194 BUTTERFLIES 



mottled in color tones that will probably lead to their 

 eing overlooked. 



Three distinct species of Sovereigns are found in eastern 

 North America, namely: 



The Viceroy, Basilarchia archippus. 



The Banded Purple, Basilarchia arthemis. 



The Red-spotted Purple, Basilarchia astyanax. 



The first species, the Viceroy, has a much wider dis- 

 tribution than either of the others. It apparently is found 

 in nearly all localities in which either of these occur, and so 

 includes within its range almost the whole of the United 

 States and much of Canada. 



The second of these, the Banded Purple, is a northern 

 form. It is found commonly at least as far north as the 

 Mackenzie River region in British America and southward 

 to central Massachusetts. It also occurs as far west as 

 Nebraska so that it has a very wide distribution in north- 

 ern regions. It is especially abundant in Canada and the 

 White Mountains. 



The third, the Red-spotted Purple, is the characteristic 

 form south of latitude 42 degrees. Its range overlaps 

 that of the Banded Purple for about one degree but it is 

 seldom found north of latitude 42 degrees. It seems to 

 range about as far west as the Banded Purple. 



There are several other butterflies belonging to this 

 genus which are rarely found and which occur only in 

 certain limited regions. There has been much discussion 

 in regard to these. Some entomologists have thought 

 them simply varieties or dimorphic forms while others 

 have considered them hybrids. An analysis of the con- 

 ditions shows that these doubtful butterflies occur only 

 in regions where the different species overlap. Thus in 



