OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



139 





^-^v\' 



The chrysalis'^state lasts 

 about ten days, when the 

 enclosed butterfly bursts 

 5 the fragile shell and drags 

 its limp self out. Clinging 

 for a time to the ruptured 

 husk, while the compressed 

 wings visibly enlarge, the 

 butterfly at last flies oft"— a 

 perfected piece of Nature's 

 Well 



L /£ 



Apatura Lycaox :—/, egj;-, liiagailied; jr, larva, lateral view; 



/(, inumo, timlerside— natural size; /,./, k, I, m, the live (lit- unriValcd liandlWOrk. 

 I'l'vcutlarval lieails; h, o, dorsiil and lateral views of larval 



joiut-ciiiargcd. known in cabinets under 



the old name of Apatura celtis Boisd., it is of a more or less intense 

 russety-gray, inclined to olivaceous, and shaded with dark brown, 

 which, in certain lights, shows its relation to the European Ii'is by a 

 faint purple reflection. The figures (39, <?, and 40, h) will stand in 

 place of more elaborate description. Aside from the genital organs, 

 the sexes are, as a rule, quite easily distinguished by the larger size of 

 the female, and her less falcate front wings and broader, more rounded 

 hind wings; but where these characters can not be relied on, as is 

 sometimes the case, the sexes can yet be distinguished by the differ- 

 ence in the impotent front legs, the male liaving the feet (tarsi) and 

 shanks (tihice) of these legs covered with soft whitish hair, while in 

 the female they are naked, as in the other legs. 



The butterflies begin to appear in the latitude of St. Louis by the 

 middle of June, and by the end of that month the eggs may be found. 

 These eggs (Fig. 39, a, and 40, f) are attached rather slightly to the 

 under side of a leaf, either singly or in small clusters not exceeding 

 a dozen. In form they are nearly globular, with very delicate longi- 

 tudinal ribs, and still finer transverse striae. In hatching, the enclosed 

 larva pushes open the crown, which lifts like a cap. When first hatched 

 this larva is of a uniform yellow, sparsely covered with a few soft 

 hairs, and with a head (Fig. 40, i) which is jet-black and always horn- 

 less — thus differing materially from the head subsequently worn. The 

 larvae of this, the first, brood feed for rather less than a month, when 

 they transform and give out the second brood of butterflies during 

 August. These lay eggs again, which in due time hatch. But the 

 second brood of larvae thus hatching, instead of feeding with good 

 appetite as did the first brood, is more lethargic from the start, and 

 develops more slowly. Every worm, after passing through the second 

 or third molt, ceases to eat; then shrinks in size and stations itself on 

 the under side of a leaf. Here it changes its fresh green color for a 

 dingy, grayish-brown, (caused by more or less distinct purplish marks 



