26 



remained in the larva state all winter, contracted to pupse in the April following, and the 

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

 Tachina Fly {Exmsta miUtaris, IFalsh), see Fig 22, which infests the army worm that Mr. 

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



The Cecropia chalcis fly {Chdck Maria RiJcii). We quote again from Mr. Riley. — "In 

 May, 1869, we received from Mr. V. T. Chambers, of Covington, Ky., numerous specimens 

 of the beautiful large chalcis fly figured herewith '''- '-'* 



(Fig. 23), which he had taken from the cocoon of 

 tlie Polyphemus moth, which is quite common and 

 issues as early as the middle of February in that 

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

 did not contain a living Polyphemus, and therefore 

 opened it. It contained so little besides these in- 

 sects and their exuviae as to susgest strongly the 

 old idea that the caterpillar had been metamor- 

 phosed into them (as in a sen.'ie it had). There 

 were 47 of them, of which 23 were females. As all 



the males and some of the females were dead when Colours Black and Yellow. 



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 efforts to 

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

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

 worm, from the cocoon of which they can much more easily escape. 



'"'*•'■ ^*- " The Divorced Cry ptus (Cn/ptiisnuncius,SAY, — exirematis, Cresson), 



another Ichneumon fly, infests the cecropia worm in great Duraber,s, 

 filling its cocoon 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 differ 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 nuncius, and all the females agreeing with that 

 described afterwards as ezlremaiis by Mr. Cresson. 



The Clouded Sulphur Butterfly (CoVuis Pkilodice,Gov>T). 



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



season, in fields and roadwavs, frequently congrega- 

 ting in groups on the borders of streams and springs, 

 where, in hot weather, they seem to enjoy ."Jettling 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, 



26 the female. The ground colour of the wings in 



both sexes is bright yellow marked on the outer edge 



with a dark brown or blackish border, narrower in 



^■he male than it is in the female, while in the 



latter it encloses on the anterior wintis a broken 



row of irregular yellow spots, there is also a 



spot of black placed near thd front edge 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 arc pink. 



On the under surface the yellow colour is less 



Fig 26. 



Colours Yellow and Black. 



