THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 83 



Phyciodes Tharos eats any sort of Aster, and so will Melitgea Harrisii. 

 I had larvae of Eresia Texana sent me from Texas, and offering them 

 Aster, they took to it forthwith. Mel. Chalcedon, in California, feeds on 

 Penstemon, Scrophularia, etc., but larvse sent me readily eat the leaves of 

 Chclone glabra^ on which M. Phaeton feeds here. So, in case of doubt, 

 it is best to try such plants as allied species feed on. What these are 

 may be learned from the books, in many cases. Mr. Scudder, in 1869, 

 drew up a hst of food plants of butterflies, for the American Naturalist, 

 and I have very often had occasion to refer to it. So, the same author, in 

 "Butterflies," 1881, gives a list. Scattered through the volumes of the 

 Can. Ent. is much information of the same character.* Sometimes there 

 is no clue, and more or less experimenting is necessary. In Can. Ent., 

 vii., 161, 1875, Mr. Mead relates his discovery of the food-plant of P. 

 Tharos, " which had baffled all my endeavors for the past four or five 

 years, during which I have tried a great number of plants without avail." 

 He relates that he prepared a large box by filling it partly with earth, and 

 transplanting into it specimens of all the common compositse he could 

 find. The box was covered with gauze and about a dozen females of this 

 butterfly were introduced. "In a few days I examined the leaves and 

 found six patches of eggs upon one of the plants. The plant proved to 

 be a species of Aster." Then he transferred some of the females to a 

 box containing Asters only, and further eggs were obtained. After that, I 

 bred Tharos by hundreds, one season after another, and got at its com- 

 plete life-history. 



In 1 88 1, I received from Arizona several eggs and just hatched larvse 

 of Lemonias Nais. The eggs had been laid on Mesquit, and I had no 

 idea what they would eat here. But quite a number of sorts of leaves 

 were given them, among them peach, cherry, wild plum, and after nearly 

 all the larvse had died from starvation, it was found that the survivors 

 were eating the plum. So of the larvse received I was able to get one 

 example to pupa and imago on plum. Mr. Scudder wrote me : " You 

 have filled one of the greatest voids- in our knowledge of the biology of 

 butterflies," as little or nothing had till now been known of the history of 

 any species of the Lemoniadse. 



Some species eat but a single plant, or sub-group of plants, as P. ajax, 



* As soon as I can find time, I will chaw up a new list of the food-plants of butter- 

 flies, and send to the Can. Ent., and I should be glad to receive information from any 

 one who has any knowledge of this matter. 



