THE METAL-MARKS 239 



leaves of trees that made up landscape pictures probably 

 very different from those of to-day ! And how he wonders 

 what flowers these butterflies visited for their nectar food, 

 what birds chased them from tree to tree, and what mam- 

 mals wandered through those ancient forests. What a 

 suggestion also it gives of the continuity of life upon our 

 old earth to realize that these butterflies of to-day are 

 carrying on their brief existence in practically the same 

 way that these forbears of theirs did so many millions 

 of years ago. 



Another way in which these butterflies are pecuhar is 

 the fact that the females have six well-developed legs while 

 the males have only four. As already indicated the cater- 

 pillars feed upon hackberry. When full grown they are 

 about an inch long, dark green, striped with yeflow, 

 with two blackish tubercules on the second ring behind 

 the head. They apparently pass the winter in the chrysa- 

 lis stage. The butterflies are likely to be found along the 

 borders of brooks or streams running through woods, or 

 along the margins of the forest. Occasionally they become 

 abundant in certain localities, but on the whole they are 

 rare and highly prized by collectors. 



THE METAI^MARKS 



Family Riodinidae 



This small family of very small butterflies contains five 

 genera and a dozen species found in the United States and 

 Mexico. Only two, however, occur in the eastern region 

 and only one extends much north of the Gulf states. 

 Aside from certain peculiarities of the wing-venation (a 



