BUTTERFLIES OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 89 



Fterile and dry areas where it is always to be found. They are larger, 

 brighter, and more pinkish above, and darker and more richly colored 

 on the underside. Sometimes the last three submarginal black spots 

 on the hind wings above have conspicuous blue centers (form jack- 

 soni, pi. 8, figs. 2, 3). 



These large and handsome individuals are less shy than the smaller 

 and duller ones, and also less active. They spend much of their 

 time feeding on flowers and when disturbed are very loath to leave 

 a particular spot, simply circling about for a short distance and 

 then returning. Early in the morning they sun themselves on leaves 

 after the fashion of the fritillaries, but in the middle of the day they 

 seem to avoid the hot and sterile areas where the small dull ones are 

 frequent. 



The large and brightly colored individuals probably represent 

 the " wet " form of this butterfly, correlated with the development 

 of the caterpillar on vegetation growing in damp regions. 



About Washington I found them common in 1926 in the damp 

 fields between Conduit Road and the canal 2 miles beyond Cabin 

 John, where the shelters of the caterpillars were abundant on the 

 thistles, and in 1927 I took a few at Silver Spring, where they 

 occurred in and near a moist depression in open fields. 



So far as I know this form of the butterfly does not survive the 

 winter either here or in New England, as all the few individuals 

 that I have seen in spring have been of the small dull form. Its 

 appearance seems to be dependent on females of the normal form 

 becoming dispersed over damp regions in the late spring. 



Prof. C. V. Riley wrote that in 1884 this butterfly attracted con- 

 siderable attention, " feeding upon nettles and thistles." 



Habits. — The painted lady is very active, alert, and wary, with 

 a powerful and rapid flight. Ordinarily the flight is very irregular 

 and tortuous, with numerous twists, turns, doublings, and upward 

 and downward darts, at an average height of about 6 feet above the 

 ground. Over fields abounding in red clover, of which this butterfly 

 is very fond, or over beach peas {Lathyrus mw^tirmis) , the flight 

 becomes less irregular without the upward and downward dashes, 

 and is only 2 or 3 feet above the ground, or from 6 inches to a foot 

 above the grass tops. 



When the painted lady is traveling from one region to another, the 

 flight is direct and rapid, and the wings are flapped continuously and 

 rather slowly. The height is usually from 10 to 15 feet above the 

 ground, and the speed is between 20 and 25 miles an hour. This flight 

 resembles the corresponding flight of Vanessa antiopa and of Polygo- 

 nia interrogationis. Over the sea — at least in Massachusetts Bay — the 

 same type of flight is maintained, but there the speed is less and the 

 insect travels ordinarily 2 or 3 feet above the surface in calm 



