SOME WORKS ON AMERICAN BUTTERFLIES. 29 



clearer.* It covers only the butterflies of nearly the same 

 region as the present volume, but describes them all^ and 

 as far as possible in every stage of life with exceptionally 

 full accounts of their distribution and life-histories, and 

 full definitions of tlie characters of all the higher groups 

 as well as of the species, drawn from every stage of life, 

 164 species are described, and some account of the early 

 stages is given of all but 35 of them, of many far fuller de- 

 tails than ever before. 



Two other books published a generation or more ago on 

 the insects of limited regions may be mentioned, because 

 they gave particular attention to our butterflies. The first f 

 was by Emmons, describing such species as he knew from 

 New York and giving figures of them. This work con- 

 tained a bare description of the perfect butterflies (31 

 species), and colored illustrations (occupying the part or 

 whole of 6 plates) poorly engraved and colored ; it contained 

 nothing new and was very poorly executed. It is not now 

 of the least value. 



Quite otherwise is the less pretentious but classic work of 

 Harris,^; which, though purporting to treat only of injurious 

 insects and mainly those of Massachusetts, contained in 

 the last edition (to a far less extent in the earlier editions 

 of 1841 and 1852) descriptions and figures of a number of 

 New England butterflies as defoliators of trees, etc., in- 

 cluding descriptions of some new forms ; 54 species are 

 described, and, when known, — which was not then the case 

 with many, — brief descriptions are given of the earlier 



*The Butterflies of tlie Eastern United States and Canada. By S. 

 H. Scudder. 3 vols. imp. 8vo. Boston, 1889. 44 + 1958 pp., 96 pL, 

 of which 41 are colored. 



f The Agriculture of New York, Vol. V. 4to. Albany, 1854. 8 -f 

 272 pp., 50 pi. 



\ A Treatise on some of the Insects injurious to Vegetation. 3d ed. 

 Svo. Boston, 1862. 640 pp., 278 figures, 8 col. pi. 



