LYC.^NA L 



will surely be seen two or three of these little " harbingers of Spring " gently flit- 

 ting about any moist, sheltered sjwt on the road, out of reach of the wind which 

 still has a wintry chill, conspicuous from their charming color, which, in the sun- 

 light is intense, as near as may be like tS'alria pritcns among flowers. They evi- 

 dently enjoy their escajie from long imprisonment and make the most of their stay, 

 which will lie but brief, scarcely beyond the next night's frost. 



By the 3rd or 4th of April, we usually have one or two very warm days, the 

 mercury at 80°, and then these little butterflies swarm along the sandy sides of the 

 creeks, gathering in clusters as close as they can stand, in favorite s^^ots, motion- 

 less, with wings erect and closed, wholly intent on extracting from the sand some 

 fluid no doubt delightful. With them ¥/ill often be seen some of the smaller Hes- 

 perians, esjieeially that sturdy little fellow, H. Samosd, Scud, {ncmoris, Edw.) who 

 has 2)l:xced himself like a sentinel outside the throng, with wings half open and sus- 

 picious antenuiE, ready to dart away for the least cause, frightening for a moment 

 his busy associates. He will not return till the danger is j)ast, but they, after flut- 

 tering about a little, settle down as before. These are all males, for the females do 

 not a])]ie;u- till some days after, or about the 10th. By this time the peach trees 

 are in full bloom, and the females are especially attracted to them. But as a gene- 

 ral thing this species is not jiartial to flowers. 



Most of the females are of the black type, variety b. Out of nearly one hun- 

 dred taken in 1867 but five were blue. 



By the end of April, violacea is no more seen, there being but a single brood. 



I have received specimens taken near Philadelijhia and at London, Canada. 

 This sj^ecies is probably to be found disj^ersed over New England and New York, 

 and I think has been confounded with Lucia of Kirby, a paler species with mot- 

 tled under surface, and of which an excellent figure is given in the Fauna Boreali- 

 Americana. 



LYC^NA LYGDAMAS. 5—7. 



LycsRna Lygdamas, (Lyg'-da-mas,) Doubleday. Polyomniatus Lygdamas. The Entomologist, No. 

 14, Dec. 1841. 



Male. Expands 1.3 inch. 



Upper side wholly silver-blue ; costa of both wings and the nervules for a lit- 

 tle distance from the margins fuscous ; fringes long, fuscous. 



Under side uniform grey-brown ; primaries have a small round black spot 

 within the cell, a bent bar at its extremity, both edged entirely with white ; within 

 the margin a transverse curved row of seven large rounded black spots, the two 

 lower ones connected, all surrounded by white. 



