192 MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 



the woods liigli up among- the l)raiiches of the trees and wouhl soon 

 be lost to view. I found by walking very slowly over the road and 

 carefully scanning every wet place and every heap of dung, I could 

 see these shy, alert creatures before they became frightened and took 

 wing, and in this way procui'ed a good numl)er. Sometimes while I 

 was approaching stealthily what looked like a tiny line of brown on 

 the road a l)utterfly of some other kind would sail past and away 

 would go my intended prize after the new comer, chasing him per- 

 haps several rods down the road. I found if I remained standing 

 quietly by he was very likely to return soon. The place where these 

 butterflies were to be seen did not occupy over a quarter of a mile of 

 the road, and I found them in the same place Avhen returning from 

 the mountain a week later. The most interesting thing in connec- 

 tion with this butterfly is that the larva is carniverous (a very 

 unusual thing among the Lepidoptera) and feeds on the colonies 

 of woolly plant-lice inhabiting the alder. The larva, according to 

 French, is green with three white stripes down the back. Besides 

 the specimens mentioned taken in New IIam[)shire, T have one from 

 Wellesley, Massachusetts, and two from Gainesville, A^irginia. 



THECLA. Rairstreaks. 



Tlie large genus T/iechi, the '' Hairstreaks," next engages our 

 attention and in the eastern half of our country is well represented. 

 While we have no members of this genus to equal in coloring some 

 of the resplendent creatures which inhabit the hot valleys of tlie 

 Andes or rival many from Mexico or Central America, still we have a 

 number that are both interesting and beautiful. Many of the species 

 of this genus have one or more delicate prolongations or tails to the 

 lower wings. These in some of the tropical insects of this group are 

 long and curved and add nuich to the beauty and oddit}' of the s[)eci- 

 mens. The males usually have a dark oval patch of color near the 

 upper margin of the upper wings. This is generally quite distinct 

 and easily seen. Most of our native species are of different shades of 

 brown with fine lines and markings beneath and with bright patches 

 of color, strongest on the under side near the inner angle of the 

 lower wings. In some species the thorax is strong and stout, furnish- 

 ing powerful muscles to work the usually short wings. Many of 

 these insects are swift flyers although they do not generally make 

 long flights. They are usually most abundant on the edges of forests, 



