772 



AN INTRODUCTION TO ENTOMOLOGY 



they excrete from osmeteria which they push out from the seventh 

 and eighth abdominal segments. 



The tailed blue, Everes comyntas. — The butterflies of the genus 

 Everes can be distinguished from our other blues by the presence of a 

 small tail-like prolongation of the hind wing. This is borne at the 

 end of vein eu2. Our common species (E. comyntas) is distributed 

 over nearly all parts of North America. The male is dark purplish 

 violet above, bordered with brown; the female is dark brown, some- 

 times flecked with bluish scales. In the Eastern United States this 

 is the only species of the genus. 



The larva feeds upon clover and other leguminous plants. 



IV. GENUS FENISECA 



Fig. 981. — Feniseca 

 tarquinins. 



The wanderer, Feniseca tarquinius. — This is the only known mem- 

 ber of the genus Feniseca, the affinities of which have not been deter- 

 mined . It does not seem to belong to either of 

 the three groups of genera mentioned above. 

 A distinctive featvire of this genus is the fact 

 that vein Mi of the fore wings coalesces with a 

 branch of radius for a considerable distance 

 beyond the apex of the discal cell; in this re- 

 spect it differs from all other members of the 

 Lycasnidae found in our fauna. 



The upper surface of the wings of this but- 

 terfly (Fig. 981) is dark brown, with a large 

 irregular, orange-yellow patch on the disk of the fore wing, and one 

 of the same color next the anal angle of the hind wing. 



This species is of unusual interest, as the larva 

 is carnivorous in its habits. It feeds on plant-lice ; 

 and, so far as observed, it feeds only on the woolly 

 aphids. It is found more often in colonies of the 

 alder blight (Schizoneura tessellata) than in those 

 of the allied species. It is found from Maine to 

 Northern Florida and westward to Kansas. It is a 

 very local insect, being found only in the neighbor- 

 hood of water where alder grows. 



I do not know why the name the wanderer was 

 applied to this butterfly, it may have been on ac- 

 count of its local appearance in widely separated 

 places, or because in habits the larva deviates far 

 from the more usual habits of caterpillars. The 

 name is also appropriate as its nearest relatives are 

 found in Africa and in Asia. 



The chrysalis of Feniseca presents a remarkable appearance (Fig. 

 982); the anterior half when viewed from above bears a curious re- 

 semblance to a monkey's face; and it differs from all other lycasnid 

 pupae in our fauna in having on each side a row of small rounded 

 tubercles. 



Fig. 982. — Chrysa- 

 lis of Feniseca. 

 Enlarged. 



