BUTTERFLIES. fp 
FAMILY LYCAENIDAZ OR GOSSAMER-WINGED BUTTERFLIES. 
All members of this family are small and delicate butter- 
flies, with slender bodies, delicate and bright-colored wings, 
and antennz usually ringed with white. A very remarkable 
character of this family is that in the female the front legs 
are normal, while in the male they are shorter, without tar- 
sal claws, and with the tarsi more or less aborted. 
The caterpillars are more or less slug-like, and one of 
them has the peculiar habit of being carnivorous. A large 
number of butterflies belong to this family. Some are dis- 
tinguished by their orange-red or brown colors, with a cop- 
pery reflection; others have the upper surface of their wings 
of a delicate blue, while still others are dark, with delicate, 
hair-like streaks upon the lower surface of the wings. The 
butterflies are, on account of these characteristics, fre- 
quently called the ‘‘Coppers,’’ the ‘‘ Blues,”” and the ‘‘ Hair- 
streaks.” | 
THE CHERRY-TREE THECLA. 
(Thecla titus Fab.). 
This delicate butterfly belongs to a small group of 
pretty butterflies which are very seldom seen, common as 
some of them are. They are best observed if we watch the 
flowers of the different kinds of milkweeds, but especially 
those of the butterfly-weed (Asclepias tuberosa). Many 
butterflies visit these showy flowers, and among them a 
number of different kinds of the genus Thecla, which are 
easily recognized by their jerky and erratic flight. In the 
northern part of the state the above-named butterfly is at 
times very common. It differs from our other species of 
Thecla by the absence of the hair-like tails on the hind- 
wings, and by the fact that the wings of the male butterfly 
differ in shape irom those of the female. The butterfly is of 
a dark brown color above, with a row of seven or eight 
