PAPILIONID^. 269 



patch, of the same color, on the eleventh segment. The rings 

 were all somewhat elevated in the middle of their diameter and 

 thinly covered with yellowish brown, short hairs." He did not 

 succeed in rearing the butterfly, but this description will be 

 useful to any entomologist who may be fortunate enough to 

 rear it hereafter. 



The Hesperians, or Skippers, are a large group of small, 

 dark, dun-colored butterflies, whose antennie have the knob 

 curved like a hook, or ending in a little point bent to one side, 

 reminding us of the antennae of the Sphinges. They are moth- 

 like in their motions, form, and larval characters. They are 

 stout bodied, with large heads and. prominent eyes, and thick 

 palpi, almost square at the end. The larvae are spindle-shaped, 

 naked, and with a remarkably large head. They are solitary, 

 and often hide in folded leaves like the Tortricidw, trans- 

 forming in a rude cocoon of dead leaves or stub- 

 ble, held together by silken threads. The pupa3 

 are somewhat conical, like those of moths, 

 smooth and generally covered with a bluish 

 white powder. They are fastened by the tail 

 and a slight band of threads within their rude ^'S- los. 



cocoons. We have many species in this country ; the largest 

 forms occurring southwards. 



Eiiclavius Tityrus Cramer feeds on the locust and is our largest 

 species northward. E. BatliyUns flies in June and July. It feeds 

 on Gl3^cine and Hed^'sarum in May and June. In Hesperia 

 the knobs are shorter, and end in a point tumied side wise. 

 The upper wings are raised, and the lower spread out flat when 

 at rest. The chrysalis has a long tongue-case free at the end, 

 in this respect showing a transition to the hawk-moths. They 

 are snuff"-brown, with dark spots. 



Mr. W. Saunders has been very successful in raising the 

 larvae of H. Hobomoc Harris and other butterflies and moths, 

 b}^ watching for the fertile eggs in captured specimens, which 

 are often deposited on the sides of the collecting box. The 

 food-plant of the larvae can usually be discovered after experi- 

 menting with those plants on which other species of this or 

 allied genera are known to feed. "The egg, deposited June 

 17th, is nearly round, flattened on the lower side, and of a 



