84 BULLETIN 15 7, U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



In 1929 hibernated individuals of this species were unusually 

 common. The butterflies of the first brood were very common, and 

 those of the third brood abundant. Nearly all the individuals of 

 the second and third broods caught in the marshy fields west of 

 Cabin John were curious in having a tapering pink stripe bordering 

 the discal portion of the hind wing beneath. 



Remarks. — This butterfly has an enormous range, occurring from 

 the Northern United States and even southern Canada, where it is 

 rare or casual, southward to Argentina. Within the United States it 

 is fairly constant, but farther south it develops a most perplexing 

 array of geographical, seasonal, and other forms. 



Genus PYRAMEIS Doubleday 



PYRAMEIS ATALANTA ATALANTA (Linnaeus) 



Red Admiral 



Plate 7, Figures 5, G 



Occurrence. — Locally distributed, but in some places common. 

 It is most numerous in the wetter portions of the fields between 

 Conduit Road and the canal 2 miles beyond Cabin John, wherever 

 the false nettle {BoehmeHa cylind/i4ca) grows, and in the damp 

 woods between these fields and the canal. It is also common in the 

 bog between the railroad station at Beltsville, Md., and the experi- 

 ment farm of the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of 

 Agriculture, and in the open country along Paint Branch. It is 

 more or less frequent in similar situations elsewhere, and occasional 

 individuals stray into Washington in autumn. I have seen a num- 

 ber of specimens from the District without precise locality, and 

 Mr. Shoemaker has bred it from caterpillars found here. The lar- 

 vae are easily found by looking for their little domiciles on the 

 false nettle. The numbers of this butterfly vary considerably from 

 year to year. 



The National Museum contains two specimens from Washington, 

 one of which is very large with the fore wing 36 mm. in length ; the 

 other was taken in June, 1920. 



Habits. — In this region the red admiral is almost equally an open 

 woodland and a moist meadow butterfly, as its chief food plant here, 

 the false nettle {Boehineria cylindrica) , occurs with the same abun- 

 dance in both situations. It is often seen to fly from the woods out 

 over the open fields and from the fields into the woods. 



In the woods it is active, alert, and suspicious, playing about the 

 open glades or along the roads like the angle wings or winding in and 

 out among the trees with a quick, irregular flight, usually 4 or 5 feet 

 above the ground. But on occasion it will rise very high, up to the 

 tree tops, soon darting down again. It is fond of pershing on logs or 



