Butterflies. 45 



gregariously on the " Arbol de Seda,"* a plant bearing a 

 very bright red and gold flower. Many specimens were 

 reared from quite small caterpillars in the breeding- 

 cages. They were easy to keep, but especial care must 

 be taken in providing them with fresh food, and great 

 attention ought to be paid to ventilation, or some dis- 

 appointment may be experienced in the number that die 

 during the pupa state f6r no apparent reason. A little of 

 the morning sun is beneficial to them, as they are found, 

 when in a natural state, in the most sunny localities. 



A brood seems to emerge about every three months 

 in most years from ^February to September. The 

 butterfly frequents flower-gardens and fields near the 

 coast, not often being found more than seven or eight 

 hundred feet above the sea. It is of a rich orange 

 tawny colour, rather heavily veined with black or dark 

 brown. All four wings have a broad black border, 

 with two lines of whitish yellow dots along the margin. 

 There is a large apical patch of blackish brown on each 

 fore-wing, with seven large yellow and white spots on 

 the tip. There is not a great difference between the 

 * Asclepias ciivassavica. 



