now lUTTERFLIES WINTER. 419 



groat mimber.s in the latter part of the year, but liavc not time to undergo 

 further tran.sforinations so as again to reaeli the ehrysalis stage before 

 winter would eut theui off; but in sonic instances some of the chrysalids 

 which should produce the autunui brood do not give out the butterfly until 

 the following spring. According to AViesenhutter such chrysalids of Euva- 

 nessa antiopa as pass the winter are presumably females, inasmu(;h as the 

 female, according to his observation, is generally fresh colored in the spring, 

 wdiereas the males arc always very much battered and worn. So far as we 

 know, in the case of these wintering butterflies, i)airing always takes place 

 in tiic spring. (Sec the observations of Schilde, Wiesenhutter, and 

 Goossens on Euvancssa antiopa and Inachis io.) 



Those hearing for the first time of the existence of butterflies in winter, 

 invariably inquire where the butterflies may pass the winter period. Each 

 species has its own peculiar hiding places, but in general they may be 

 found beneath piles of rocks, in hollow places in the trunks of trees, es- 

 pecially near the roots, beneath the rafters of old buildings, in corded 

 wood in the forest, and even in some instances probably simply hanging be- 

 neath the branches of trees. Thus Landois saw the European Inachis io take 

 up its winter quarters in an ivy, hanging from a branch by its hind legs, 

 folding all its other legs on its breast and closing its wings. During a 

 warm spell in the early spring it disappeared, only, Avhen the weather 

 again changed, to return to the same spot and reassume its former position. 

 Woodmen sometimes, in cleaving open a tree, will discover a little colony 

 of hibernating butterflies, as has been done in the case of Anosia plexip- 

 pus ; and Goossens of Paris, in beating small trees over his open um- 

 brella (a favorite mode of collecting) in the cold days of November, twice 

 brought down Polygonia c-album, which fell upon its feet with closed 

 wings. It would seem that they must therefore have chosen the under 

 side of the branches for hibernation. He made some interesting: observa- 

 tions upon these, bringing them home and placing one in an un warmed 

 apartment, the other in the open air on the north-east side of a window. 

 They did not stir until February, when they resumed their activity. The 

 one in the open air had experienced a temperature of at least— 5°C., and 

 Goossens discovered that numbness only comes on at-2°C., for when it 

 was warmer their position showed that they appreciated the difference be- 

 tween day and night. At such a time the hind wings arc kept motionless, 

 but in the day time the fore wings are adAanced, so that the inner margin 

 is at right angles to the body ; at dusk, the fore wings creep backward and 

 finally pass partly behind the hind wings, nearly filling the empty space be- 

 tween the two wings in this genus, due to their great excision. The process 

 is again reversed in the morning, showing that the butterflies are not com- 

 pletely benumbed and, however quiet, recognize the distinction between 

 night and day. (P>ull. Soc. ent. Fr., 1887, 29.) 



