60 JOURNAL OF THE [October, 



imported into America, and is not indigenous to this country. 

 Its wings are of a purple-brown on the upper side, with a broad 

 buff-yellow border, in which is a row of pale blue spots. Of 

 course like all of the Lepidoptera, variations, more or less in the 

 general coloring, have been noticed — vide the Canadian Ento- 

 mologist for September, 1876, which mentions that a large num- 

 ber of the Vanessa had been seen that year, having the border 

 of the wings of a creamy white color, instead of the usual 

 orthodox buff. 



The larvae are of a cylindrical shape, covered with black 

 spines, spotted with small white spots, and with a row of darkish 

 red spots on the back. They are rather social when young, and, 

 like all of the Vanessa family, are extremely destructive to the 

 vegetation on which they feed. They are not at all fastidious, 

 or delicate in their food selections. I have found them feeding 

 on the Willow, Elm, Poplar, Balm of Gilead and Ailanthus trees, 

 and also on various plants, such as the Castor-Bean, and 

 Geranium. 



In this connection I noticed a very peculiar fact last Summer 

 in my garden. There was a colony of the larvae feeding on a 

 large Castor-Bean leaf, and I discovered that they were arranged 

 in a segment of a circle, their heads all pointing inward to a 

 common centre. This same fact was also noticed in a second 

 brood, later in the season. 



This butterfly has two broods each season. The second, or 

 Fall brood hybernates through the Winter, hiding in hollow trees, 

 under logs and bridges, and in barns and other out-houses. I 

 once found in December, under a foot-bridge over a small creek, 

 a colony of at least fifty of these butterflies, all hanging by their 

 feet, with antennae and wings folded, and to all outward appear- 

 ance lifeless. But, when touched or breathed upon, they showed 

 signs of life, by slowly unfolding their wings. They have often 

 been seen, on bright, sunny days, in the months of January and 

 February, flying lazily around, and hovering over the snow. 



The perplexing query to my mind is, how do they exist dur- 

 ing their period of hybernation ? What supports life and supplies 

 animal heat ? We know that their food consists simply and only 

 of the honey-like nectar, secreted by flowers, that their digestive 

 apparatus is the same as that of other Lepidoptera ; and that 

 they are not provided with any supplementary stomachs, or other 



