I'AMl'lllI.llH: AMl'.IA'SCIRTES SAMOSET. 1591 



fauna and even oxtcnds bovontl its limits ; Edwards finds it in West V^ir- 

 ginia (iu)t noted on tlie map) and Alil)ot and Grote and lvol)in8on re[)ort 

 it from Georgia, where the former says it "is not eommoii" ; probably it 

 follows down the Appalachians : westward it extends toMiehigan (Streeker), 

 Illinois and Iowa (Allen) and \Visconsin, numerous (Hoy), while across 

 the litic it has been found in Ontario (Edwaifls) and Nova Scotia (Be- 

 tiiune). 



In New England it is found in such northern and elevated localities as 

 Norway, Me. (Smith) and the AVhite Mountains of New Hampshire 

 (Scndder, Morrison) which give us reason to look for it throughout the 

 Canadian fauna. The only other New England localities in which it has 

 been taken are Milford, X.H. "rare" (Whitney) and several localities in 

 Massaciiusetts — Amherst (Peahody), Springfield (Diumiock, Morrison), 

 Belmont and Milford (Morrison). 



Food plant of caterpillar. According to Abbot, the caterpillar 

 feeds u[)on "wild oats"" ; the [)lant given by Abbot in the British 

 Museum drawings is there recorded as Andropogon avenaceum (Sorghum 

 avenaceum). In the I'oisduval MS. it is given as Sorghum secimdutn. 



Life history and habits. It appears to be single brooded in the nt)rth 

 and (Iniililc brooded in tlie south, probably passing the winter in each case 

 in the chrysalis state. The only preserved memoranda of Abbot's state 

 that a catcr[)illar made its cocoon ]\[ay ol and the butterfly appeared -lune 

 14, and that a specimen was captured on August 8 ; probably — judging by 

 analogy with its congener — these latter dates refer to butterflies of the 

 second brood. The duration of the chrysalis in the summer is then less 

 than a fortnight. The first brood, according to Edwards, appears in West 

 Virginia early in April. The single brood of the northern states appears 

 in the imago state early in June and continues through July. About 

 Boston it first appears at the very beginning of June, but at the White 

 Mountains it rarely appears much before the seventh and is most abundant 

 about the middle of the month. 



Edwards, speaking of Cyaniris pseudargiolus violacea says (Butt. 

 N. A., i) :— 



By the M or -Ith of April we usviaUy liave one or two very warm days, the mercury 

 at 80°, and then these little butterllies swarm nlonj; the sandy sides of the creelss, gath- 

 ering in clnsters as close as they can stand, in favorite spots, motionless, with wings 

 erect and closed, wholly intent on extracting from the sand some fluid, no doubt de- 

 lightful. Willi them will often he seen some of the smaller Ilesperians, especially 

 that sturdy little fellow, H. samoset Scudd., who has placed himself like a sentinel 

 outside thethrong, with wings half open and suspicious antennae, ready to dart away 

 for the least cause, frightening for a moment his busy associates. lie will not return 

 till the danger is past, but they, after fluttering about a little, settle down as before. 



The butterfly appears to fl'equent open places in woods ; in the Glen at 

 the White Mountains it is found onlv in forest roads. In Iowa and Illi- 



