346 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



NOTES ON CALIFORNIA BUTTERFLIES. 



BY KARL R. COOLIDGE, PALO ALTO, CALIF. 



Observations on the Life-history of ChrysophaJiiis gorgon, Boisd. 



Chrysophanus gorgo?i flies throughout California in the foothills and 

 lower mountains, not inhabiting the valleys and plains to any extent. It 

 is also found in Nevada. Like other Chrysophanids^ such as edit/ia, 

 zeroc and cuprens, it has a rather wide distribution, yet is very local. I 

 had collected over two years in this county before I was aware of its 

 existence here. Mr, J. G. Grundel, at Alma, in this county, wrote me 

 last season that it was quite common there at an elevation of several 

 thousand feet, on the dry, hot hillsides, where its food-plant thrives. Several 

 days later I caught a fine fiery ^ , the only one I have ever seen in the 

 valley proper. Of the life-history, Mr. Grundel has published a few brief 

 notes (Entom. News, XV, 97, 1904), and I have given a description of 

 the egg, which I here repeat, in my review of the genus.* 



£gg. — Diameter about i mm.; colour dirty creamy-white. Hemi- 

 spherical, flattened at base, marked by numerous polygonal or semi- 

 circular depressions. The food-plant is a species of Eriogofiuin (not 

 Erigonuju)^ probably ?iudu?n, Douglas, a genus closely related to "Rumex, 

 which is a common food-plant for Chrysophanids. The plant grows only 

 on the very dry hillsides, and it is in such places that gorgon may be 

 found abundantly. The eggs are laid in the forks of the plant, only one 

 being laid in a single fork by the same female, but the act is repeated by 

 others until there may be as many as seven or eight. On the last day of 

 May this year Mr. Grundel and I were collecting in the Santa Cruz 

 Mountains, where we found gorgon unexpectedly abundant and fresh. 

 The females are ordinarily quite rare, but we took the sexes in about 

 equal proportion. Several times I observed a female ovipositing. Alight- 

 ing on the stalk, she slowly backs up until she reaches the fork, when, 

 curving her abdomen downwards, she deposits an egg. In late May, 

 June and July oviposition takes place, and the young larvae normally hatch 

 towards the end of August. They are nocturnal, hiding in the daytime 

 in the leaves and rubbish at the base of the plant. They very readily 

 feign death, and sometimes, when disturbed, remain motionless for hours 

 at a time. At first the larvne feed on the upper sides of the leaves, which 

 they greatly resemble in colour. Later, after several instars, they become 

 lighter, and they then feed on the under surface, to which they are now 



*Psyche, XIV, 118, 1907. 

 October, 1908 



