THE INSECTS OF EARLY SPRING. 



189 



217. The Comma Butterfly. 



The beautiful moth, Adela, with its immensely long antennae, 

 may be seen, with other smaller moths, feeding on the blossoms 

 of the willow. The 

 Ants wake from 

 their winter s sleep 

 and throw up their 

 hillocks, and the 

 &quot;thriving pismire&quot; 

 issues from his 

 vaulted galleries 

 constructed in some 

 decaying log or 

 sftimp, while the 

 Angle worms emu 

 late their six- footed neighbors. During the mild days of 

 March, ere the snow has melted away 

 &quot;The dandy Butterfly, 

 All exquisitely drest,&quot; 



will visit our. gardens. Such arc various kinds of Vanessa and 

 Grapta (Fig. 217, G. c-argenteum*). The beautiful Brephos in- 

 faus flies before the snow disappears. 



&quot;The Gnat, old back-bent fellow, 

 In frugal frieze coat drest,&quot; 



will t celebrate the coming of Spring, with his choral dance. 



Such is Trichocera hyemalis, which may be seen in multitudes 



towards twilight on mild even 

 ings. Many flies are now on the 

 wing, such as Tachina (Fig. 218) 

 and its allies ; the four spotted 

 Mosquito, Anopheles quadri- 

 maculatus, and the delicate spe 

 cies of Chironomus, whose 

 males have such beautifully 

 feathered antennae, assemble in 

 swarms. Now is the time for 



218. Tachina. 



the collector to turn up stones 

 and sticks by the river s side 

 and in grassy damp pastures, for Ground beetles (Carabidae), 

 and to frequent sunny paths for the gay Cicindela and the Bom- 



The right side represents the under side of the wings. 



