NYMPHALIXAE: VANESSA HUNTERA. 465 



leaves of the food plant of the caterpillar, much after the foshion of those 

 of the other species of the genus, sometimes l)eing laid upright, quite as 

 frequently in an inclined position, but always very careftdly tucked under 

 the Hossy hairs which cover the surface of the leaves of (inaj)halium, so 

 tliat t\\v egg is very nearly concealed under a thick mat of hairs. 



Food plants. The caterpillars of this species feed almost exclusively 

 on Cxuapiialieae (a subdivision of the tribe Inuloideae belonging to the 

 great family of Compositae), a group of plants somewhat allied to tiiistle. 

 They have been found on several species of cudweed and everlasting, such 

 as Gnaphalium polycephalum Michx. (Abbot, Saunders, Emery), and 

 G. purjiureum Linn. (Cha})man, lioisd.-LeConte), Antennaria plantag- 

 inifolia Hook. (Riley) and Anaphalis margaritacea (Fletcher, Scudder). 

 Abbot records them from the sunflower (Ilelianthus). another composite 

 plant. ]Mr. Riley has also taken them on Senecio cineraria, and they 

 ai"e found plentifully on the mouse ear (Myosotis), a genus of Borragina- 

 ceae (Guild, Kirtland). Harris states (Inj. ins., 3d ed., 293) that "the 

 caterpillars are found on the same plants as those of the thistle butterfly 

 [cardui], and particularly on the burdock and cotton thistle." ^liss 

 Middleton, evidently copying this statement, repeats it in a more definite 

 form with a long list of plants (Rep. ins. 111., x : 86). Harris remarks, 

 however, that "the larvae are very much like those of the preceding 

 species" [cardui] , which is scarcely true ; and since he has left no memo- 

 randa of having bred them and no other observer records them from these 

 plants, the statement certainly needs confirmation. Emmons says that 

 they feed upon the balsam, by which he doubtless means a species of Pop- 

 ulus, but this seems wholly improbable. ]\Iiss ^Nlurtfeldt found them on 

 Artemisia ludoviciana in Missouri, but as they could not be carried to matu- 

 rity on this plant whether out of doors or in , she regarded it as a case of 

 mistaken instinct, the parent being "misled by the surface resemblance of 

 the white cottony leaves of the Artemisia to those of the accustomed food 

 plant of her young [there Antennaria] , and under this misapprehension 

 deposited her eggs in utter disregard of the somewhat pungent odor which 

 a keen sense of smell would have perceived." (Am. nat., xvii : 19(5.) 

 It should be remembered, however, that Artemisia is not distantly related 

 to either Antennaria or Gnaphalium, that cardui feeds on Artemisia in 

 Ceylon, and that some species of Gnaphalium have a very aromatic odor. 

 ^Ir. Fletcher also tells me that he has taken it on two white pubescent 

 cultivated species of Artemisia. 



Habits of the caterpillar. The caterpillars construct nests made after 

 the manner of the preceding species, but which have a more dense cover- 

 ing throughout life ; takmg advantage of the silken hairs which profiisely 

 cover the surface of the leaf on which they are born, they burrow beneath 

 them, bite them off at the base, and from these and a j)rofuse web of their 



