FAMILY HESPERIIDiE. 215 



Hesperiidae. 



SKIPPERS. 



Head large, with large and prominent eyes : bodies short and thick ; feelers short, hairy, 

 and ends square or angular. Antennse short and distant from each other, ending in a 

 knob prolonged and bent into a hook, and pointed. Legs six, and the four hindshanks 

 furnished with two pairs of spurs. 



Larva : Head large : body tapering from a <;ylindric middle, spineless, and generally 

 naked. Solitary, concealed within a rolled leaf; their transformations taking place 

 in envelopes of leaves and fragments of straws bound together by a few silken threads. 

 Chrysalids taper from one end, and are rounded : they make imperfect cocoons, which 

 are formed of rolled leaves and threads. 



EuDAMus TiTiTEUs. Tityrus Skipper. ( Plate xxxviii, figs. 4, 5.) 



Antennce brown : eyes brown, with a white spot beneath. Upper side : Head, body and 

 wings brown, lighter at base. The middle is crossed with a wide yellow band, nar- 

 rowing towards the posterior angle : between it and the apex there are two yellow 

 dots or spots. Hindwings tailed, rounded upon their anal angle : beneath they are 

 marked by a large oval and central white spot ; the edges trimmed with yellow or 

 yellowish brown. Expanse of wings, 2-2^ inches. The larva is pale green, and 

 striped transversely with darker green and dotted : head and neck red and tubercu- 

 lated(fig. e); fig./, pupa. 

 The tityrus inhabits the locust-tree, making its habitation of the leaves drawn and kept 

 together by threads of silk, which serve also for its transformation : it feeds on the leaves, 

 and sometimes nearly strips the tree of foliage. 



This season (1853), which has furnished many other rare insects, this skipper has not 

 been common. 



Pamphila phylceus. 



Upper side : Thorax and abdomen yellowish olive. Superior wings tawny yellow, mar- 

 gined with a black toothed border : three dark brown spots traverse the wing, the 

 outer comer one coalescing with the border. Inferior wings yellow, subangulated : 

 margin with a dark brown border, sharply indented : anal angle truncate. Beneath, 

 the wings are paler, marked with brown somewhat triangular and lined spots : one 

 elongated spot near the shoulders. Expansion of wing, 1 ^ inches. The caterpillar 

 feeds upon the panic and buflfalo grasses. 

 This is a very common butterfly in Western Massachusetts, in August, in meadows. 



