210 MOTHS AND BUTTEItFLlES. 



SA TYRIDjE. 



Wood Ni/mphti. Broirns. 



The family Satyridce contains a number of medium sized, })lain 

 colored butterflies, mostly of different shades of brown, whose onl}^ 

 ornamentation usually consists of numerous eye-like spots, most dis- 



Larva of Satyrus. 



tinctly traced on the under side. The larv?e are cylindrical, tapering 

 toward both ends, particularly tlie liinder extremity, wliicli is termi- 

 nated b}' two points. They are usually covered with soft, short 

 hairs, springing from minute waits. Many species feed on grasses. 

 The clirysalides are not angular, differing in this respect in a striking 

 manner from tliose of tlie succeeding family. They are usually sus- 



Chrysalis of Satyrus. 



pended by the tail from a silken mat, although sometimes they are 

 found loose among leaves on the ground. Like the Ni/mphalidce 

 they lack the silken thread passing around tlie body, which is the 

 principal characteristic of the Papilionidce. The perfect insects 

 possess l)ut four well-developed legs, the forward })air Ijeing almost 

 aborted. Their wings are broad and rounded at the ends, and their 

 bodies are small and weak. They are sometimes seen in great 

 numbers, and are most often found in or near wooded tracts. Their 

 flight is slow, and most of the species are easily taken with the net. 

 Our first example of this group, Chionohas semidea, is an insect of 

 great interest to the entomologist, on account of its probably being 

 a survivor of an arctic pre-glacial species, driven to more southern 

 latitudes by the cold of the ice age, and later having advanced up the 

 mountain sides as the ice sheet graduall}^ melted, being thus cut off 

 from a retreat to its former northern habitat by intervening regions 



