—72 — 



few grains- But it is done, and it will stand as long as books are 



printed. 



Cotyledon was once considered a Sedum, but was separated because 

 of material and technical variations. The leaves, which are the part 

 eaten by the larvce, are thick and juicy with an insipid waterv juice, and 

 so soft that they may be mashed in the fingers into pulp that drips with 

 water. The "house-leek" of the Eastern States is an approximate and 

 familiar plant, in size and manner of growth, but the Cotyledon leaves are 

 fewer, larger, thicker and more juicy. The larvae eat into the leaf, and 

 burrow about under its skin, remaining hidden most of the time; but an 

 aperture is always open, and through it the ants follow the larva, per- 

 sistently petting it, and living off its juices. Some of the larvae that I 

 have bred have been attended all through their captivity by some ants 

 which would not leave them. Doubtless these ants have subsisted en- 

 tirely upon the nutriment afforded by the larvae. Whether the larvae are 

 pleased or vexed by the ants I cannot determine. At any rate they show 

 no positive sign of either, while on the other hand, the larvae ofZ Amyn- 

 tula, which feed entirely hidden and shut in, shrink in dislike or fear from 

 the touch of ants, and the ants never caress them to beg for food. 



It is a great pity that this lovely Lyccena should be obliged to carry 

 the handicapping of such a misnomer of a name as Sonorensis. I doubt 

 if it ever flies in Sonora at all. I know the best collectors who of late 

 years have worked there, and none of them have ever seen it there. In 

 the early days of this coast, in the sixties, the collecting of plants and 

 animals and the labelling of them were very carelessly and loosely done. 

 Even a collector like Fremont was often grossly lax in his names and 

 localities; and especially in Botany this laxity has caused immense vexa- 

 tion and worry. So it must have been in the case of this Lyccena, cre- 

 dited to Sonora doubtless through carelessness or error. Or it may have 

 been collected from some little ranch or Mexican settlement called Sonora 

 in what is now the State of California. Several such " Sonoras " still 

 exist. 



But it cannot now be helped. We may at any rate console our- 

 selves with the knowledge that this butterfly is rare and beautiful enough 

 to be able to stand up under its dead-weight, careless of the misnomer; 

 that its silvery luster and carmine cheeks are so gem-like and delicious 

 that It will always be sought after, so that after all the name is of little 

 moment, for the insect itself is so incomparable and matchless that it shall 

 live to fly and reign — a queen — forever. 



