666 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



come dormant at the hibernating stage; while later on, with those which 

 hatch in midsnmmer, two-thirds become dormant at the same stage 

 while the others complete their transformations the same year. This cir- 

 cumstance, apparently, has led Mr. Edwards to think there are three 

 broods in the south. But his own account of the retardation in the devel- 

 opment of some of those which do not actually become dormant, together 

 with the great inequality in the development of the hibernating larvae in 

 the spring as shown by Mr. Edwards (Can. ent. xi : 104-5), lead one to 

 believe that the phenomenon may best be explained and made accordant 

 Avith what we know of the same insect at the north by looking on the 

 butterfly as partly single, partly double brooded in this part of its range. 



Postures. Having seen but a single specimen in open air it is impos- 

 sible for me to describe the flight of the butterflies. Observations on a captive 

 showed that when at rest upon a perpendicular surface, the wings are 

 closely shut, the basal half of their costal edges confluent ; the antennae, 

 raised at a slight angle above the surfixce of rest, are parallel at the base — 

 for about seven or eight joints — and then diverge at an angle of 35°-40°, their 

 tips being about 5-6 mm. apart ; excepting this, and that the club is 

 slightly upturned, they are straight. On a horizontal surface the attitude 

 diifers only in that the antennae are held nearly perpendicular. 



Experiments with cold. Mr. W. H. Edwards placed several chry- 

 salids in an ice box for from twelve to eighteen days. Most of them were 

 killed by it, but three gave butterflies unaltered in color or pattern. 



Desiderata. It is evident from what has preceded that we need most 

 of all careful and repeated observations at the north of the comparative 

 behavior of the earliest and latest born caterpillars during the same season 

 and again under untramelled conditions in the spring. The eggs have 

 never been found laid naturally. Do the larvae under no conditions live 

 in company under a web ? What is the range of variation as to the stage 

 when the caterpillars hibernate ? Why should the female appear so much 

 later than the male ? At what latitude does the second annual brood first 

 make its appearance ? What is the character of the flight of the butterfly ? 

 No parasites have been discovered. What is the southern range of the 

 species west of the Atlantic states ? 



LIST OF ILLUSTBAriONS.-CHABIDRYAS NYCTEIS. 



