of the White Mountains. C17 



"It inhabits," says he, "the bald summits of the "White 

 Mountains of New Hampshire, and appears to be limited 

 to that inhospitable region." This species is confined 

 ■exclusively to the strictly alpine region of the mountain, 

 and is extremely abundant. Under descriptions of this 

 insect, in its various stages, in this paper I shall speak 

 of its habits and stations, and will only say here, that 

 its presence in the alpine region is a very prominent 

 feature in the fauna of the White Mountains; — doubt- 

 less an occasional individual will be found far within 

 the limits of the subalpine region, for the fierce blasts of 

 wind, which sweep around these lofty elevations must 

 sometimes hurl these feeble flutterers far down toward 

 the wooded valleys, as, indeed, I have once or twice wit- 

 nessed, but the contrast between the occasional and un- 

 willing visitor and the swarms which crowd the upper 

 plateaus is very marked and significant. The genus is 

 quite peculiar to the arctic regions. On this continent, 

 it has been recorded as yet only in Greenland and 

 Labrador, and at Albany River, Hudson's Bay, about 

 latitude 53° ; and I presume all Eastern Labrador speci- 

 mens have been obtained from that portion of it lying 

 to the north of the Straits of Belle Isle, since none 

 were brought home by an expedition which spent the 

 summer just south of that point, notwithstanding special 

 search was made for them ; neither did I meet with them 

 in a summer's trip in the centre of the continent, across 

 Lake "Winnipeg and up the Saskatchewan River, nearly 

 to Cumberland House, in latitude 54°. So here we have, 

 upon the highest altitudes of the mountains, a butterfly 

 belonging to a genus found elsewhere only in high north- 

 ern latitudes. According to Mr. Edwards, it is specifically 

 distinct from that found at Albany River, but whether or 

 not it is distinct from those of Greenland and Labrador, 

 or the numerous, but most closely allied species which 



JOUKJJAL B. S. N. H. 78 



