DEBIS I. 



Mr. Lewis Ullrich, of Tiffin, Ohio, wrote in August, 1881, that shortly before, 

 he had taken some hundred and fifty good examples of Portlandia, and rejected 

 many more as imperfect, in a certain piece of woods near by, and remarked that 

 the species seemed to be confined to this particular spot, and, so far as he knew, 

 was not to be found elsewhere in the County. Two or three years later I ap- 

 plied to Mr. Ullrich for specimens, and learned that the old hunting-ground had 

 been cleared of undergrowth and cattle turned in, to the utter destruction of 

 these butterflies. 



The larvre, like all the family, eat grasses. I first obtained one egg of Portlan- 

 dia by confining a female on grass under a net, August 22, 1873, but it failed 

 to hatch. Several other experiments were unsuccessful, until August 15, 1877, 

 when I got seven eggs. These hatched on 21st, and on 27th, the larvae began to 

 pass the first moult; on 3il September, the second moult, on i2th, the third, and 

 soon after, all became lethargic, and were left in a cool room for the winter. On 

 February 17, 1878, they were brought into a warm room, and the same day 

 were seen to be moving. On 26th February, one passed the fourth moult, and 

 died soon after from injuries received on the way to Philadelphia, for its portrait. 

 Meanwhile all the rest had died. That is a sample of the bad fortune which often 

 happens in rearing butterfly larvte, and it has not unfrequently taken me several 

 years to get at a complete life-history of a species. 



On September 5, 1881, I received twelve eggs from Mr. Ullrich. These 

 began to hatch on 8th ; on 15th the larviB were passing first moult, on 23d, the 

 second. On 8th October, one passed the third. The moults were irregular, 

 several days intervening between the passage by the first and last larva of same 

 stage. On 24th October, one passed the fourth, but died soon after ; the others 

 were in lethargy by 1st November. Early in February, 1882, these larvae were 

 brought into the house, and on 24th, were observed to be in motion ; by 1st 

 March all were feeding. The fourth moult was passed from 16th to 23d March ; 

 on 31st, one passed the fifth, and the last passed same on 4th April. The first 

 chrysalis formed 13th April, and this gave imago 29th. Two that passed fifth, 

 5th April, pupated 20th, and the butterflies came out 4th May. 



The hibernating larv;T3, therefore, pass three moults in the fall, and two in 

 spring ; but it is probable that the number of moidts of a summer brood is but 

 four, as with some of the allied species. 



While the larva is at rest the head is bent under so that the horns are turned 

 forward, and the back part is in line with dorsum, as seen in Fig. g. When a 

 moult takes place, as the old face is cast off, the new horns are seen folded down 

 over the face and flattened, and it is several minutes before they begin to rise 

 and fill out, and fully ten before they are erect. These organs are not solid, but 



