BUTTEKFLIES OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 39 



was relatively more numerous than before. The fresh individuals 

 we caught were all of the forms keemaydin and aricbdme. Most of 

 the specimens were worn and very faded. 



The pearl crescents {Phyciodes tharos) seemed to have suffered 

 little diminution in their numbers, and were still quite common. 

 Most of them were badly battered, but a few were fresh. 



Only a single swallowtail was seen, a much worn blue swallow- 

 tail {Papilio philenor). The only skippers found were a few gray 

 darters {Pyrgus tessellafns) , of which the only one caught was fresh, 

 and a single worn female of the least skipper {Ancyloxypha numi- 

 tor) , which was captured on a flower of EtopatoHmn coelestinuTn. 



Most noticeable of the butterflies along the roads were now the 

 overwintering woodland butterflies, the hop merchant {Polygonia 

 commuL)^ the question mark {Polygonia intei'rogationis) , and the 

 Camberwell beauty {Vanessa antiopa). Except for the first these 

 were not numerous, but their presence in the open country and 

 absence from the woods drew attention to them. 



REMARKS AND NOTES 



To anyone familiar with the regularity of the appearance of the 

 successive broods of butterflies in the north, the determination of 

 the duration and time of appearance of the broods in the District 

 offers a problem of no little difficulty. 



The period of emergence of the individuals of the spring brood 

 of many species is very long, and it is often impossible to say whether 

 certain fresh individuals are late examples of the first brood or 

 early examples of the second. This is especially true in the case 

 of the yellow, parsnip, spicebush, and zebra swallowtails {Papilio 

 glaucms, P. polyccejies, P. troilus, and P. marcellus, respectively) 

 which are on the wing continuousl}?^ from their first appearance 

 early in spring, their numbers reaching a maximum in the last 

 half of July, and in the case of the red admiral {Pyrameis ata- 

 lanta) and the American painted lady {P. virginiensis) , in which 

 butterflies from overwintering chrysalids seem to emerge up to the 

 time of appearance of the butterflies of the summer brood. 



Some butterflies with only a single brood have a much longer 

 season here than they do farther north. This is particularly true 

 in the case of two of the local satyrids {Neonympha eurytus and 

 Satyrodes eurydice). These remain common for a considerably 

 longer time than they do in New England, and persist until the end 

 of summer. I have suspected that late-summer individuals may be 

 the young of spring individuals of the same year — in other words, 

 that they may represent a partial second brood — but there is no 

 proof of this. 



66544—32 4 



