1152 



THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



ing that nearly a year must pass before tlie butterfly will issue. Immediately after 

 the skin dropped tlie thorax was a little prominent (4) ; no indication of this had been 



given by the larva, and it enlarged almost imperceptibly, while the dorsum remained 

 arched. This was the attitude up to fifteen minutes. At twenty the depth of thorax 

 was. 14 inch; the process .1 inch long, .03 wide at base, partly raised, semi-translu- 

 cent (being hollow, a thin shell), not yet rounded (5) ; the abdomen and all the dor- 

 sum still retained the larval colors, even to the yellow band, every tubercle and spot 

 having its corresponding pale black spot or point ; the wing cases and under side of 

 head and the process dark brown. As the depth of the thorax increased the girdle 

 was tightened and the dorsum bent in ; and when at thirty minutes the projection 

 touched the stick, the dorsum was bent in at an angle which fell a segment below the 

 girdle. The pupa had thus assumed its final shape (6) , the process meanwhile having 

 straightened and rounded, becoming .18 Inch long and .OG broad at base. The depth 

 of thorax was now .17 inch. At about twenty-four hours the pupa had assumed its 

 final colors, losing the resemblance to the larva. Fig. 1 represents the attitude of the 

 larva for a time before pupation began. (Cut leut by Mr. Edwards.) 



Life history. The life history of this butterfly is extremely simple. It 

 is single brooded and hibernates in the chrysalis state. In the north the 

 butterfly has only been taken in May. It appears with the first foliage, at 

 about the end of the first week in May, varying, of course, with the 

 season, and flies to or nearly to the end of the month, possibly in late 

 seasons a few davs into June. It seems to remain on the winjr but about 

 three weeks. The eggs are laid certainly within a week of the first appa- 

 rition of the butterfly, and the caterpillar takes probably a fortnight to 

 mature, the latest date at which caterpillars have been found being June 

 17, when Mr. Hulbert of New Britain, Conn., obtained five specimens 

 in 1887. Maynard is altogether wrong in saying that the butterfly is 

 double brooded, the first brood appearing in July ; at that time all the 

 caterpillars are in chrysalis, in which state they pass the entire hot season 

 and winter. 



It would seem as if the season were not greatly advanced in the south, 

 for in West Virginia Mr. Edwards found larvae on May 11, just out of 

 the egg and in the second stage, in neither of which conditions do they live 

 for more than a couple of days ; eggs obtained in Washington hatched on 

 the 27th of April, and the caterpillars reached maturity on the 22d of May 

 in Philadelphia. The only other data which we have regarding the 

 seasons in the south are a memorandum by Abbot that the butterfly was 

 obtained in Georgia on the 21st of May, and by Aaron that it was com- 

 mon in Texas in the first week of April. 



