THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 97 



hind margin and along the gradate veins parallel to tip slightly fumose ; 

 venation and hind margin villous ; hind wings hyaline. 



Two females from Nevada have more variegated front wings ; nearly 

 all the oblique veins below the submediana, the forks along the hind bor- 

 der are more infumate, which makes the wing look strange ; the femurs of 

 hind legs fuscous. 



Length of body, male 38 m.m.; female 26 m.m.: exp. al. 48 to 52 m.m. 



Hab., California, Cap San Lucas, by Xanthus de Vesey ; Humboldt 

 Station, Nevada, July 29, by O.Sacken. Of the 9 specimens before me, 

 7 are from California (one female), all alike ; the two females from Nevada 

 are stronger colored, but otherwise not different. The great length of 

 labial palpi is a character not to be found in another species. 



NOTES ON LYCAENA PIASUS, Boisd. 



BY W. G. WRIGHT, SAN BERNARDINO, CAL. 



This is in California the first butterfly to emerge in the spring, appear- 

 ing in February, though it is the accepted representative of the Eastern 

 JVeg/ecta, which is not the first to appear there. Piasus is double brooded ; 

 the second brood coming'in the latter part of April, and between it and 

 the first brood a few days intervene when no Piasus are seen. Both 

 broods are very fond of water, being always found on damp sands of wet 

 places, and at the brookside crossings. They are also often seen feeding 

 on willow blossoms. A large series gives a uniform expanse of 1.1 inch. 

 I can detect no difference in the markings or size of the two broods. 



The larval food-plant of Piasus is the buds of Adenostoma fasci- 

 culattim, an anomalous genus which has no representative, even approxi- 

 mate, in the Eastern States. The Spanish name is " chamiso," which is 

 Anglicized into " chemise." It is a heath-like plant, 4 to 6 feet high, re- 

 sembling a juniper bush more than any other Eastern plant. Every part 

 of it is brittle, dry, and rather resinous, burning freely when quite fresh 

 and green. The leaves are very small, round like pine needles, and ever- 

 green ; they grow all along the stems in little bunches or " fascicles," 

 whence the specific name. The flowers are minute, profuse, in dense 

 terminal racemes on the tips of the twigs, white, scarcely or not at all 

 fragrant, though forming one of the chief sources of honey in the country, 



