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SUMMER 



white -letter hairstreak is a comely brown butterfly with 

 white stripes on the under side forming a large zigzag or W. 

 Several years may pass without a single specimen being 

 noticed in some familiar haunt, and then, some July day, the 

 brown butterflies are seen hovering about the well-known 

 bush again. Great fluctuations of numbers are common in 

 the case of many butterflies, and usually correspond with dry 

 and wet years. But the white-letter hairstreak sometimes 

 seems to thrive worst in the most sunny seasons, and its 

 close attachment to a single spot is peculiarly marked. 

 Though we see no specimens for 

 two or three seasons at a time, it 

 must be supposed that enough 

 actually emerge to perpetuate the 

 colony, but are overlooked. Some 

 butterflies and moths occasionally 

 remain in the chrysalis for months, 

 or even years, longer than usual 

 sometimes owing to low tempera- 

 tures, but sometimes for no reason 

 that we can see. Possibly the 

 white-letter hairstreaks are liable 



to these curious suspensions of animation, but real evidence 

 is lacking. In the case of wild butterflies it is much easier 

 to register the appearance of an additional brood as often 

 happens in long, warm summers than to detect if a season is 

 skipped. Only the most minute and thorough observation 

 can safely establish a negative conclusion in such cases. 



The marbled white provides a good example of the way 

 in which many kinds of butterflies multiply in genial summers, 

 and diminish in wet ones. With the increase of numbers 

 goes an extension of range, especially in the case of the 

 butterflies of more roving habits. Female butterflies have 



WHITE-LETTER HAIRSTREAK 



