172 MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 



insect the oblique markings on tlie forward wings are black, and very 

 strongly defined. June and July are the months for the appearance 

 of tliis l)utterfly. 



The largest species of the genus found in this country, PamphUa 

 ethlius, is two inches in expanse, and blackish-brown in color, with 

 numerous square and diamond shaped translucent whitish spots. It 

 is said to be common in tlie southern states, particularly along the 

 (lulf, and occasionally strays even as far north as New York. I am 

 not fortunate enongh to possess a specimen of tliis insect. 



A luimber of skippers having antenme with spindle-shaped ends, 

 and tlie ground-color of the wings brown, checkered with white 

 spots, belong to the genus /^//r///^y. 



Most of the species l)elong to tlie western fauna. They are easily 

 recognized, being cpiite different in general a[)pearance from tlie rest of 

 our native skippers. 



i'yrgus tessellata. 



In the hot summer Pi/n/us tessellata is a common insect tln-ongli- 

 out the middle west and south. I have collected specimens in Iowa 

 and Arkansas, but in my experience it is rare in New England, 

 altliough occasionallv taken. This butterfly loves to flit about the 

 gi-ass and weeds in fields and meadows, and is particularly partial to 

 the cleared land along rivers and small streams. It is a rapid flyer 

 for so small an insect and is rather shy. Its colors usually harmo- 

 nize in a surprising maimer with tlie surrounding dry and dusty 

 vegetation, for it is in July and August that it is most abundant, 

 when tlirough the lack of rain everything in the fields is an uninter- 

 esting grayish-brown. It fre(pientlj alights on the ground, and with 

 its wings half-spread is not a conspicuous object. The ground-color 

 of its w ings is dark l)rown, the lower half of tlie upper wings and 

 the inner half of the lower })air being streaked with gray haii'S. A 

 number of large and small white spots are scattered over both sets of 



