MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 



487 



mark like the letters L or C, in gold or silver. The North American forms are 

 numerous and very beautiful, C. interrogaMonis being the largest and most striking. 

 This is a common species in the southern States, and is met with, though in less 

 abundance, as far north as Maine, and occasionally in Canada, The larva feeds on 

 hop and elm chiefly. G.fctunus, G. progne, and G. comma are, at times, also common 

 species, the last named being thought by some entomologists to be the same as 

 G. C-album of Europe. G. gracilis is a fine species peculiar to the White Mountains, 

 and has the under side prettily shaded with white and green. The caterpillars of the 

 Graptas are mostly whitish, with orange and brown shades, and are profusely covered 

 with small, tubercular spines. They cannot be said to be destructive in their habits, 

 as the only cultivated plant they are found upon is the hop, and to this they do but 

 little damage. The chrysalides are very angular and spiny, and are generally orna- 

 mented with bright golden spots. 



Of the true genus Vanessa, which, as now limited by entomologists, differs from 

 Grapta in having smaller and shorter palpi, in the much smaller excisions of the wings, 

 and in the larva being without spines on the head, the most widely spread species is 

 V. antiopa, which, as has been previously said, is almost world-wide in its range. 

 This well-known insect, as common on the continent of Europe as it is with us, has 

 the upper side of the wings of a rich purplish brown, with a rather broad cream-colored 

 margin, in which are several bright blue spots, 

 while the lower side is charcoal black, flecked 

 with yellowish scales. It is very strong on the 

 wing, and may be often seen flying about road- 

 sides in summer, chasing its brethren, and en- 

 gaged with them in severe encounters, often 

 passing far up out of sight, and continuing the 

 warfare into " the blue." A very singular 

 variety, in which the cream border is remark- 

 ably wide, and the blue spots are absent, has 

 been named, by the late Dr. Asa Fitch, V. 

 lintneri, and Mr. S. L. Elliot of New York has 

 raised some still more abnormal forms, in 

 which the brown of the wings is more com- 

 pletely encroached upon by the paler shade. 

 The eggs are laid (according to Professor Fer- 

 nald) " in a cluster around the twigs of willow, 

 elm, or poplar, near the petiole of a leaf, on 

 which the young larvae feed." These are black- 

 ish, with small white dots, and with a row of 

 brick-red blotches on the dorsal region. 



~ 



V. io is one of the most singularly beauti- 

 ful of European Lepidoptera, its deep reddish 

 wings, with large eye-like spots in which yel- 

 low, black, lilac, rose, and white are all inter- 

 mingled, rendering it an object of admiration 

 to every beholder. The under side is deep 

 black. It is a very common species in Europe, being found during the summer in 

 almost every garden. The caterpillars are gregarious, and feed exclusively on the 



FIG. 612. a. J'diti'ssa in; />, pupa ; c, larva. 

 d, Epinephile janira ; e, larva. 



