866 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



mere result of the correllated action of muscles with those working to 

 force the egg downward in the oviduct. The duration of tlic egg varies, 

 but averages about a week. 



Food plant. Boisduval and LeConte, on the authoiuty of Abbot, state 

 that this caterpillar feeds on Smilax — hence the name they gave ; but in 

 the north it occurs only where Smilax does not grow, and it is the univer- 

 sal opinion of those who have sought its haunts that here it feeds only upon 

 red cedar (Juniperus virginiana Linn.). It has always been observed in 

 the close vicinity of this tree, and independent notes to the same effect 

 have been contributed by Messrs. Merrill, Verrill and Faxon. Mr. 

 Faxon has for many years obtained specimens flying about an isolated 

 cedar in the vicinity of Boston, and within a year or two Mr. E. M. Hul- 

 bert and I obtained eggs in abundance from this tree, where indeed we 

 saw the butterfly ovipositing and on which we have since raised it. 



Habits of the caterpillar. The color of the caterpillar is so exactly 

 of tlie same rich green as the plant on which it feeds that it is admirably 

 protected. It feeds on the tips of the sprigs, covering the head with the 

 first thoracic segment as with a cowl while feeding, so that one would not 

 know it was at work but for the regular muscular movements of the 

 body. The excrement is of remarkably large size, the pellets of tlie full 

 grown larva measuring a millimetre in diameter. It takes the catcr])illar 

 a little more than five weeks to grow to maturity. 



Life history. This insect is double brooded, the earliest butterflies 

 appearing about the first of May — sometimes not until the 7th or 10th ; 

 they become abundant by the 15th or 20th and continue on the wing 

 throughout June. The eggs, which they begin to lay about the middle of 

 May, hatch in about a week, and the caterpillars take five or six weeks 

 for their growth, so that they begin to go into chrysalis toward the end 

 of June ; some of these chrysalids, in the opinion of Mr. Plulbert who has 

 raised them in Connecticut, remain unhatched until the following spring ; 

 others hatch in about a fortnight, and the second brood appears about the 

 20th of July and continues into August, much less abundant than the first. 

 The chrysalids from the eggs laid by this brood pass the winter. 



In the south, Abbot bred larvae which changed to chrysalis and emerged 

 in thirteen days in April, so that the butterfly there is probably triple 

 brooded or polygoneutic. 



Habits of the butterfly. Dr. Harris observed that this pretty but- 

 terfly was fond of the flowers of mouse ear, Antennaria plantaginifolia, in 

 spring, and in August of those of the spearmint (^Mentha). Professor 

 Parker also found it early in August on flowers of the mountain mint, 

 Pyenanthemum incanum and Abbot says the butterfly "frequents black- 

 berry blossoms in the neighborhood of Savannah." Sumac (Rhus) has 

 also a great attraction for it. The butterfly is extremely active and when 



