1154 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



TRIBE PIERIDL 



WHITES. 



Voraciii Hiibner. Swainsoii ; Pieridap (pars) Duponchcl; Pie- 



Pierisinae Swainson; Pierinae+Lycaeninae rkli (pars) Stephens. 



Hedgerows all alive 

 With birds and gnats and large white butterflies 

 Which look as if the May-flower had eaiigbt life 

 And palpitated forth upon the wind. 



Mrs. Browning. — Atirora Leiyh. 



Imago. Prevailing colors white, marked with black. Front of head considerably 

 and very regularly tumid; antennae slender, longer than the abdomen, the club very 

 distinct, short and rather broad, depressed; palpi very slender, from one and a half to 

 two times the length of the eye, with a thin fringe of moderately long hairs; apical 

 joint long, basal much shorter than the middle joint. Patagia obpyriform, the base 

 circular, the posterior lobe very short and constricted ; third subcostal nervure of fore 

 wings forking at the extreme tip ; branch of the costal nervure of hind wings curved 

 strongly outward ; middle tibiae of male as long as or longer than the femora. Eighth 

 abdominal segment entire in the male or even notched; hook of upper organ large; 

 posterior edge of clasps entire, toothless. 



Egg. Tall and slender, tapering very much more in apical than in basal half, the ver- 

 tical ribs sharp and distinct, not very numerous, the summit of the egg abruptly 

 truncate. 



Caterpillar 'at birtli. Appendages of body very long, much longer than the seg- 

 ments on which they are seated, hair-like, tapering very slightly and expanding deli- 

 cately at tip into an oval club whose width is about that of the base of the hair. 



Mature caterpillar. Head of about the same size as the first thoracic segment. 

 Segments divided into less than six sections; body covered with numerous minute 

 papillae emitting short tapering hairs and also with larger papillae in transverse rows 

 bearing longer hairs either tapering or apically expanded. 



Chrysalis. Prominences of the body generally angulated ; under surface nearly 

 straight; lateral ridge entirely above the upper edge of the wings. Antennae and 

 tongue reaching the tip of the wings. 



The insects of this group are ahnost always of nictlium size ( occasion- 

 ally small), and are numerous in individuals, often so much so as to be 

 very injurious to kitchen gardens. At the same time the caterpillars are 

 exceptionally rapid growers and gorge their bodies to repletion, whence 

 Hiibner appropriately called the tribe Voracia. They feed princip.ally on 

 cruciferous plants or the immediate allies of that family, but some even on 

 Coniferae. 



The wings of the butterflies are nuich more delicate in structure than is 

 usual with Pierinae, and the front pair is seldom falcate, but rounded, 

 broad and ample. The prevailing color is white marked with black ; 

 occasionally yellow varieties make their appearance but these seem to be 

 mostly sporadic. Generally speaking, the flight of the insect is neither so 

 strong nor so rapid as that of other Pierinae, though some species have a 

 bold, swift movement, and nearly all show great power when alarmed. 



