THE TRIBE OF THE HAIR-STREAKS 243 



enlargement of the wing just back of them, give the im- 

 pression of a false head. Along with this unusual develop- 

 ment of the wing is to be considered the fact that these 

 butterflies nearly always alight head downward so that the 

 false head, furnished with what seem to be waving an- 

 tennae, takes the place that would naturally be occupied by 

 the true head. Instances have been reported in which this 

 false head has apparently been nipped off by a lizard and 

 much evidence has accumulated to indicate that this 

 curious device may be a real protection in many cases. Of 

 course, the loss of the tails and the part of the wings 

 adjacent would be comparatively insignificant. In most 

 eases, these projections on the wings are held at right 

 angles to the plane of the wing. 



While nearly haK a hundred species of Hair-streaks have 

 been found in North America, only a few of these are 

 sufficiently abundant to require discussion in this little 

 book. 



The Great Purple Hair-streak 



Atlides halesus 



It seems something of a reflection on the activities of 

 American entomologists to say that, after the lapse of 

 more than a century since Abbott studied the insects of 

 Georgia, our knowledge of the early stages of two of the 

 largest Hair-streak butterflies is still confined to the ob- 

 servations he made. Yet this is true, and one of them — ■ 

 the Great Purple Hair-streak — is the largest species of the 

 group that occurs in the eastern United States. The 

 other is the White-M Hair-streak. 



