196 BUTTERFLIES 



mals and it advertises the fact by its bright combinatioB 

 of brown and black. The Monarch is thus an example 

 of what has often been called warning coloration. On the 

 other hand, the Viceroy is commonly supposed to have no 

 objectionable taste when eaten by birds, but it so closely 

 resembles the Monarch in its color pattern and its habits 

 of flight that it has been assumed that birds would not 

 touch it because of its resemblance to the distasteful 

 butterfly. There has, however, recently been a reaction 

 among naturalists in regard to the validity of many sup- 

 posed examples of warning coloration and the whole subject 

 is still open to careful investigation. {See cover; and plate, 

 page 145.) 



Whether the Viceroy deserves its celebrity as an insect 

 mimic or not, it is well worthy of study for other reasons. 

 It is a common and attractive butterfly and it has most 

 interesting habits in the larval state. It is found over a 

 large part of North America and flies freely from spring 

 until autumn over meadows, fields, and open glades. 



The Yearly Cycle of Life 



To trace the yearly cycle of this butterfly's life, let us 

 begin with one of the mother insects flitting along a stream 

 in early summer. She stops now and then to lay an egg 

 on the tip of a leaf on a willow or poplar. She then con- 

 tinues on her way occasionally sipping nectar from any 

 early flowers she may chance to find, and continuing her 

 leisurely life perhaps for several weeks. 



The egg thus laid upon the poplar leaf remains in posiw 

 lion for a week or more, unless it should be devoured by 

 some wandering ant or discovered by some tiny parasite. 

 If it escapes these dangers, it hatches into a minute cater-^ 



