190 MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 



and the other in Angnst. This insect ranges from New Enghmd, 

 where it is rare, through the middle and western states to the 

 Rocky Mountains. 



The habitat of a certain insect is sometimes so restricted and its 

 favorite haunts so few and far between that one may dwell within no 

 great distance of it for a long time without knowing of its existence. 

 Many of the tiny creatures such as we are considering are shy and 

 retiring, shunning man and his habitations and never intruding them- 

 selves upon his notice. A good many of the butterflies belonging to 

 this great family of Lyccenidce have to be carefully and diligently 

 searched for, and a collection containing a large number of our native 

 species carefully collected and neatly mounted represents a good deal 

 of painstaking labor both in the field and in one's home. Our next 

 example, Chrysophmius epixanthe, is such a lifth' creature, its colors 

 l)lend so readily with its surroundings and its habitat is so restricted 

 that it has been considered by some collectors a rare insect. It de- 

 lights in low swampy districts where grasses, cranberry vines and 

 low bushes cover the ground, and in a swamp perhaps many acres in 

 extent, one part apparently like another, it may be confined to a few 

 square rods of grassy and bushy water-soaked land. Such a locality 

 I know not far from my home, where, early in July, one may go with 



Feuiseca tarquiiiius. 



the prospect of finding this little butterfly moderately abundant. It 

 is difficult to see when at rest on a grass stem as the color of the 

 under side of the wings, which are usually closed, is about the same 

 as that of the yellow, dried stems and leaves of the previous season's 

 growth. The butterfly is not sh}* and its flight is slow and weak. 

 When distui'bed it rises but a few inches above the grasses and flying 

 a few feet alights. When freshly hatched from the chrysalis the rich 

 irridescent brownish-purple of the upper side of the wings makes it a 



