154 BUTTERFLIES 



Like the other over-wintering butterflies, the specimens 



that come forth in spring are commonly faded and more 



or less frayed from their long wait since bursting forth from 



the chrysalis. They may often be seen sunning themselves 



on bright days in April and May, resting upon stones or 



logs in sheltered spots with their wings fully expanded to 



receive the greatest benefit from the rays of sunshine. 



When spring has suflSciently advanced for the leaves of 



the elm and the hop to be fairly well developed, the mother 



butterflies lay their eggs in a curious and characteristic 



fashion. Under a lens these eggs look like 



tiny barrels with vertical ribs. They are 



deposited in columns, the egg first extruded 



being attached to the leaf, generally the 



Eggs laid in uudcr surfacc, and those which follow are 



string-like clus- , . . , 



ters on the un- placcd ouc upou the othcr somctimcs to the 



der side of leaf. , 



^rom^Hoiiand" '^umbcr of six or eight, the group thus mak- 

 ing a miniature column. Now if the egg 

 which was first laid should hatch before the others, when 

 the little caterpillar came out it would be very likely to 

 cause the others to fall off and when they hatched they 

 would find themselves in what would be to them an im- 

 penetrable forest of weeds and grasses from which there 

 would be small chance to escape to reach the elm or hop 

 leaves. To avoid this calamity we find an interesting 

 adaptation. The egg at the end of the column hatches 

 first, although it was necessarily the one laid last. The 

 tiny caterpillar eats its way out of the shell and crawls over 

 the other eggs to the leaf. Then the others hatch in 

 succession. 



The eggs thus deposited by the hibernating butterflies 

 are likely to be laid late in May or even early in June. 



