BUTTERFLIES OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 29 



thistle flowers. They are so worn as scarcely to be recognizable, 

 but they are wary and as alert as ever. 



Along the open roads running through these fields the viceroy 

 {Basilarchia archippus) is common, flying back and forth or perched 

 on the bare ground enjoying the hot sun. If startled it circles about 

 over the fields, but soon returns, being, wherever it occurs, primarily 

 a roadside butterfl}'-. The buckeye {Junonia lavinia) is also common 

 on the roads, but only occasional in the fields. It, too, is by prefer- 

 ence a roadside butterfly. 



On the muddy spots in the open roads sit little mixed companies 

 composed of the males of the yellow clover butterfly (Golias philo- 

 dice) and of the lesser sulphur {Eurema lisa), in varying propor- 

 tions. The members of each little company sit very close together. 

 If a dead yellow butterfly or a bit of yellow paper be dropped upon 

 the mud, another little company soon will form about it. Scattered 

 widely over the surface of the mud and paying no attention to each 

 other are numerous pearl crescents {Phyciodes thuros), several 

 tailed blues {Everes comyntas), and a few skippers, often the silver- 

 spotted skipper {Epargyreus tityrus) and sometimes a sooty skipper 

 {Pholisora catullus) or a dusky wing {Thoryhes daunus), or even a 

 gray darter {Pyrgus tesseUatus) . 



Along the borders of the woods the common blue {Lycaenopsis 

 argiolus) is seen flying near or among the trees, often rising to a 

 considerable height above the ground, while the hop merchant 

 {Polygonia comma) and the question mark {Polygonia interro- 

 gationis) and more rarely the Camberwell beauty {Vanessa antiopa) 

 sun themselves on the leaves of bushes or the lower branches of the 

 trees, or play about in the mottled shade. It is interesting to observe 

 in the case of the hop merchant and the question mark {Polygonia 

 comma and P. interrogationis) that some of the individuals are 

 very worn and faded, while others are quite fresh. In the worn 

 ones the ground color of the hind wings is dark, in the fresh ones 

 light. 



In a small grove bordering the fields in this vicinity the hackberry 

 butterfly {Ghlorippe celtis) and the tawny emperor {Ghlonppe 

 clyton) are to be seen in numbers, mostly about the higher branches 

 of the trees, while nearer the ground the hop merchant and the 

 question mark are common. 



In the boggy portions of the fields, but not elsewhere, the varie- 

 gated fritillary {Euptoieta claudia) is not uncommon. 



In certain places by the roadside the pigweed {Ohenopodium 

 album) is a common plant, and an examination will reveal numbers 

 of the little caterpillars of the sooty skipper {Pholisora catullus), 

 each in a little shelter made by rolling inward and fastening to- 

 gether the borders of a leaf. The abundance of these caterpillars 



