1562 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



lasts beyond the middle of August, and shortly thereafter, generally 

 between the 20th and 28th of this month, the last brood appears. As early 

 as the first of September the female is laying her eggs, the male preceding 

 her by only two or three days. Eggs are laid at least as late as the 20th 

 and both sexes continue to fly nearly to the end of September, though in 

 scanty numbers in the latter part of the month. The eggs of this brood 

 hatch in from five to seven days and the young larva, as before, moults its 

 embryonic skin in four days ; as it is a comparatively rapid feeder it prob- 

 ably passes the winter as a chrysalis rather than a caterpillar. In Georgia 

 Abbot bred the butterfly September 22, after ten days in chrysalis. 



Behavior of the butterfly. It has a feeble flight, never darting 

 about from one spot to another like other Hesperidae, but moving in a 

 leisurely, languid manner, 8kip])ing over the grass-tops of a lane or 

 among the reeds of a marshy rill, in the most dainty manner possible; 

 it does not turn much to one side or the other, but flies with a short, 

 slight, vertical movement apparently giving but a single beat of the wings 

 to each little skip and frequently stopping to alight ; it never rises above 

 the herbage unless to alight on a flower. "When alarmed, they will drop 

 to the ground among the grass stems and then remain quiet" (Maynard). 



When perched on a flower all the wings diverge equally at an angle of 

 45° with each other. When resting, the body is raised high and equally 

 on all the legs, the wings folded back to back, all their costal edges 

 together ; the antennae, as seen from the side, are continuous with the 

 plane of the body and straight, but curve slightly from a superior view and 

 diverge at an angle of fully 140°, the tips being curved backward and sep- 

 arated by a distance of 9.5 mm. Often also, in the hot sunshine, the 

 hind wings are placed at right angles to each other, while the fore wings 

 are slightly parted only and dropped so as to bring the costal edges oppo- 

 site the same margins of the hind wings. At other times, especially when 

 resting in the shade, the hind wings are stretched hoi'izontally or nearly so, 

 while the fore wings diverge at an angle of 45°, their tips being 5 mm. 

 apart, and the extremity of their inner margins resting upon the anal area 

 of the hind wings ; the antennae are then deflected a very little and diverge 

 at an angle of about 125°, the tips being 8.5 mm. apart. When walking, 

 aU the wings are closed, the tip of the abdomen is trailed on the ground, 

 and the antennae, retaining the divergence just mentioned, are straight on 

 a lateral view and barely bent below the plane of the body. 



It has a curious habit when at rest, of moving its antennae in a small 

 circle, the motion of the two alternating, i. e., when one is moving in a 

 forward curve, the other is passing in a reverse direction. 



Desiderata. Although the history of this butterfly is better knovvTi 

 than that of many others, there are some points which still remain ob- 

 scure ; in particular we know but little of the second brood and the cause 



