LYCAENINAK: INCISALIA AUGUSTUS. 845 



wliieli it li;isi been n!j)orted is Norway "very coiiiiiioii" (Siiiitli), anil it it* 

 also toiiiul at Orono, Me. (Fertiulil). It liay l)eoii taken in Milt'ord, N. II. 

 "ratiier coniuiou" ( Wiiitney). In Massacliusettfi it has been found by 

 many ol)servers in several j)Iaees near Boston, and is by no means rare ; 

 it has also been taken in Andover (Merrill, Alcott, Sanborn, Scudder), 

 Mount Tom and other rocky liills near Springfield (Dimmock), Middle- 

 boro (Ilambly) and East Fabnonth on Cape Cod (Fish) ; a sinule male 

 was taken at New Haven, Conn. (Smith. Mns. ^ ale College;, and 1 liave 

 found it abundant on Nantneket. 



Food plant of caterpillar. The t'ood plant is unknown. Mrs. Ed- 

 wards found her speeiiiiens ••crawling n[)on bare granite rocks, near 

 patches of Seduni." I am satisfied that the caterpillar found by me on 

 Vaccinium and formerly referred to this species does not belong here. 



Haunts. The l)uttei-fly ])refers rocky heaths where Vaccinium and 

 other low shrubs grow in patches. It often flies in company with Cyani- 

 ris pseudargiolus lucia, and is fond of alighting upon rocks or upon dead 

 twigs lying on the ground. Mr. Faxon also says it is partial to the 

 mouse ear ( Antennaria) . 



Life history. The butterfly is single brooded and generally makes its 

 appearance toward the end of April or very early in ]May : in northern 

 localities, about the middle of May; it always precedes I. irus by a few 

 days in places where both occur ; occasionally it is found shortly after the 

 middle of April and generall}' begins to be abundant during the first week 

 in May ; it continues to fly during this month and rubbed specimens are 

 occasionally found during the first half of June. ]\Ir. Bowles has even 

 taken it in Quebec late in June. It lays its eggs in the latter half of j\Iay, 

 and the caterpillar probably attains maturity in the latter part of June ; 

 ]\Irs. H. Edwards obtained two fully grown on July 12 at Summit Sta- 

 tion in the Sierra Nevada, which went into chrysalis July 15 and 17 ; the 

 chrysalis then remains unchanged until spring. 



Habits, flight and postures. It invariably flies very low, even 

 thougii alarmed, seldom rising inor(^ than a foot or two from the ground. 

 Its natural movement is rather feeble, slow and fluttering ; it flies onh 



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a 



short distance and frequently alights. But when two come together, their 

 flight is quite bewildering, circling about each other as they do with such 

 rapidity tiiat the eye can scarcely follow them. 



It is very fond of alighting u[)on dead twigs, and one can but notice at 

 such a time how closely the colors of the under siu-face, as it sits with 

 erect wings, resemble those of a dead leaf or stick ; indeed, the apj)ear- 

 ance of the butterfly when the woods are still bare of leafage seems to 

 render such a protective resemblance the more important to it. 



On alighting, the butterfly at once begins rubbing the upraised hind 

 winis backward and forward over each other, their extremities moving 



