BUTTERFLIES OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 35 



Of the butterflies, swallowtails were very few. A number of blue 

 swallowtails {Papillo philenor) still coursed about in their impetuous 

 way, but seldom more than one was seen at any time, and often there 

 was none in sight at all. All of them were worn and battered. Sev- 

 eral spicebush swallowtails {Paqnlio troilus) were seen, and some of 

 both sexes captured; they were even more battered than the others. 

 A solitary female of the yellow swallowtail {Pafilio glancus) of the 

 ochreous form was found on a thistle flower near the woods, and on 

 another thistle in the open fields there was a female of the parsnip 

 swallowtail {Papilio polyxenes) . Both of these were badly battered. 



These were the only butterflies seen to visit thistles except for a 

 single milkweed butterfly {Danaiis jjlexipptis) fresh from the 

 chrysalis and a solitary battered silver-spotted skipper {Epargyreus 

 tityrus). 



Of the other larger butterflies there was a worn black admiral 

 {BasilaTchAax arthemis astyanax) flying about an extensive muddy 

 spot, and we also saw some battered viceroys {Basilarchia a^'chippus) , 

 several males patrolling the roads just as in their palmy days, but 

 now showing much less vigor and scarcely belligerent at all, and a 

 female about some willow bushes. 



Commonest of all the butterflies was the lesser sulphur (Eurema 

 lisa). In greater or lesser numbers this was everywhere. It was 

 especially numerous, however, in the drier areas where in the thin 

 grass and along the roads the food plant {Chamaecristai cham(w- 

 crista) was present in abundance. Of this little butterfly most of 

 the individuals were fresh; nearly all of them were males. Every 

 muddy spot had little companies of males, always huddled close 

 together. Usually there were four or five, or half a dozen, but in 

 one company there were more than 20. 



Next commonest was the yellow clover {C olios philodice)^ numer- 

 ous everywhere but especially abundant about the flowers of the 

 small white asters. Most of the individuals were badly rubbed and 

 worn, but some were fresh, especially among the females, and one 

 was found which had only just emerged from the chrysalis, having 

 the wings still soft and damp. 



With these were many of the orange clovers {Colias eurytheme), 

 which were about one-fifth as numerous as the individuals of the 

 yellow species. Nearly all these were fresh, though a few were 

 worn. A female was found which had only just emerged. Most of 

 the males were of the a?nphi3usa form, but most of the females of 

 the keewaydin. A few individuals of the small ariadne form were 

 seen and captured. In life these were scarcely distinguishable from 

 the yellow clovers. 



Most interesting was a beautiful white female of the keewaydin 

 form with the fore wings behind the cell faintly tinged with salmon- 



