1124 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



with a hurried movement of the wings about one or two feet above the 



herbage. It is only less active than E. eurytheme, and is one of the 



earliest and latest butterflies of the day. Yet if a cloud suddenly obscure 



the sun, a field which appeared alive with them a moment before will 



quickly show scarcely a sign ; the greater part will sink down into the 



herbage. 



The yellow philodice [says De Garmo] will often dart from its flower with great 

 velocity, and make quick sallies at another, either of its own species or of a different 

 species. It will fly about the companion, if that one is not disposed to join in tlie fun, 

 — if it is, away they will go, tumbling over and over in the air, now receding from each 

 other, now approaching. I have never ascertained if they had any playful tonches of 

 antennae, as their motions are too swift for the eye (Trans. Vass. Br. inst., ii : 133). 



When mates meet they often flutter together, higher and higher, fifty 

 feet or more, always in an inclined direction, the male just above or in 

 advance of his mate ; while she flies rather steadily higher and higher, he 

 dances in front of her rising all the time imtil suddenly, when very high 

 in air, he suddenly darts toward the earth and leaves her to fly calmly 

 down again at her leisure. 



Notwithstanding these movements I think they mate upon the ground, 

 for I once saw an evident though unsuccessful attempt in this direction and I 

 have never seen the union eff^ected in the air. In the instance referred to, the 

 male approached the female and the female opened her wings at an angle 

 of about 110°, the fore and hind wings a little pai'ted, and raised her 

 abdomen as high as possible ; the male made a sudden dart, like a leap, at the 

 female and then, no union effected, leaped away again and stood aside trem- 

 bling its raised wings. This was repeated a dozen times, the female remaining 

 most of the time in the same spot. When once united they often fly in the air 

 together, as every observer must have noted, and in this case it is always 

 the male that flies, the female hanging with closed and motionless wings. 



Mr. Couper observed in Anticosti that when alight upon a flower it lies 

 sidewise as if to receive the warmth of the sun, instead of holding itself 

 erect. 



When at ordinary rest the wings are closed back to back, the costal edge 

 of the hind wings reaching the middle of the medio-submedian interspace 

 of the fore wings ; the antennae are curved a little at the base, when viewed 

 laterally are raised at an angle of about 15° with the plane of the body, 

 and diverge at an angle of from 110°-125°. 



When at complete rest the fore wings are dropped, bringing the costal 

 edges of all the wings together and the basal half of the inner border of 

 the hind wings parallel with the surface, while the wings diverge at an 

 angle of 20°-25°. The antennae, viewed laterally, have a gentle arch- 

 ing curve throughout their length : they are thrust horizontally forward 

 side by side, the clubs slightly overlapping; the forelegs project in front 

 and rest upon the ground. 



