XV. 



HOW BUTTERFLIES PASS THE WINTER 



One would suppose that nature would have so 

 arranged matters that delicate creatures like but- 

 terflies, passing a portion of their lives (the chry- 

 saHs) in a quiescent condition, would select the 

 winter as the season in which to pass this state, 

 and not waste in an enforced inactivity the pre- 

 cious moments of a too brief summer, when 

 flowers and succulent plants are abundant as food 

 for butterfly or caterpillar. Yet a very consider- 

 able proportion of the butterflies of New England 

 pass the winter in some other state than that of 

 the chrysalis. Some pass it in either of two or 

 more states, apparently as a precaution against 

 the total destruction of the species. Many pass 

 the winter as caterpillars, some as eggs, and not 

 a few as butterflies themselves. Many of the 

 Theclini for instance pass the winter in the egg 

 state, while on the other hand the Yanessini, a 

 group which, whether in Europe or America, may 



