284 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1934 



result of their very local and spotty distribution, most of the differ- 

 ent species of these little butterflies have many local forms. No 

 less than 70 of these have been described, of which nearly 40 are 

 from North America. A number of forms that we now recognize as 

 species are probably nothing more than varieties of other species. 

 But undoubtedly many more remain to be discovered, especially in 

 Asia. 



Very varied in their habits are the different kinds of these curious 

 butterflies. Of the kind found on Mount Washington {O. tiielissa 

 semidea) S. H. Scudder wrote that one would suppose that insects 

 whose home is almost always swept by fierce blasts would be pro- 

 vided with powerful wings fitting them for strong and sustained 

 flight. But the contrary is true. They can offer no resistance to the 

 winds, and whenever they ascend more than their accustomed 2 or 3 

 feet above the ground, or pass the shelter of some projecting ledge 

 of rocks, they are whirled headlong to immense distances until they 

 can again hug the earth. He said that their flight is rather sluggish 

 and heavy, and has less of the dancing movement than one is accus- 

 tomed to see in the satyrids. They are easily captured, though 

 they fly singly, never congregating, and have their devices to escape 

 pursuit. One of these devices is that when alarmed, and indeed at 

 most times, they fly up or down the slopes, rarely along them, render- 

 ing pursuit particularly difficult. Another is that they will rise in 

 the air to get caught by the wind, which often takes them out of 

 sight in a moment. One that he once followed with his eye whirled 

 a good half mile away a thousand feet in the air, with a white cloud 

 for a background. 



But according to Mr. Scudder the neatest device of all is espe- 

 cially exasperating. One will settle on the ground a little distance off 

 by a crevice in the rock piles, and as you cautiously approach you 

 will see it edge its way afoot in its spasmodic fashion to the brink 

 of the crevice and settle itself. Then if you come nearer it will 

 start as if to fly away, but instead close its wings and fairly drop 

 down the crevice, where you may see it, but not reach it, to repeat 

 the process and get still farther down if again alarmed by the re- 

 moval of the upper rocks. In this way he more than once followed 

 one for a couple of feet downward in a pile of small jagged rocks in 

 one of the rock rivulets. 



Mr. Scudder said that this butterfly rests on the ground, or on 

 the leeward side of rocks, as he often found it when searching on 

 a cloudy day when it had not been on the wing. As soon as one 

 alights it tumbles upon one side with a sudden fall, but not quite 

 to the surface, exposing the under side of the wings with their mar- 

 bled markings next to the gray rock mottled with brown and yellow 



