994 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



tcrrupted by dark marginal spots ; the fore wings are also furnished with 

 two black bars in the cell and an extra-mesial series of similar oblique bars. 

 Beneath the color is light brown, tinged on the disc of the fore wings with 

 red and furnished with the spots of the upper surface ; the hind wings are 

 traversed by a submarginal, sinuous red stripe, an extra-mesial sinuous 

 and an intra-mesial straight series of small, black spots, besides a pair of 

 basal spots and a transverse streak at the tip of the cell. "It is remark- 

 able," says Westwood (Gen. diurn. Lep., ii : 498), "for the dilated basal 

 joint of the fore hind tarsi of the males." 



Even the lovers of nature shut up within the walls of our large cities 

 can enjoy in any public park a sight of these ubiquitous flutterers, can 

 watch them in their hymeneal dance as they toss themselves up and down 

 in contra-unison and then flutter iiway to repeat the sport in another spot. 

 They heed not the approaching footstep until it is just uj^on them — fearless 

 little brilliants, familiar objects of the civilized world. 



The butterflies are double or triple brooded, appearing first in May and 

 continuing on the wing throughout the whole of the season ; the majority 

 doubtless hibernate in the chrysalis state, but occasionally they may sur- 

 vive the winter as caterpillars. They fly in the sunniest places, frequent- 

 ing dry pastures and roadsides, moving about in short flights from place 

 to place, frequently alighting, but quickly darting away again to attack 

 some passing insect. The transformations of the species are fairly well 

 known. 



The eggs are very characteristic in form, being semi-echinoid covered 

 with lai'ge, shallow pits having moderately heavy walls. 



The young catei-pillars are largest in front, taper slightly and are flatter 

 than at maturity ; they are furnished with very conspicuous subdorsal 

 rows of exceedingly long, stout, tapering bristles, each nearly as long as 

 the body and curving strongly backward, besides a series of numerous, 

 shorter, nearly straight bristles below the spiracles. 



The body of the full grown caterpillar is pretty regularly arched and 

 each segment somewhat domed ; the body is covered with minute hairs, 

 and is of a nearly uniform green color, but with dai'ker, sometimes red- 

 dish, dorsal and ventrostigmatal bands. The head is always concealed 

 by the overhanging first thoracic segment, and a median notch in the mar- 

 gin of the latter, seems, says Buckler, "well adapted to I'eceive and steady 

 the edge of a sorrel leaf whilst the larva is feeding." 



The chrysalids are of a nearly uniform dull brown ; they are plumjJ, not 

 strongly constricted between the thorax and abdomen, the wliole body 

 about twice as long as broad and covered rather abundantly with minute 

 fungiform appendages having fringed discs. 



