BUTTERFLIES OF MAINE. 61 
Under side of wings lighter than above, and washed more 
or less with rust red. Two red spots surrounded with black, 
and some bluish atoms are on the cell of the fore wing, and 
three spots of the same color on the basal part of the hind 
wing. 
There are two forms of this butterfly, which were originally 
thought to be distinct species, but Mr. W. H. Edwards has 
raised both from eggs laid by one individual. The descrip- 
tion given above is of the form lamina, F, and is the most 
common one in this State. The other form is called proser- 
pina, Edw., and was taken by Mr. Lyman, near Portland, in 
July. He states that there is sometimes a second brood of 
this form towards the end of August or beginning of Septem- 
ber. 
The form proserpina is of the same size and form as lamz- 
na, but the white band across the middle of the wings is 
wanting, or at most, there is only a whitish stripe occupying 
some part of the position of the band. Intermediate exam- 
ples connecting the two forms have occasionally been taken. 
This species is very common in Maine, and feeds on the 
leaves of willow, aspen, basswood, and probably thorn. 
The eggs, which are laid one on each leaf, near the tip, are 
grayish green, dome-shaped with the whole surface covered 
with six-sided reticulations, from each angle of which arises 
a short, tapering, white spine. The egg hatches in from 
seven to nine days, and the young larva is about one-tenth of 
an inch long, yellowish brown, covered with fine tubercles, 
each giving out a fine, club-shaped hair. The newly hatched 
Jarva eats away the end of the leaf on both sides of the mid- 
rib. When at rest it is found on the stripped portion of the 
rib, and is easily discovered by this habit. The end of the 
rib is no sooner laid bare than it is coated and wound with 
silk, and to the extremity are fixed pellets of excrement, two 
or three at first placed in line. These are bound together 
and to the rib. As the larva grows and consumes the sides 
of the leaf, this perch is increased considerably in size. The 
larva molts in eight days, after which it is about one-fifth of 
