448 TIIK BUTTERFLIES OF NEW EN(;LAN1). 



vcrv {ibundunt" (Godiuan :uul Salvin). On tlic Pacific coast it is 

 found in Vancouver Island (Fletcher) and in central California (Agassiz, 

 P^dwards, Osten Sacken), hut how far soutli of the last is uncertain. 

 It has been reported from the mountainous region in the heart of the 

 continent only from Colorado (Mead), but probal)ly occurs wherever 

 nettles are found. 



I believe that it is found plentifully and in nearly equal numbers througii 

 every j)art of New England, although it is comparatively scarce in the 

 heart of the AVhite jNIountain region where nettles are found only in old 

 clearings. As the abundance of the species is more than ordinarily 

 affected by the action of parasites, the records of a single year for any 

 locality are comparatively worthless. 



Haunts. Tlic liutterfiies enjoy cultivated surroundings, especially gar- 

 dens, and in spring are to be seen on lilac flowers, in autumn on dahlias. 

 They frequently pitch on trees or on the ground : they suck the juice of 

 fruit and may readily be caught about apples drying in the sun. They are 

 )K'ver to be found except in sunny spots. 



Oviposition. The eggs are laid singly (though 1 have several times 

 found two and once tlu-ee far apart on the same leaf) on the upper side of 

 leaves, generally near the middle, but not infrequently on the extreme 

 edge, never, so far as I have seen, on the ribs : once only have I seen one on 

 the under surface and in this tlie leaf was curled partly over : they are not 

 very firmly attached, perhaps owing to the numerous hairs on the leaves, 

 but seem to cling l>y a corner or any part that touches any portion of the 

 leaf or hairs, and so to rest at any angle with the surface. Leaves about 

 the middle of the upper half of the plant or a little higher are always 

 ciiosen by the Initterfiy ; Mr. luUvards, judging from the place where the 

 youngest larvae are found, says they are laid on tlie topmost leaf, where I 

 have never found them, though I have collected a hundred. They may 

 possibly act differently toward Boehmeria on which he has connnonly found 

 them, than toward nettle where only I have seen them, but it is not prol)- 

 able ; yet the to})most leaves are far more accessible than any others in a 

 nettle i)atch. They hatch in five or six days. 



Food plants. The caterpillar feeds indiscriminately on every variety 

 of nettle (Urtica). Mr. Edwards has also obtained it on hop (Humulus 

 lupulus Linn.) and false nettle (Boehmeria cylindrica Willd.), and Dr. 

 ( 'hapman has reared it in the south on the latter plant and on Parietaria 

 (lel)ili,s, — all belonging to the same family, Urticaceae. In Europe it has 

 been found t)n three species of Urtica and on Parietaria. 



Habits of the caterpillar. To escape from the egg, the caterpillar 

 bites around the sunuuit, casts off the lid thus formed, and then generally 

 eats from a fourth to a half of the sides of the egg in an irregular man- 

 ner ; he then quits the leaf on which he was born and hies him to one of 



