COLIAS II., III. 



flowers arc will suri'ly be seen PhUodlce. On marigolds and brilliant single zin- 

 nias tliey delight to pasture, for tliej have a keen sense of color. I have known 

 one of them to aliglit on an amethyst in a lady's ring, after hovering about its 

 wearer so pei'sisteutly as to attract attention, and it rested some seconds. 

 Doubtless there were puzzled perceptions on sounding that stony flower. 



It is the habit of Philodice to gather in dense masses by scores and hundreds, 

 upon wet spots in the road, swarming when disturbed and settling again when 

 the interruption ceases. In the Can. Ent. II., p. 8, 18G9, the Rev. C. J. Beth- 

 une writes : •• On the thii-d of August, a bright snnny morning, after an exces- 

 sively wet night, I drove al)out ten miles along countrj^ roads ; every few yards 

 there was a ]iatch of mud, and at each there were froui half a dozen to twenty 

 Philodlce, at least one, 1 should think, for every yard of distance traveled. I must 

 then have seen, at a very moderate computation, ten thousand specimens of this 

 butterily." In Westwood's Arcana Entomologica, I., p. 144, the late Edward 

 Doubled.iy says: '■ I have seen in Illinois, in tlie autuuin, Colias Philodlce and 

 Ca'M))ila, Terias Nlclppe and Z/.sa, and Callidryas Euhule, in groups literally of 

 hundreds (the first-named insect generally making nineteen twentieths of the 

 company), in a .space not six feet square." 



As might be expected of so prevailing a species, Philodice is subject to great 

 variation, and many of its varieties are extreme. It would be easy to indicate 

 several of these which seem onlv to await Aivorable circumstances, as segreiiation 

 for a period, to cause them to become permanent; that is, to become distinct 

 species. They vary in size, in color, in the extent and contour of the marginal 

 border, in the discal spots, in all the markings of the under side, and in the 

 degree of dusting of both sides; in size, from an expanse of 1..3 to 2.6 inches; in 

 color, from pale sulphur to lemon and bright yellow; in the breadth of the bor- 

 ders, from .1 to .3 inch; in its extent on costal margin; in the contour of its 

 inner edge, from regular to erose and crenated, sometimes also crossed nearly to 

 the margin by yellow nervules. sometimes only at the ape.x, and often not at all ; 

 in the size and shape of the discal spot of primaries, from a mere streak to a large 

 rounded spot or an irregular patch, and with occasionally a long spur projecting 

 from it, perhaps coimecting it with the marginal border ; in the discal spot of 

 secondaries from nil. or a shade scarcelv differinsj,' from tlie li-round color, to 

 orange, and either single or double ; in the color of the under surface, from pale 

 to bright yellow, or to ochraceous ; in the discal spot of primaries, from yellow- 

 centered to pink, or silver-white, or even wholly black ; in the extra-discal spots, 

 from a complete series across both wings to almost none at all, only a few dark 

 scales here and there being present, (I have never seen an example in which 

 there was absolutely no ti'ace of these spots,) and in color, from pink through 



