98 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST, 



mountains north, a district burned a few years ago, and will, no doubt 

 become more frequent there in future years, as its food plant is abundant. 

 At the summit, this butterfly and most others were well nigh exterminated 

 in the summer of 1886 by the storm of fire which raged through the pass, 

 sparing nothing but the little marshes and their inhabitants. Collecting 

 there several times in ;888 and 1889, I saw scarcely a butterfly other 

 than the two species of Chi-ysophamis, which live at the edges of the little 

 swamps. These were as frequent at the summit as I found them in their 

 resorts elsewhere. The larger butterflies, however, were lacking or were 

 excessively rare, excepting only Pieris occidentalism which seemed to have 

 in some degree regained a footing. 



The ^ oi Elis flies chiefly from about the 28th of June to the end of 

 July. My initial date in 1886 — an early season — was June 23. After 

 July few ^ s are seen, and those few not newly out of chrysahs. The 

 % s are abroad during a period about equal to that of the ^ s, but begin- 

 ning and ending a few days later ; my collection dates indicate a term of 

 about five weeks, say from July 6th to August loth or 12th. The ^ is 

 most frequent near the middle of July, and the % a week or ten days 

 later. The total period of the imago, including both sexes, varies in 

 different seasons from a term of thirty-five to one of forty-five days : dur- 

 ing the last five to ten days there are seen none in good condition — the 

 females appear in faded finery, and rarely a tattered male lingers among 

 the asters. There is but one flight in a summer. No indication of 

 hybernation in imago or pupa has come to my notice. All the evidence 

 so far obtained tends to show that the larva invariably hybernates at a 

 very early stage, almost certainly at first stage, and that the species, in its 

 habit of development, is a strict biennial. 



Admitting Elis to be a distinct species, it is without doubt extremely 

 near to Meadii, far closer than to any other well known form ; this the ^ 

 especially proves. Probably its description as a distinct species was im- 

 mediately due to the incident of failure to collect ^ s in the first instance. 



Definite Characters of the ^. — Material examined, twenty-nine 

 caught specimens. The smallest measures 48 mm., or 1.9 inch ; the 

 largest is 57 mm., equal to 2.24 inches. These measures are obtained by 

 adding the length of the two primaries (measuring from apex to centre of 

 base of wing) and the breadth of the body. Average expanse of the 

 twenty -nine individuals 51.2 mm., or 2.01 inches. This is a larger butter- 

 y than Meadii or Hecla. It is smaller than CJu-istina, or even Alex- 



