210 Zoology of Colorado 



black ground. It is famous for its migrations; in England it 

 appears in numbers in certain years, flying over from the Conti- 

 nent. The spiny larvae may be found on thistles, but also not rarely 

 on the garden hollyhock. Related to the Painted Lady, but not 

 so common, is Hunter's Butterfly (Vanessa virginiensis of 

 Drury). It may be readily known by the larger submarginal 

 black spots, some with lilac centers, on the hind wings, as well as 

 the large eye-like spots on the under side of the same wings. The 

 caterpillar feeds on plants of the "everlasting" type, Gnaphalium 

 and Antcnnaria. A still rarer species, which has been taken at 

 Denver, is the so-called West Coast Lady, Vanessa carye (not 

 caryae, as sometimes spelled). It is very much like the Painted 

 Lady, but the rosy-fulvous area near the lower corners of the 

 front wings is a separate patch, not united with the band which 

 crosses the wings. The under side does not have the large eye- 

 spots of V. virginiensis. According to Seitz, it is especially dis- 

 tinguished from V. cardui by the subapical band before the white 

 spots on front wings, which is tan colored instead of white. This 

 is not satisfactory, because it is often similarly colored in American 

 V. cardui, and in a specimen of V. carye I collected at Valparaiso, 

 Chile, in August, the upper end of this band is white. In South 

 America, V. carye is common; I found it in Chile, and saw it about 

 Arequipa, Peru. 



Closely related to these insects is the American Tortoise-shell, 

 Aglais milberti. It is smaller than the butterflies just described, 

 and has the inner part of the wings above nearly all black, but with 

 red marks on the upper wings. Beyond the black is a very broad 

 red band across both wings, while the margin is again dark. The 

 wings have the pointed projections characteristic of the group. 

 In the Rocky Mountain race, A. milberti subpallida, the red band 

 is strongly flushed with yellowish or very pale buffy. The cater- 

 pillar lives on stinging nettle. In England they have a closely 

 related species, called the Small Tortoise-shell, the larva of which 

 also feeds on nettle. They have also a larger insect, the Large 

 Tortoise-shell, in which the wings show large black spots, but the 

 inner half or more is not black or very dark. In Colorado this 

 is represented by a very similar insect, the California Tortoise- 

 shell, the larva of which feeds on Ceanothus. 1 1 is a western species 

 evidently derived from ancestors which came from Asia by way 



