Genus Melitsea 
Caterpillar .—The larvae are cylindrical, armed in the mature 
form on each segment with comparatively short spines thickly 
covered with diverging hairs, or needle-shaped 
spines. They are known in some species to 
be gregarious in their early stages, and then 
to separate before maturity. They feed upon 
the Scrophnlariacece , upon Castileja, Diplo- 
pappus, and other plants. 
Chrysalis. — The chrysalis is pendant, 
rounded at the head, provided with more or 
less sharply pointed tubercles on the dorsal 
surface, and generally white or some shade 
of light gray, blotched with brown or black, 
and marked with reddish or 
Fig. 91.— rNeuration 
of the genus M elites a. 
orange spots 
on the dorsal side. 
This genus is very large and is distributed widely over all the 
colder portions of the north temperate zone. There are many 
species found in Europe, in Siberia, in China, and in the northern 
islands of Japan. On the upper slopes of the Himalayas it is also 
represented by a few species. In North America the genus is 
well represented, the most of the species being found upon the 
mountain-slopes and in the valleys of the Pacific coast region. 
Only two species occur in the Eastern States. 
(1) Melitsea phaeton, Drury, Plate XVI, Fig. I, £ ; Plate V, 
Figs. 15, 16, chrysalis (The Baltimore). 
Butterfly , £ .—The upper side is black, with a marginal row 
of red spots, followed by three rows of pale-yellow spots on the 
fore wings and two on the hind wings. Besides these there are 
some large red spots on the cells of both wings, a large red spot 
about the middle of the costa of the hind wing, and a few scat¬ 
tering yellow spots, forming an incomplete fourth row on the 
fore wing and an incomplete third row on the hind wing. On 
the under side all the spots of the upper side reappear, but heavier 
and more distinct, and on the hind wings there are two additional 
rows of yellow spots, and a number of irregular patches of red 
and yellow at the base of both wings. 
—The female is much like the male. Expanse, £ 9 I.75- 
2.00 inches; $, 2.00-2.60 inches. 
Egg. —The egg which is outlined upon p. 4, Fig. 8 , is 
brownish-yellow when first laid, then changes to crimson, and 
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