FAMILY SKIPPERS. 173 



60. Genus Limochores. 



LIMOCHORES TAUMAS— THE TAWNY-EDGED SKIPPER. 



(Pamphila cernes, Hesperia aliaton.) 



Butterfly. — Upper surface of wings dark brown, the fore wings 

 with a large costal bright tawny patch (male), or an obscure 

 tawny streak along outer half of cell (female), the female with an 

 extramesial series of three upper small yellow dashes and two or 

 three lower large squarish yellow spots, sometimes found indi- 

 cated in the male ; discal dash of male black, sinuous, heavy. 

 Under surface rather dark brown, flecked uniformly on hind 

 wings with greenish yellow giving a grayish oli\aceous effect, 

 the lighter markings of fore wings repeated. Expanse scarcely 

 \\ inches. 



Caterpillar. — Head black, coarsely punctured. Body naked, 

 briefly pilose, rich purplish brown with a green tinge, finely 

 mottled with gray and dark purplish brown ; first thoracic 

 segment milk-white above, the shield piceous. Length 1 inch. 



Chrysalis. — Light brown with slight and delicate infuscations, 

 the thorax darker, the head black, the whole dotted sparsely with 

 fusco-ferruginous; surface vermiculate; tongue reaching the 

 eighth abdominal segment. Length fully \ inch. 



EveryAvhere a common insect in open fields. It hiber- 

 nates in the chrysalis and is single-brooded in the north- 

 ernmost parts of our district, flying late in June and in 

 July; but double-brooded over most of it, the first brood 

 ap2:)earing the last week in May, abundant in June, and 

 seen in scanty numbers all through July ; the second brood, 

 less abundant than the first (probably because some chrys- 

 alids of the first brood winter over), appearing pretty early 

 in August and flying through Se23tember. The eggs, 

 which are smooth, hemispherical, and pale green, are 

 attached lightly and singly to grass-blades and hatch in 

 from eleven to fifteen days. The caterpillars feed upon 

 grasses, such as Panicnm and Triticum, and are indolent, 

 passive, and timorous, feeding only by day, rarely leaving 

 their nests and then going but a little distance. For 



