LEPIDOPTERA 



281 



/?«■«* 



Only two species are listed from the United States, one from Texas 

 and one from the East ; and these may be merely varieties of one species. 



The snout butterfly, Hypatus bachmanni. — The wings are blackish- 

 brown above, marked with orange and white spots. This species occurs 

 throughout the eastern United States, excepting the northern part of 

 New England and the southern part of Florida. The larva feeds on 

 hackberry, and in the West where hackberry does not occur, it feeds on 

 wolfberry. 



Family Lyc&nid^e 

 The Gossamer-winged Butterflies 



The family Lycasnidae includes butterflies which are of small size 

 and delicate structure. In size they resemble the smaller Hesperiidae 

 but they can be distinguished at a glance 

 from the skippers, as they present an en- 

 tirely different appearance. The body is 

 slender, the wings delicate and often 

 brightly colored, and the club of the an- 

 tenna straight. The antennae are nearly 

 always ringed with white ; each is situated 

 very closely to the edge of an eye, often 

 flattening it; they are not in pits; and 

 a conspicuous rim of white scales en- 

 circles the eyes. 



A characteristic of this family is 

 that while in the female the front legs 

 are like the other legs, in the male they 

 are shorter, without tarsal claws, and 

 with the tarsi more or less aborted. The 

 venation is shown in Figure 484. 



The caterpillars of the Lycaenidae pre- 

 sent a very unusual form being more or 

 less slug-like, reminding one of the larvae 

 of the Eucleidae. The body is short and 

 broad ; the legs and prolegs are short and 

 small, allowing the body to be closely 

 pressed to the object upon which the insect 

 is moving — in fact some of the species glide rather than creep ; and the 

 head is small, and can be retracted more or less within the prothorax. 

 The body is armed with no conspicuous appendages; but some of the 

 species are remarkable for having osmeteria which can be pushed out 

 from the seventh and eighth abdominal segments, and through which 

 honey-dew is excreted for the use of ants. Certain other species are re- 

 markable in being carnivorous; one American species feeds exclusively 

 upon plant-lice. 



The chrysalids are short, broad, ovate, and without angulations. 

 They are attached by the caudal extremity, and by a loop passing over 

 the body near its middle. The ventral aspect of the body is straight and 

 often closely pressed to the object to which the chrysalis is attached. 



The family Lycaenidae is represented in our fauna by three well- 

 marked groups of genera, which are hardly distinct enough to be ranked 



ad A 



Fig. 484. — Wings of Ileodes thcc. 



