58 BULLETIN 15 7, XJ. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



tive collection may be made in a relatively short time by taking 

 advantage of some of the peculiarities of these insects. 



Many — indeed, most — butterflies are very fond of certain flowers 

 and may most easily be captured about their favorite plants. Espe- 

 cially productive are those plants which, bearing attractive flowers, 

 rise high above the grass and are isolated or more or less widely 

 scattered. On such plants butterflies will congregate from over an 

 extensive area. 



So far as butterflies are concerned, by far the most attractive of all 

 flowers, wild or cultivated, are the showy orange blossoms of the 

 butterfly weed {Asdepias tuherosa), which derives its common name 

 from the marked partiality shown it by these insects. 



When the butterflyweed rises above the grass tops, a surprisingly 

 large proportion of the butterflies in its vicinity will congregate 

 upon its orange heads. It is the favorite of all the flower-feeding 

 species from the swallowtails and the milkweed butterfly down to 

 the smallest blues and skippers. Always on these heads the pearl 

 crescent {Pkyciodes tharos) outnumbers all the other species when 

 it is in season. Not infrequently all the available space on a flower 

 head will be occupied by a butterfly, while in the air above there 

 flutter several butterflies looking for an opportunity to settle. 



But if the grass is tall and rises above the flowers, the larger 

 butterflies, such as the swallowtails and the fritillaries, will not visit 

 them, and the numbers of the smaller species are also much reduced. 



The common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and the swamp milk- 

 weed {A. incamata) are also favorites of most flower-feeding butter- 

 flies, particularly the fritillaries, the milkweed butterfly, the swal- 

 lowtails, certain of the hairstreaks {Strymon), and the larger 

 skippers. But those butterflies, such as the painted ladies {Pyra- 

 meis cardui and P. virginiensis) , the red admiral {Pyrameis ata- 

 lanta), and the buckeye {Junonia lavinia)^ that prefer to feed on 

 flowers on the summit of a stalk rising above the surrounding vege- 

 tation, on which they rest by preference with the body horizontal, 

 as a rule avoid the milkweeds. 



The buttonbush {C ephalanthus occidentalis) is favored by very 

 many different kinds of butterflies, but where it grows it usually 

 is so very common that the butterflies feeding on it are rather 

 widely scattered. 



Jersey-tea {Geanothus americanus) , growing near extensive 

 patches of scrub oak and in the proximity of numerous large ant 

 hills, forms an appropriate setting for the hairstreaks; but in this 

 area all the species so frequent on this plant in more northern 

 regions are local and uncommon. 



