THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 211 



ist May, but in the other years from yth to 22nd May, their advent 

 depending on the season, and on the date of the previous flowering of the 

 Dogwood, i. e., the laying of eggs by Violacea. 



The hfe, therefore, of Lycaena Violacea must be Hmited to three or 

 four weeks at the utmost, and shortly after oviposition this form com- 

 pletely disappears. 



There are some species which live but a short time at a particular 

 season of the year, and being single-brooded, pass the greater part of the 

 year in chrysalis. Of such is Anthocharis Genutia. I find its earliest 

 appearance at Coalburgh recorded on 17 th April, its latest on 14th May, 

 in a series of years. 



So Thecla Henrici ; year after year I record its appearance in April, 

 and in no other month. The earliest seen have been on nth, the latest 

 29th April. 



For an example of a hibernating butterfly we can have no better 

 example than Danais Archippus, and it is the one which Mr. Scudder finds 

 so remarkable in its longevity. It is of large size, and therefore readily 

 distinguished, and is cosmopolitan. In West Virginia there are at least 

 four, and possibly there are five generations of the imago of this species 

 in succession, and it is the last generation which hibernates. Very early 

 in the spring a few of the survivors may be seen about the blossoms of the 

 peach or wild plum trees. About first of May, the leaves of the larval 

 food-plant, Asclepias, begin to show themselves, and at once the females 

 of Af'c/iippiis seek them in order to deposit their eggs. I have watched 

 carefully to see how late these old hibernating females were flying, and 

 the latest date was 2nd June, when I took one. This I dissected, and 

 found the abdomen free from eggs, all having been laid. Also I watched 

 all through the season of 1878 to see what sort of females laid eggs. I 

 had the best possible opportunity, as Asclepias abounds near my house 

 and comes up all through the grass hereabouts. So in the lanes and along 

 the brooks it grows in profusion, and young plants continue to come up 

 quite into September. In every instance the ovipositing female was fresh 

 colored, plainly not long from chrysalis. One generation of the butter- 

 flies succeeded another the season through. The first brood of larvae 

 raised by me came from eggs laid 2nd May. These eggs were found on 

 the plants, and must have been laid by a hibernating female. The butter- 

 flies began to emerge from chrysalis 30th May, several days after fresh 

 individuals of the same or first generation were observed flying abroad. 



