406 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAKD. 



Cleopatra's asp." This popular prejudice led to the selection of the lines 

 I have placed first at the head of the species. 



Life history. The species is usually double-brooded, the butterflies of 

 the later brood hil^ernating and appearing on the wing again in the fol- 

 lowing year, — the harbingers of spring. They come out of their winter 

 quarters very early in the year, — the first of all our butterflies, often be- 

 fore the snow has wholly vanished or indeed the storms are over, but 

 almost always with ragged wings, the yellow well nigh faded from the 

 outer margin ; they may be seen sporting in warm and sheltered spots, 

 such as openings in woods or the neighborhood of buildings in which they 

 may have hibernated, as early as the first of March, occasionally even on 

 warm days in February ; indeed they may be seen during any of the win- 

 ter months when a succession of those warm days occurs, which seem 

 characteristic of every New England winter ; certainly it is reported as 

 flying December 20 at Mt. Carroll, 111. (Sc. news,i : 143) ; Mr. Clapphas 

 seen them near Boston in January, and Dr. Sturtevant records one which 

 lit on the snow in Framingham, Mass., on February 16, 1875, after six 

 weeks of intense cold, and when the thermometer had not marked 26° F. 

 all day (Am. nat., ix : 247). 



They generally begin to grow abundant about the middle of April, 

 when pairing is said to take place (European observations), and continue 

 to fly until the end of May ; indeed a few battered individuals may not 

 infrequently be met with very early in June. Mr. Saunders has reported 

 several captures about London, Ont., as late as the second week in June. 

 I have seen specimens about Boston as late as June 13, and in the White 

 Mountain region as many as three or four on the 17th of June ; once I 

 saw two worn specimens in the Connecticut Valley at Granby on July 1. 



Although the butterfly may be seen so long in the spring, the eggs ap- 

 pear to be laid during a brief period only, — in the early days or middle half 

 of May. These hatch at this season in from twelve to fifteen days and 

 the caterpillars reach maturity the last of June ; they remain in the chrysa- 

 lis state at this season from eight to twelve days, usually about eleven, 

 and the butterflies are disclosed early in July, the most advanced by the 

 first of July or last of June (rarely by the 20th*), the mass by the 7th to 

 9th of July, or often not until the 12th, and they remain on the wing un- 

 til after the next brood has made its appearance ; the eggs are deposited 

 very soon after the females are disclosed, — by the middle and probably 

 during the latter half of July or later ; they now hatch in about nine days, 

 the caterpillars attaining maturity during the month of August. At this 

 season, according to the observations of Mr. Lintner, the insects remain 



*Mr. Lintner records one as conilnj^ out of June 8, 1SG9 (Ent. contr.,i: 49). Whether a 

 ehrysahs (which he now thinks he must wintering chrysalis or one of the same season 

 h.vve collected in the field that season) on it is equally surprising. 



