BUTTERFLIES OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 107 



This species is always shy and suspicious, and the males are more 

 wary than the females. It is not readily attracted by bait or by 

 decoys and, therefore, with the sole exception of the goggle eye {Cer- 

 cyonis alope), it is the most difficult of all the local butterflies to 

 capture in quantities. 



This butterfly first mates immediately upon the appearance of the 

 females about the first of July, and mated pairs may be found in 

 which the male is rubbed and worn but the female is only a few 

 hours old with the wings still soft and brilliantly iridescent. In 

 such pairs the female will be found feeding on flowers, flying from 

 one plant to another in the usual way carrying the male. Mating 

 does not become general, however, until much later, and mated pairs 

 are most frequently observed in the last half of August. Unless 

 the female has very recently emerged, she does not feed while mating. 



The courting of the regal fritillary is very different from that of 

 Argynnis cyhele. A female pursued by a male drops down onto the 

 summit of a plant that rises well above the grass tops. The male 

 follows and flutters actively all about her, below, above, in front, and 

 on both sides, changing his position with great rapidity. The female, 

 with the wings folded above the back, constantly flutters them very 

 slightly and from time to time shifts her position in a nervous 

 manner. 



Mating occurs in damp, open grassy areas, not on the borders of 

 woody and grassy regions as in the case of Argynnis cyhele. 



Clement W. Baker writes me that at Waynesburg, Ohio, he 

 noticed particularly that unless the females of this species visit the 

 flowers of alfalfa they were nearly all found on red clover. In 

 visiting the clover they would invariably seek a cluster of flowers 

 that were in a measure screened by other higher-growing plants. 

 Also in the alfalfa fields they would be found resting not on the 

 more exposed flowers, but rather on those near the bottom of the 

 plants. So all the specimens that he secured in the open were 

 either flushed in walking through the fields, or were watched as 

 they alighted and their position thus determined. He found no 

 females on milkweed, and not until later in the season on thistles. 



Mr. Baker found that in many instances the females showed a 

 tendency to drift into territory that had an abundance of fine 

 swamp grass. Perhaps 80 per cent of all the females that he took 

 were captured about the hour when the sun was sinking below the 

 horizon. At this hour he was able to secure fine fresh specimens 

 easily and without much exertion. Wlien they were disturbed they 

 would mostly rise up, fly a short distance, and settle again. Quite 

 a few were captured as they attempted to rise. As darkness came 

 on they would become lethargic and could then be taken without any 

 exertion whatever. 



