THE COMMON BUTTERFLIES 227 



on the front wing. Its expanse is less than one and one-half 

 inches. It is common in the Southern States and northward. Its 

 caterpillar feeds upon cassia and other legumes, preferring the fine- 

 leaved varieties. 



The Orange Sulphur. — This species resembles the roadside 

 butterfl}' in size and markings but is orange instead of lemon yellow. 

 It is found abundantly in the Mississippi Valley. Its caterpillars 

 feed upon clover, vetch, etc. 



The Cloudless Sulphur. — This splendid butterfly, the most 

 beautiful of all the yellows, has an expanse of two and one-half 

 inches and looks like a California poppy floating off its stem. The 

 male is pure yellow with no markings, but the female has just a 

 suggestion of black border on the outer edge of her wings and a 

 black spot in front of the middle of each front wing. It is a com- 

 mon species in the Southern States, and late in the season pushes 

 northward. The caterpillars feed upon cassia and other legumes. 



THE NYMPHS 



THE FRITILLARIES OR CHECKER-BOARD BUTTERFLIES 



These are reddish-brown butterflies with many black spots on 

 the upper sides of the wings giving them a checkered appearance; 

 and with many silver spots on the lower sides of the wings. When 

 we were children we used to call these round, silver spots " butterfly 

 money," and it was one of our pastimes to gently sieze one of these 

 butterflies when we found it sucking nectar from some thistle 

 blossom and count its money before w^e let it go. 



The Gulf Fritillary. — This is a bright copper butterfly that bears 

 some resemblance to the monarch since its veins in the outer por- 

 tions of the wing are black. It has an expanse of two and one-half 

 to three inches. It can always be distinguished from other butter- 

 flies by the form of the silver spots on the lower side of the wing 

 which are bar-shaped rather than coin- or crescent-shaped. The 

 caterpillars are spiny and feed upon the leaves of the passion flower. 

 The species is found in the South from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



The Regal Fritillary. — This is the most magnificent of all the 

 fritillaries, having an expanse of from three and one-half to four 

 inches. Its front wings are copper color with dark borders, but its 

 hind wings are black with yellowish or light spots. Underneath, 

 the front wings are orange and the hind wings are a rich olive brown 



