988 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



tical witli the more northern form described under the name of dorcas. 

 They arc certainly very nearly allied, but E. dorcas differs from the 

 present species in the following particulars : The upper surfoce of the 

 wino-s of the male is much less brilliant ; all the dark spots that appear on 

 the upper surface of any of the wings of the female, are present quite as 

 distinctly in the male, excepting the basal spot of the discal cell of the 

 fore wings ; and these spots, or at least those of the extra-mesial row of 

 the fore wings, are followed in the female by a broad orange flush ; the 

 outer bordering is not so broad as in the present species ; and the tint of 

 the whole under surface is different, being of a decidedly rusty yellow, 

 perhaps a little deeper in the female than in the male. 



Distribution (25 : 2). This species is confined to the northern half of 

 the Alleghanian and the southern part of the Canadian faunas, from the 

 Atlantic westward to the iNIississippi. To the north it occurs in New- 

 foundland (Brit. Mus., Gosse), Cape Breton (Thaxter), Quebec 

 (Bowles), Montreal, generally very rai"e (Lyman), Ottawa, abundant 

 (Fletcher), London, Ont. (Saunders), Michigan (Mus. Mich. Univ.) 

 and Minnesota (Edwards) ; besides whicli I find a memorandum of its 

 occurrence in Iowa and Nebraska, and Edwards credits it to Kansas. 

 These last localities wei-e overlooked when the map was made. It has 

 even been taken at Calgary (Geddes). To the south it is reported 

 "neither common nor rare" at Philadelphia (Blake), but with this excep- 

 tion and Xew York (Lintner). the New England localities are the only 

 ones known. 



Here, in opposition to the species of Chrysophanus, it has only been 

 found east of the Connecticut valley with the single exception of New 

 Haven. It has been found about Orono, Me. (Fernald). at Milford 

 "very plentiful in a few localities" (Whitney), Simcook, "not common" 

 (Thaxter) and Hampton, N. H., abundant (Scudder), and in Massachu- 

 setts at Andover (Sanborn, Clapp), the great meadows between Belmont 

 and Lexington, "abundant" (Tiiaxter), Maiden, "hundreds" (F. H. 

 Sprague), Newton (Faxon, Minot), West Roxbury (Faxon), Cam- 

 bridge and Milton (Harris) and Walpole (Guild). 



Haunts. One reason for its apparent absence from districts where it 

 must occur is its extreme localization. It never wanders from the cran- 

 berry bogs or peaty meadows where its earlier, humbler life was passed, 

 although its ally, Heodes, may abound upon the roadside plants in the 

 immediate vicinity. When once its favorite haimt has been discovered, 

 it may be taken at the proper season in large numbers. 



Food plant. The food of the caterpillar is unknown. Mr. W. 

 Saunders suggests that it may be Menyanthes trifoliata Linn., since the 

 butterfly is abundant where that occurs : but it seems more probable that 

 it feeds upon some of the Polygonaceae which grow in marshy soil, such 



