AUTUMX MIGHATIOXS OF BUTTERFLIES 



39 



directly to the Point and travel westward out 

 of sight, others follow the curve of the shore 

 for a short distance northward and leave the 

 land at this point. Epicesclina, in eonsideraVde 

 nnnibers, and the smaller dragon flies be- 

 have in the same way, although the power- 

 ful Epiieschna follows the direct flightway 

 out over the Point more often than do the 

 others. Grapta and Juiionia show the same 

 behavior. All alike leave this shore, and 

 against a wind that is still quite strong, beat 

 their way west across the bay and toward 

 Staten Island until 

 they are lost to sight. 



What is the 

 significance of 

 this quite con- 

 stant and co]i- 

 sistent movement 

 which begins at 

 a definite date, 

 follows a definite 

 course, and per- 

 sists for so long 

 a period ? Ad- 

 ditional studies 

 of the same char- 

 acter conducted 

 along the Jersey 

 coast should cast 

 further light 

 upon the prob- 

 lem, for favor- 

 able conditions 

 should show a 

 southward move- 

 ment there ; or 

 possibly a trend 

 toward the in- 

 terior for some 

 species. More- 

 over, a greater 

 number of spe- 

 cies should be present than we find in 

 these Long Island movements. 



A few suggestions, however, seem 

 unavoidable. It is evident at once that, 

 omitting Anosia, the "monarch"' (which 

 undoubtedly travels far south and re- 

 turns in spring), the greater number of 

 these butterfly migrants are winter 



Migrants leaving Norton Point, the extreme 

 southwestern corner of Long Island. The peacock 

 butterfly (Jtmonia coenia) , accompanied by "mon- 

 archs," other species of butterflies, and dragon flies, 

 travels westward over the waters of New York Bay 

 apparently bound for a more southern st.ntion 



hibcrnators in tlie north. This is true 

 of Grapta, Pyranieis huntera, Pyramels 

 ataJanta, Vanessa aniiopa and Junonia 

 ca'tiia. So they may combine migration 

 with hibernation in which case they 

 would show a partial analogy with 

 some of our winter resident birds. For 

 although certain species are with us 

 throughout the 

 year, some of 

 those individuals 

 which spend the 

 winter about New 

 York come from 

 a region some- 

 what farther 

 north, just as 

 some of our sum- 

 mer individuals 

 shift southward 

 as autumn deep- 

 ens into winter. 

 Xaturally these 

 records are far 

 from complete. 

 The red admiral, 

 for instance, "was 

 seen only once. 

 Yet it has been 

 reported by Mr. 

 William T.Davis 

 as flying west 

 over Moriches 

 Bay near Fire 

 Island, on Sep- 

 tember 9. 1912, 

 in a flock that 

 contained at least 

 ninety-two speci- 

 mens. ^ Moreover, a recent report in 

 The Entomologist describes a single-file 

 procession of this species traveling 

 southeast from the British Isles and 

 toward the Continent, a further indica- 

 tion of its southward, autumn mio^ra- 



• Journal N. Y. Entomological 

 p. 293, December, 1912. 



Society, Vol. XX, 



