Genus Vanessa 
Butterfly .—A rather small species, with light-fulvous fore 
wings, shading into yellow toward the outer margins; the dark 
markings slight, but deep in color. The secondaries are heavily 
bordered with black on the outer margin. On the under side the 
wings are very dark, variegated with paler shades, somewhat as in 
G. gracilis. Expanse, 1.85-2.00 inches. 
The early stages have been quite fully described by various 
authors, and the reader may consult “The Butterflies of New 
England,” vol. i, pp. 266-268, for a full account. The caterpillar 
feeds on the elm, but more commonly on various species of the 
Grossulacece , or currant tribe, wild or domesticated. It ranges 
from Siberia to Nova Scotia, and southward as far as Pennsyl¬ 
vania. 
There are several other species of Grapta found in our fauna, 
which are not delineated in this book; but they are rare species, 
of which little is as yet known. The types are in the collection 
of the writer, and if the reader finds any species which he cannot 
identify by means of this book the author will be pleased to help 
him to the full extent of his ability. 
Genus VANESSA, Fabricius 
(The Tortoise-shells) 
Butterfly. —Medium-sized insects, the wings on the upper 
side generally some shade of black or brown, marked with 
red, yellow, or orange. The head is moder¬ 
ately large, the eyes hairy, the palpi more 
or less heavily scaled, the prothoracic legs fee¬ 
ble and hairy. The lower discocellular vein 
of the fore wings, when present, unites with 
the third median nervule, not at its origin, but 
beyond on the curve. The cell of the primaries 
may or may not be closed. The cell of the secon¬ 
daries is open. The fore wings have the outer mar¬ 
gin more or less deeply excavated between the 
extremities of the upper radial and the first medi- tion^of the genus 
an, at which points the wings are rather strongly Vanessa. 
produced. The hind wings have the outer margin denticulate, 
strongly produced at the extremity of the third median nervule. 
167 
