118 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [12:3— Mch., 1916 



We have a very beautiful little butterfly in the species known 

 as the Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus tityrus), which has 

 a wide range extending over nearly all parts of the United States 

 —indeed it is found as far south as the Canal Zone. Last sum- 

 mer I captured several specimens of this species for study, se- 

 lecting a fine male for photography (Fig. 13). It was over an 

 hour before I could get him to alight precisely where I wanted 

 him, and that was on one of the plantain spikes, where I event- 

 ually got him, exactly life size, as shown in the cut. The com- 

 mon plantain (Plantago major) needs no description, as it is a 

 weed only too abundant in unkempt grass-plots and yards. 



The body and wings of the Silver-spotted Skipper are of a 

 rich snuff -brown, the former being more or less covered with a 

 feathery down, which, in increased thickness, is carried along 

 the inner borders of the inferior wings, to extend behind as a 

 shortish tail. At the middle of the upper surface, and at the 

 same place below, on the superior wings, there is an irregular 

 spot of pale sienna; the silvery- white spot is on the under side 

 of the inferior wings, near the middle. When at rest, this fine 

 little butterfly often holds its inferior wings more or less hori- 

 zontally, while the upper pair are nearly erect. Either antenna 

 is clubbed at its extremity and tapers to an acute point, which 

 latter is bent back into a hook. The head is large, and the eyes 

 comparatively far apart. 



We often see this beautiful little butterfly in the pathways 

 across open meadows or through the pastures and woods; there 

 may even be several of them together. After you once know 

 its name, you will never forget the little Silver-spotted Skipper, 

 for, as Doctor Holland says: "The broad, irregular silver spot 

 on the under side of the hind wings distinguishes it at a glance 

 from all other related species in our fauna." The Skipper be- 

 longs to the family Hesperiidae, and the one here described is 

 a true hesperid of the subfamily Hesperiinae. 



If one desires to know the typical butterflies, however, the 

 group that contains them is the genus Papilio of Linnaeus; 

 there we have classified the truly elegant Swallow-tails, of which 

 we have quite an assemblage in this county. They are called 

 Swallow-tails for the reason that their hind wings are generally 

 produced posteriorly into a more or less conspicuous prolonga- 

 tion, which, to some minds, has suggested the "tail" of the com- 



