190 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



in May again ; the others proceeding to chrysalis, from which the butter- 

 flies emerge in September, " doomed to an untimely end. Their sisters of 

 the aestival series are busily laying eggs to perpetuate the race, but to them is 

 this boon denied ; the cold autumnal blasts sweep them away before the eggs 

 are half developed in their ovaries. It is, in fact, a vain effort of Nature to 

 develop a second brood." Elsewhere this is spoken of as a " waste of 

 energy on the part of Nature." * 



It is expressly stated that " in this butterfly the eggs are wholly unde- 

 veloped at the birth of the female." The above statement of facts leads 

 the author to conclude that " we have here two independent series 

 in the same species, each single-brooded, but one making an effort 

 towards a second generation, invariably ending in disaster ; that it is 

 improbable that the blood of both series ever commingles through the 

 union of the butterflies of the two series, because, although the generations 

 overlap, the males of a brood are the first to disappear, and the females the 

 last to appear, and at best there would be few that could thus mate ; 

 moreover, since the eggs of the freshly emerged females are not fully developed 

 for weeks or even months, the effect of such a union would be questionable. 

 Yet if there is no union between the two series, then are the vernal and 

 aestival groups practically as distinct from each other as any two species. 

 The two groups show a difference such as usually characterizes somewhat 

 distant genera." 



Mr. Scudders observations on these species were so different from 

 those on an allied European species, euphrosyue, as related by Doubleday, 

 that he could not comprehend the statement given, and says : " By this 

 account the butterflies (euphrosyue) lay their eggs on their first appearance; 

 either they differ in toto from their congeners in A m erica, or there is some 

 error in this statement (of Doubleday). 



When I first read Mr. Scudder's paper it occurred to me that possibly 

 there was error in his statement of facts. But as these butterflies are not 

 inhabitants of my district, I have had no opportunity to put Nature to 

 the question till the last season, and the result is as I anticipated. She 

 may dry her tears, unveil her blushing cheeks, and walk forth acquitted 

 of the horrid charge. I think it will appear that the history of the 

 butterfly, although curious, as I find the history of every species of 

 butterfly which 1 have studied, is not unlike that of many of the double- 

 brooded species, and certainly runs parallel with some of them. 



In July, 1875, 1 was at Hunter, in the Catskill Mountains, and both 



