854 THK BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



tana (Edwards). It is abundant in all the southern states, occurring in 

 Florida as far south as Indian River (Palmer), Capron and Enterprize 

 (Schwartz) and in Texas at Waco (Belfrage) and tlie Rio Grande (Lint- 

 ner, Aaron). It is even recorded by Doubleday as an inhabitant of 

 Venezuela. Godman and Salvin give it from Mexico, Guatemala, Pan- 

 ama and Venezuela and Godart from the Antilles. On the Pacific coast 

 it is found in California, at least in tlie counties of Contra Costa (H. Ed- 

 wards) and Shasta (Butler), and also in Nevada, near Truckee (Mc- 

 Glashan) and in Arizona (Edwards). It is not only found everywhere in 

 the great interior of the Mississippi Valley, but apparently in the elevated 

 plateau region, having been brought from Georgetown (Mead), Manitou 

 and Eugleman's Caiion, Colorado (Snow) and St. George, Utah (Pal- 

 mer). 



In New England it is more abundant in the south than in the north, 

 but has been found as far as Norway (Smith) and Ilallowell, Me. (Miss 

 Wadsworth) ; in New Hampshire, at Dublin (Faxon), Milford (Whitney) 

 and Suncook, N. H. (Thaxter) ; while in Massachusetts it has been taken 

 in such elevated places as Mt. Toby (Sprague), Amherst Notch and 

 Princeton (Scudder) and the top of Blue Hill (Scudder), besides numer- 

 ous lower and more southern localities. 



Food plants and habits of the larva. In the north this caterpillar 

 appears most frcrpiently to be found on the hop (Humulus lupulus Linn. ) , 

 devouring the heads and causing much injury (Harris) ; indeed in some 

 places, farmers have on this account abandoned all attempts to raise the 

 plant. In the south Abbot states that it feeds on "parsley haw" (Crat- 

 aegus coccinea Linn, is figured, and C. apiifolia is mentioned in Boisdu- 

 val's notes), pine and snap beans (by which Dr. Chapman says common 

 garden beans are meant). According to Boisduval and Le Conte — on 

 Abbot's authority — it lives on Hypericum (H. aureum is the species men- 

 tioned on the original) , and hence they named the species hyperici. Fi- 

 nally Mr. A. C. Sprague found the larva in central Massachusetts, on 

 Cynoglossum officinale. Such a variety of food plants seems extraordi- 

 nary ; each belongs to a separate family and the Ilypericaceae and 

 Coniferae are nearly at the antipodes of exogenous plants. 



The ciiterpillars found on Cynoglossum were very active when young, 

 stretching themselves out in walking so as to be very slender and then con- 

 tracting so as to be little more than an eighth of an inch in length. They 

 feed upon the pods of the plant. 



Life history. It is the only one of our Theclidi which flies almost con- 

 tinue >u.sly from May to September, being apparently rather long lived ; as 

 far as we can judge it is double brooded, the insect wintering in the pupal 

 state ; it first appears in the early days of May and may be seen through- 

 out this month and part at least of June ; a new brood makes its advent 



