NYMPIIALINEA : VANESSA CARDUI. 485 



there is but one brood. From the time of Ochsenheimer, however, who 

 rej)eate(lly says, "Ich habe zwei generationen bcmcrkt," different authors 

 have claimed for this insect a double brood ; and until direct observation 

 shall have determined the jioint, it should be considered, at least for some 

 parts of Europe, an open question. In Switzerland and in England all 

 observers seem to agree that it is single-brooded ; and this is in direct 

 contrast to the digoneutism of the same insect in New England. 



Behavior and flight. The butterfly is particularly fond of fields, gar- 

 dens, highways, open ground, and waste places ; it frequently alights on 

 stone walls heated by the sun, and is greatly attracted by flowers, partic- 

 ularly by thistles and the other plants upon which the caterpillar feeds ; 

 here it may readily be taken ; not so in other spots, for although very fear- 

 less, and even impudent, it is exceedingly wary, dashing off headlong at 

 the slightest alarm. In Florida, Dr. Chapman once found three or four 

 entangled in the leaves of a Sarracenia. Lang remarks that in Euro])e it 

 is very fond of clover fields and in the autumn of ivy bloom. According 

 to Pierce (Entom. , xviii : 242) it generally emerges from the chrysalis early 

 in the morning, clinging at first to the old case with its body in a horizontal 

 position and its wings drooping, where it remains until these are dry. 



Its flight is r<apid, dashing, and discontinuous ; it doubles frequently and 

 abruptly, usually to the right or left rather than up or down, although it 

 has no predilection for a particular elevation above the ground, as some 

 other butterflies have ; in these frequent changes it makes a series of spas- 

 modic efforts, the movements of the wings being more vigorous during the 

 initial half of each start, or perhaps confined to that period. It loves to 

 return to the spot from which it has been driven, or to the immediate 

 vicinity, often circling about first, as if selecting the best spot. On a 

 windy day its flight is not a little remarkable : it rises high in the air, then 

 suddenly darts down until it has approached within five or ten metres of 

 the ground, when it starts upward again to repeat the process. The 

 strength of its flight is attested by the repeated instances of vast swarms 

 flown from a long distance, to which attention has been directed above. 

 On a warm, sunny day, it frequently flies until within half an hour of sun- 

 set, and it may be seen laying eggs at almost any hour between ten and four. 



"Its wildly timorous behavior," says Meyer-Diir, "is quite striking ; it 

 is uncommonly audacious ; SAvift and savage, it dashes irregularly about ; 

 scarcely observing the pursuer, heedless of the net, it returns directly to 

 the place it has left, and sits with horizontally opened wings on the dry 

 earth or spots of sand. It is a nimble, lively, youthful, untamed, petulant 

 insect, which shows in its behavior no resemblance to its proud but circum- 

 spect neighbor, atalanta." 



On alighting, it partially or wholly expands the wings ; -when fully 

 spread, they are brought well forward, and are often even slightly 



