THE SPECIES OF ATRYTONE. 1613 



and tlioiifjli tlicy csm rarely lie oI)tain('(l othorwitic tliaii hv atttMiipting to 

 rear eggs and caterpillars found in the Held, it is not a little surprising to 

 know that already nearly one-third of the butterflies described in the body 

 of this work are known to be attacked by special hynicnopterous parasites ; 

 and although many parasites attack indiscriminately a considerable num- 

 ber of species, an equal number of hymenoptcrous parasites arc known 

 which attack one caterpillar alone. This docs not include six or eight 

 species dcscril)cd in the appendix, jircsunied or known to be hyperpara- 

 sitic ; that is, to be parasitic upon the parasite itself. Then besides these 

 there are five others which attack exclusively the eggs of butterflies. Some 

 of these ichneumons lay a single egg within the body of their caterpillar 

 host, the whole of whose contents are required to sustain it, while others lay 

 an enormous number, so that when they emerge from the body of their 

 moribund host or from the chrysalis shell, they seem to swarm in incredi- 

 ble numbers ; or if previous to this the body of the caterpillar be opened^ 

 it will seem to be Cjuite choked up with the squirming bodies of the para- 

 sitic maggots. A caterpillar, fair to all outer appearance, may be 

 only a peripatetic banqueting hall of these horrid fiends. In many cases 

 the caterpillar goes on to pupation before the exclusion of the parasite, these 

 emerging t'rom the body of the chrysalis. This is most frequently the case 

 with dipterous parasites which are also doubtless exceedingly numerous^ 

 In the present work tliirteen are described, all belonging to the Tachinidae, 

 and they are known to attack no less than sixteen species of butterflies. 



The life, therefore, of a butterfly is one of imminent danger from birth, 

 nay before birth, to death, and this suflSciently accounts for the extraordi- 

 nary efforts which nature seems to put forth to protect them in their various 

 stages by coloring, by form, or, in some cases, by evidently noxious 

 properties. 



Table of the species of Atrytone, based on the mature caterpillar. 



Head white, streaked vertically with black; dorsal thoracic shield black logan. 



Head uniform dark brown ; dorsal thoracic shield dark fuscous zabulon. 



Table of species, based on the chrysalis. 



Greenish white, head and tail black logan. 



Livid, with fuscous markings zabulon. 



Table of species, based on the imago. 



Under surface of hind wings almost uniform tawny logan. 



Under surface of hind wings with a broad, transverse, extra-mesial belt of tawny, on a dark 

 brown ground zabulon. 



