102 BUTTERFLIES 



the food plant is disturbed they drop to the ground, crawl- 

 ing up again upon stems and leaves when the distiu-bance 

 is over. 



These caterpillars moult several times during their 

 growth. When full grown they find such shelter as they 

 are able and each spins a silken web over part of the sur- 

 face. It then fastens its hind legs into this web and later 

 spins a loop near the front end of the body. It pushes itself 

 beneath this loop and waits for several hours before the 

 skin breaks open along the back and is gradually shuflOled 

 off reveahng the chrysalis in position. A week or two later 

 the fully developed butterfly emerges from the chrysalis. 



These yellow butterflies lend a distinctive charm to our 

 summer landscapes. They are constantly to be seen 

 fluttering from place to place, lightly visiting flowers of 

 many kinds from which they suck the nectar, and gather- 

 ing in great colonies by roadside pools where they seem to 

 sip the moisture. There are many references to this insect 

 in the writings of New England authors. It evidently 

 was an especial favorite of James Russell Lowell who has 

 often referred to it in passages like this: 



" Those old days when the balancing of a yellow butter- 

 fly over a thistle bloom was spiritual food and lodging for a 

 whole forenoon." 



The Orange Sulphur 



Eurymus eurytheme 



Were one able to take a Clouded Sulphur butterfly 

 and change the yellow to a deep orange color he could 

 easily make a specimen that would pass for the present 



