^56 BUTTERFLIES 



spaces of field and forest. When seen through a lens it 

 is very beautifully colored, the coppery red of the wings 

 being overspread with conspicuous black dots and a touch 

 of orange around the outer border. The expanded wings 

 measure just about an inch, so that this is one of the 

 smallest of our common butterflies. 



The caterpillars of the American Copper feed upon 

 sorrel, one of the commonest weedy plants of waste places 

 everywhere. The rusty red blossoms of the sorrel har- 

 monize in color with the color of the butterfly, which is 

 frequently to be seen flying slowly above the plants, stop- 

 ping now and then to lay its eggs singly upon the leaves 

 or stems. Each egg soon hatches into a curious caterpil- 

 lar, which looks more hke a slug than the usual type of 

 butterfly larva. It feeds upon the succulent tissue of the 

 sorrel leaf, at first biting small holes in the under surface. 

 As it gets larger it feeds more freely and is lilvely to make 

 channels instead of holesc It matures in about three 

 weeks, changing into a chrysalis under the shelter of a 

 stone or board. A little later it again changes to a butter- 



fly. 



There is an interesting variation in the number of 

 broods of this butterfly each season. In regions where it 

 has been studied it has been found to be double-brooded 

 in northern New England and triple-brooded in southern 

 New England and the Atlantic states. It is probable 

 that in its far northern home in the Hudson Bay territory 

 it is only single-brooded. It is thought that the insect 

 hibernates as a chrysalis. 



These little butterflies are so small and fly so near the 

 ground that they are likely to be overlooked by the casual 

 observer. They frequently alight to sun themselves or to 



