68 



KORTII AMERICAN BUTTERFLIES. 



ly Florida, Southern California, and Tex as. Occurs tliruugliout the 

 year. 



GENUS XVIII. 

 MELITAExV. BLACK-CHECKERED BUTTERFLIES. 

 Size, small to medium. Colors, dark, often black, con- 

 spicuously marked in checker's of ©range, reddish or yellow. 

 Antennae, nearly as long as the body and terminating in a 

 short, suddenly enlarged, flat club. Fore wings, long and 

 pointed, hind wings comparati\ely short and without an- 

 gles. Type, M. phaeton. ( Plate Till, 3. ) 



Fig. 26. 



f d c b a 



Illustrating the genus Argynnis. a, upperslde, hind wing, rupestris:b, same macaria; c, same 

 inornata; d, same, semiramis: e, same, opis; f, outer margin same, polaris. 



157. MELITAEA PHAETON Dru. 



Red-bordered Checker. 

 Color, black, both wings bordered with spots of reddish orange, 

 within Avhich, on fore wings, are four rows of yellowish, and three on 

 hind, the inner on both wings being indistinct. In central cell of fore 

 wings, are four or five spots of reddish orange, and in central cell of 

 hind, one. Beneath, markings repeated, larger, and spots in central cell 

 of fore wings fused together with an additional spot of red below, near 

 base, and some yellow dots. On hind wings, there are four clearly de- 

 fined rows of yellowish spots, and within them, a row of reddish orange, 

 with three more spots of same color in base, and five or more of yellow- 

 ish. Expands, 1.75 to 2.10. Habitat, United States, east of the Rocky 

 Mountains, excepting extreme southern portion, and northward to On- 

 tario, Quebec, and Lake of the Woods. Locality distributed. Occurs 

 from the middle of June, until the last of July. 



