342 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEAV ENGLAND. 



A pair of them may often be seen })erelied at some distance apart, sun- 

 ning themselves on a rock, stone wall, or dead and fallen branches; 

 suddenly one quits its station, the other following instantaneously ; as if 

 electrified by a common impulse they dash at each other, dart hither and 

 thither, whirl about, and then as suddenly whisk back, each to its own 

 spot, twist about in a final flourish of satisfaction and quickly resume the 

 gentle fanning of their wings. It "is extremely alert and restless, flying 

 swiftly and for short distances only ; it frequents the roads, especially in 

 damp places, or collects in considerable numbers on the sides of the creeks 

 or upon damp stones by the forest brooks, not in clusters, as is the habit 

 with many butterflies, but scattered about in close neighborhood with wings 

 outspread to receive the full benefit of the sun." (Edw. Butt. N. A.) In 

 the Catskills it is found in company with faunus, on the Kanawha 

 with interrogationis, but greatly outnumbering the latter, according to 

 the same writer. 



When resting, whether clinging beneath some horizontal surface, or 

 perched head downward on a vertical support, the wings are closed back 

 to back, the front pair brought well forward, so as to form an angle with 

 the body of 135°, and to expose a deep notch between the wings fully half 

 way to their base : the antennae are held like stiff rods on a line with the 

 slio-htly lifted front part of the body and diverge about 20°. When rest- 

 in o- at night, the clubs of the antennae are brought side by side barely in 

 front of the wings, and the front wings are not thrust so far forward as at 

 other times ; but on any disturbance, such as a jar or the approach of a 

 lio-ht, a match for instance at several inches distance, the front wings are 

 instantly slipped forward to their usual position at other times. 



When walking up a vertical surface, as seen in mounting a Mdndow 

 pane, the wings, held in the same attitude, alternately shut and open through 

 an ano-le varying from about 10° to 45°, the antennae divaricate about 

 100°, and the legs move in a curious order, occasionally varied by a short 

 step disarranging it, as follows : first the middle leg of the right side, then 

 that of the left side, followed by the hind leg of the left side and then that 

 of the right. 



Mr. Edwards gives the following account of the metamorphosis of this 

 species in leaving the larval for the pupal stage : — 



When about to traiisfonn it selects a couvenient place, on the under side of a pro- 

 jecting rock, or of a fence rail, or of a weather board of the house, or the midrib of a 

 hop-leaf, and having spun a little button of pale red silk fixes the hooks of its anal 

 legs therein and hang« suspended, head doAvnwards, in the shape of a fish-hook, and im- 

 movable, for the space of 20-24 hours, no change being perceptible except in the color 

 of the skin which becomes partly transparent and loses its dark color, oAving to its 

 gradual parting from the chrysalis withiu. Suddenly, and to a looker on without any pre- 

 monitory symptom, a rent takes place in the skin at the back of the head just wide 

 enough to allow the passage of the chrysalis, the head of which at once emerges. By 

 a rapid contraction and expansion of the folds of the abdomen, the larva draws the 



