AMERICAN EDITOR. S13 



admirable vanessa atalanta ; peacock, Vanessa lo ; gamma 

 moth, phalayia, gamma ; goat moth, ph. cosaus ; blue argus 

 butterfly, papilio argiolus. 



This beautiful and highly interesting family of insects, 

 with which we are all familiar by sight at least, has been 

 thus far less studied in America, than in other countries. 

 Very little has yet been printed among us regarding our 

 native butterflies, and even European works on these sub- 

 jects are rarely met with. It has long been the writer's 

 wish to become better acquainted with these interesting 

 little creatures, and, doubtless, there are others who have 

 the same inclination ; but few of us have the good luck 

 to meet with the necessary books and teachers. A few 

 facts relating to the butterflies alluded to by Mr. Knapp, 

 will be found below. 



The Ghost Moth, hcpialus humuli, p. 198. There is a 

 division of moths in England, called swifts, or ghost moths, 

 having all the same habit of flight described by Mr. 

 Knapp, as the origin of their name of " Ghosts." The 

 particular moth alluded to by the author, is very common 

 in England ; their white, satiny wings are easily seen in ' 

 the twilight, and as fragments of these are frequently 

 found in tho morning scattered about, it is supposed that 

 night-hawks and owls feed much on their bodies. The 

 female lays a number of small, black eggs, resembling 

 gunpowder. Mr. Gosse, in his " Canadian Naturalist," 

 mentions a moth or Bombyx, found in Canada, the Dragon, 

 Moth, hepialus argenteomaculatus, belonging to the same 

 family ; " I was surprised and pleased to observe the 

 striking similarity, not only of shape and general appear- 

 ance, but also of manners, to the English species of that 

 family. They continue in one place, dancing from side 

 to side on the wing, just over the herbage, within a space 

 of a yard or two. A large female I caught, on being 

 BB 



