26 



remained in the larva state all winter, contracted to pupw in the A[)ril following, and the 

 flies commenced to issue the last of May." This fly diffeis so little from the red tailed 

 Tachina Fly {Ex'-nista militdris, IFulsh), see Fig 22, whicii infests the army worm that Mr. 

 Riley is inclined to regaid it as a variety of that species. 



The Cccropia ohalcis fly {Chulcis Maria Rilei/). We quote again from Mr. Riley. — " In 

 May, 18tJ9, we received from Mr. V. T. Chambers, of Covingtuu, Ky., numerous specimens 

 of the beautiful large chalcis fly figured herewith 

 (Fiii'. 2-!). which ho had taken from the cocoon of 

 the Polyphemus moth, which is quite common and 

 issues as early as the middle of Februi^ry in that 

 locality. He says, ' I was satisfied that the cocoon 

 did not contain a living Polyphemus, and therefore 

 opened it. 1 1 contained so little besides these in- 

 sects and their exuviae as to suggest strongly the 

 old idea that the caterpillar had been metamor- 

 phosed into them (as in a sense it had). There 

 were 47 of them, of which 2.3 were females. As all 



the males and some of the females were dead when Colours Black and Veiiow, 



I opened the cocoon, I think it likely that the former never do emerge, and perhaps but few 

 of the latter; otherwise Polyphemus would soon be exterminated.' 



" We can very well imagine that most of these chalcis flies would die in their efibrts to 

 escape from the tough cocoon of the Polyphemus, but it so happens that these same insects 

 have been found by Mrs. Mary Treat, of Vineland, New Jersey, to prey upon the cccropia 

 worm, from the cocoun of whicli they can much more easily escape. 



^'i'-'''*- _ " The Divorced Cryptus (Cri/p/ns im/uiiis, Say, — cxtreiivitis, Cresson), 



another Ichneumon fly, infests the cecropia worm in great numbers, 

 fillicg its coc(]on so full of their own thin parchment-like cocoons that a 

 transverse section (Fig. 24) bears considerable resemblance to a honey- 

 comb. The flies issue in June, and the sexes difier sufficiently to have 

 given rise to two species. We have bred seven females and twenty nine 

 males from a cocoon of the cecropia moth, all the males agreeing with the 

 species described by Say as nuwiiis, and all the females agreeing with that 

 described afterwards as cxlremalis by Mr. Cresson. 



The Clouded Sulphur Butterfly (Collas Philodice, Godt). 



The clouded sulphur is everywhere one of our commonest butterflies, abundant in its 



season, in fields and roadways, frequently congrega- 

 ting in groups on the borders of streams and springs, 

 where, in hot weather, they seem to enjoy settling on 

 the cool, moist ground. They are still more abund- 

 ant in clover fields as the season advances. 



The female of this species differs somewhat in its 



markings from the male, as will be readily seen by 



reference to the figures, 25 representing the male, 



2(> the female. 1 he ground colour of the wings in 



both sexes is bright yellow marked on the outer edge 



with A d; rk brown or blackish border, narrower in 



*'he male than it is in the female, while in tite 



latter it encloses on the anterior winus a broken 



row of irregular yellow spots, there is also a 



spot of black placed near the front ejgc of the fore 



wings, about halfway between the base and tip, 



varying in form and distinctness. The hind wings 



in both sexes are less heavily margined, and near the 



middle is a dull, pale orange spot. Both wings are 



dusky towards the base, and the fringes are pink. 



On the under surface the yellow colour is less 



Pi'' 25. 



Coloury Yellow ami lilack. 



