NYMPIIALINAE : lUSILARCHIA AinilKMIS. 303 



reach their third stage in nndsiminier and so pass on to elirysalis and to a 

 second or supjjlenientary brood of hutterHies, which makes its appearance 

 hate in August, probably never before the 20th, and becomes fairly abun- 

 dant by the first of September. This is in no way so numerous as the 

 first brood, and disappears by the middle of the month. On account of its 

 late appearance it is probable that the greater part of, possibly all, the 

 caterpillars from this brood of buttei-flics — if indeed they lay eggs at all — 

 perish before tlicy arc old enough to construct hibcrnacula ; but that ther^ 

 is such a brood — though it seems to have been observed by only a few 

 persons — can hardly be fairly questioned. My own observations are so 

 old and indefinite that I would not rely upon them if they were not sup- 

 ported Ijy independent testimony ; I only know that I have met with nu- 

 merous fresh specimens at the time stated. Packard in his "Guide" says the 

 butterflies fly in June and "again late in August." Dr. eJ. 0. Merrill one 

 year reported to me that he found the l)uttcrfly at the White ^Mountains on 

 "September 1 in abundance and fine condition," Gosse reports taking one 

 specimen at Slierbrooke, Canada, on September 4, Professor S. I. Smith 

 found "several on September 8th" at Norway, Maine, and Mr. F. II. 

 Sprague has taken "new" specimens both male and female at South Had- 

 ley, Massachusetts, on August 7, and at Deerfield, Massachusetts, 

 August 17. 



Without oreat latitude none of these can be looked on as belono-ino; to 

 the July brood of butterflies, for there is scarcely a butterfly known to me 

 which is so quickly damaged, a perfect specimen more than three days out 

 of chiysalis being a rarity. Fresh butterflies in Massachusetts in the sec- 

 ond and third wrecks of August, and any butterflies at all in the White 

 ]Moinitain region toward the end of the first Aveek in September — not to 

 specify abundant fresh ones at the beginning of the month — are certainly 

 from eggs of the same year and not from those laid at least a twelve-month 

 before. This is the more probable since it is at this time that the second 

 brood of its congeners are flying and laying eggs in New England, species 

 which pass the winter in precisely the same condition and at the very same 

 age. But in the present case the late August butteiilies should be looked 

 upon rather as an attempt toward a second brood than a regularly recur- 

 ring event, since they have failed to meet the notice of so many observers 

 who Avould be likely to meet with them. 



Habits, flight, etc. This is one of our handsomest buttei*flies, its 

 broad w^hite bow forming a striking contrast to the deep ground color 

 of the wings as it flits over the moist forest road. It is very active and 

 has a rather short and rapid flight. " When it alights on a tree," says 

 Mr. Lintner, " it seldom remains stationarv, but continues walking: over 

 the leaves, spreading and folding its wings." Mr. Jones says that " it 

 appears to frequent the upper branches of hard- wood trees, where it 



