflies.

The insects belonging to these different subfamilies may be distinguished by the help of the following a.n.a.lytical table, which is based upon that of Professor Comstock, given in his "Manual for the Study of Insects" (p. 396), which in turn is based upon that of Dr.

Scudder, in "The b.u.t.terflies of New England" (vol. i, p. 115).

KEY TO THE SUBFAMILIES OF THE NYMPHALIDae OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

I. With the veins of the fore wings not greatly swollen at the base.

_A._ Antennae naked.

(_a_) Fore wings less than twice as long as broad--_Euploeinoe_.

(_b_) Fore wings twice as long as broad and often translucent, the abdomen extending far beyond the inner margin of the hind wings--_Ithomiinoe_.

_B._ Antennae clothed with scales, at least above.

(_a_) Fore wings at least twice as long as broad--_Heliconiinoe_.

(_b_) Fore wings less than twice as long as broad.

1. Palpi not as long as the thorax--_Nymphalinoe_.

2. Palpi much longer than the thorax--_Libytheinoe_.

II. With some of the veins of the fore wings greatly swollen at the base--_Satyrinoe_.

We now proceed to present the various genera and species of this family which occur within the territorial limits of which this book treats. The reader will do well to accompany the study of the descriptions, which are at most mere sketches, by a careful examination of the figures in the plates. In this way a very clear idea of the different species can in most instances be obtained. But with the study of the book should always go, if possible, the study of the living things themselves.

Knowledge of nature founded upon books is at best second-hand. To the fields and the woods, then, net in hand! Splendid as may be the sight of a great collection of b.u.t.terflies from all parts of the world, their wings

"Gleaming with purple and gold,"

no vision is so exquisite and so inspiring as that which greets the true aurelian as in shady dell or upon sun-lit upland, with the blue sky above him and the flowers all around him, he pursues his pleasant, self-imposed tasks, drinking in health at every step.

SUBFAMILY EUPLOEINae (THE MILKWEED b.u.t.tERFLIES)

"Lazily flying Over the flower-decked prairies, West; Basking in suns.h.i.+ne till daylight is dying, And resting all night on Asclepias' breast; Joyously dancing, Merrily prancing, Chasing his lady-love high in the air, Fluttering gaily, Frolicking daily, Free from anxiety, sorrow, and care!"

C.V. RILEY.

_b.u.t.terfly._--Large b.u.t.terflies; head large; the antennae inserted on the summit, stout, naked, that is to say, not covered with scales, the club long and not broad; palpi stout; the thorax somewhat compressed, with the top arched. The abdomen is moderately stout, bearing on the eighth segment, on either side, in the case of the male, clasps which are quite conspicuous. The fore wings are greatly produced at the apex and more or less excavated about the middle of the outer border; the hind wings are rounded and generally much smaller than the fore wings; the outer margin is regular, without tails, and the inner margin is sometimes channeled so as to enfold the abdomen. The fore legs are greatly atrophied in the male, less so in the female; these atrophied legs are not provided with claws, but on the other legs the claws are well developed.

_Egg._--The eggs are ovate conical, broadly flattened at the base and slightly truncated at the top, with many longitudinal ribs and transverse cross-ridges (see Fig. 4).

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE VII | | | | ANOSIA AND BASILARCHIA | | | | | | 1. _Anosia plexippus_, Linnaeus, ?. | | 2. _Anosia berenice_, Cramer, ?. | | 3. _Anosia berenice_, var. _strigosa_, Bates, | | ?. | | 4. _Basilarchia disippus_, G.o.dart, ?. | | 5. _Basilarchia hulsti_, Edwards, ?. | | | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE VII.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

_Caterpillar._--On emerging from the chrysalis the head is not larger than the body; the body has a few scattered hairs on each segment.

On reaching maturity the head is small, the body large, cylindrical, without hair, and conspicuously banded with dark stripes upon a lighter ground, and on some of the segments there are generally erect fleshy processes of considerable length (see Fig. 16). The caterpillars feed upon different species of the milkweed (_Asclepias_).

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is relatively short and thick, rounded, with very few projections, tapers very rapidly over the posterior part of the abdomen, and is suspended by a long cremaster from a b.u.t.ton of silk (see Fig. 24). The chrysalis is frequently ornamented with golden or silver spots.

This subfamily reaches its largest development in the tropical regions of Asia. Only one genus is represented in our fauna, the genus _Anosia_.

Genus ANOSIA, Hubner

_b.u.t.terfly._--Large-sized b.u.t.terflies; fore wings long, greatly produced at the apex, having a triangular outline, the outer margin approximately as long as the inner margin; the costal border is regularly bowed; the outer border is slightly excavated, the outer angle rounded; the hind wings are well rounded, the costal border projecting just at the base, the inner margin likewise projecting at the base and depressed so as to form a channel clasping the abdomen. On the edge of the first median nervule of the male, about its middle, there is a scent-pouch covered with scales.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 78.--Neuration of the genus _Anosia_.]