THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



85 



separate, of course, put but one in the bag ; otherwise several, as half a 

 dozen Turfius, for example. One can judge pretty well, either by the 

 size of the abdomen, or by the worn state of the wings, whether the eggs 

 are mature. If the wings are worn, even though the abdomen be not 

 swollen, it is probable the butterfly has already laid most of her eggs. 

 Species differ in regard to the time required after impregnation for laying. 

 Several have been known to lay within a few hours after the two sexes had 

 been taken in copulation, but others require several days. In these last 

 cases the eggs are not fully formed when the butterfly comes from chry- 

 salis, in the other they are. In Argynnis Myrina and A. Bei/o?ia, also in 

 P. Tharos, the eggs are mature in the new butterfly ; in Mel. Phaeton they 

 are wholly unformed. In the larger Argynnids about two weeks elapse 

 after emergence from chrysalis before the eggs are mature. In many 

 species copulation takes place as soon as the female comes forth, often 

 before the wings are expanded or dried. Indeed, in Heliconia Chari- 

 t07iia, the males have been observed by Dr. Wittfeld to hang in clusters 

 of four or five upon the female chrysalis, and when the shell bursts open 

 from their weight, one of them is sure to make connection before the 

 shell is fully removed. I have seen old males of P. Ajax coursing up 

 and down a bit of woods in which these butterflies were coming from 

 chrysalis, and ready to pounce upon any limp-winged female that came 

 within their vision. In Can. Ent., viii., 161-2, I related that I turned 

 loose at Coalburgh a dozen examples, male and female, of A. Myrina, the 

 larvae of which I had brought from the Catskills, and about three hours 

 later found a pair of them in copulation in the grass. These I got into 

 the house and into a box, and next day set the female on a plant of violet 

 under a bag. Within an hour she had begun to lay eggs, and within two 

 days laid 93. 



In August, 1877, I took a pair of Arg. Atlantis in copulation, in the 

 Catskills, in the forest, several miles from home, and doubting if I could 

 get them home in this condition, I tied up my net and suspended it to a 

 branch. The next day I returned and brought in the female, which laid 

 fertile eggs at two days and later. 



Some species, however, do not seem to lay so readily as Argynnis, and 

 have to be kept alive artificially in the manner to be described hereafter. 

 Often, and especially for species which lay on small plants, as violet or 

 grasses, I set the plants in pots, or even tin fruit cans, and over the tops 

 tie bags, which are high enough to clear the plant by a few inches. To 



