1688 THE BUTTERFLIES OF NEW ENGLAND. 



it has begun to diminish greatly. It is not until the butterflies have l)een 

 at least two or three weeks upon the wing tliat the female commences to 

 deposit her eggs, which are hatched in from twelve to fifteen days ; the 

 young larva is, therefore, seldom born before the end of July ,and sometimes 

 not until the end of August. Its future history has not been traced. 

 In the southern half of New England, where the species is double brooded, 

 the earliest generation of butterflies appears upon the wing during the lasit 

 week of May — at the beginning of the week, near the southern sea coast, 

 toward its middle or end farther north ; both sexes become abundant in a 

 week and continue on the wing up to the middle, sometimes to the end, of 

 July, although often diminishing greatly in numbers during the latter half 

 of June. The female deposits her eggs after the middle of June ; these 

 are hatched in eleven or twelve days, but at what time the caterpillars 

 attain maturity has not been shown ; the second brood of butterflies, how- 

 ever, appears early in August, sometimes by the very first day, but per- 

 haps more frequently (except near the southern borders) by the 5th or 

 6th. In a few days it becomes abundant and individuals, continuing to 

 emerge from the chrysalis for two or three weeks, remain upon the wing 

 nearly or quite to the end of September. The history of their progeny has 

 not been traced ; facts seem about equally to favor the view that they 

 hibernate as chrysalids or as nearly mature caterpillars ; probably the 

 insect will not be found to differ in this respect in the northern and 

 southern half of New England. 



Behavior of the butterfly. Tlie butterfly is found everywhere in the 

 open country, especially in meadows, by roadsides, along pathways and in 

 all old forest openings ; it is very fond of flowers — white clover, mint, 

 golden rods, etc. When alighted on a flower to feed, all the wings are 

 sometimes tightly closed, the costal edges together ; or, both pair of 

 wings are slightly and ecjually parted ; at other times, the fore wings are 

 placed at right angles to each other while the hind wings are horizontal ; 

 but when fairly at rest, as when it has alighted upon the horizontal surface 

 of a leaf, the fore wings diverge at an angle of about 50° with each other, 

 their inner edges resting upon the upper surface of the expanded hind wings 

 which, instead of being quite horizontal, are deflected a little, so that the 

 angle of divergence between the two wings of the same side is 80° or 85°. 

 The antennae, viewed laterally, are straight and very slightly depressed, 

 the tip of the club turned abruptly backward ; viewed from above slightly 

 curved, the convexities outward, and divergent at an angle of about 130°, 

 the antennal tips being 11 mm. apart. 



Desiderata. The distril)ution of this butterfly west of the longitude of 

 Ohio, and especially in the northern parts of its natural district should be 

 studied with care. In New England, the belt of country lying between 

 the White Mountains on the nortJi and tlie northern limits of Massachusetts 



