FAMILY BRUSH-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES. 79 



ARGYNNIS CYBELE— THE GREAT SPANGLED ERITILLARY. 



Butterfly. — The ground color of the under surface of the hind 

 wings is rather dull cinnamoneous, more or less sprinkled with 

 buff, and the buff band between the two outer rows of silver spots 

 is very broad, broader than the outermost brown border, and 

 extends from margin to margin. Expanse fully 3 inches. 



Caterpillar. — Head dull black, castaneous behind. Body 

 spined, dull black, the more exposed parts somewhat velvety; 

 spines corneous, shining blackish castaneous, the base of many 

 dull orange luteous. Length 1| inches. 



Chrysalis. — Dark brown, creased and mottled with drab or 

 reddish brown, or almost wholly dead-leaf brown, more coarsely 

 rugulose and with more prominent tubercles than in A. aphrodite, 

 the basal segments of abdomen unicolorous. Length more than 

 1 inch. 



The eggs, which are short siigar-loaf-shaped, higher 

 than broad, with sixteen to eighteen vertical ribs, and 

 honey-yellow, are laid singly on the food-plant, and also, 

 according to some observers, loosely dropped by the mother 

 while poising in the air; they hatch in about fifteen days. 

 The caterpillars go at once into hibernation, and become 

 full fed on violets during the next June. \A^hen about to 

 pupate, the caterj^illar seeks the under surface of stones 

 and of bark lying on the ground, and the chrysalis hangs 

 from fourteen to twentj-four days. The butterflies are 

 found in open fields and are single-brooded, the earliest 

 appearing the last of June and continuing to emerge from 

 the chrysalis until at least the middle of July; they re- 

 main on the wing until the middle of September or later; 

 although pairing by the end of July, the earliest females 

 not appearing until the beginning of that month, eggs are 

 hardly laid before the middle of August. Further south, 

 according to W. H. Edwards, the butterfiies appear at the 

 end of May, but by the first of July have all disappeared, a 

 fresh brood' appearing about the middle of August; jQi 

 he has never been able to get butterflies of this first brood 



