7 8 



ELEMENTARY ENTOMOLOGY 



FIG. 267. Three common pierid butterflies 



a, native cabbage butterfly (Pontia napi oleracea), 



male; fi, imported cabbage butterfly {Pontia rapae), 



female ; c, the common sulphur butterfly (Eurymus 



pkilodice), female. (Photograph by Fiske) 



family it has a pair of pecu- 

 liar, orange-colored, mem- 

 branous horns, which are 

 protruded from between 

 the segments close to the 

 head and which give off 

 quite a disagreeable odor. 

 Evidently these are defen- 

 sive organs, for they appear 

 only when the caterpillar 

 is disturbed. This family 

 includes our largest and 

 most brilliant butterflies. 

 The spring and summer 

 broods of some species are 

 so differently colored that 

 they might be taken for 

 distinct species. 



Pieridae. The family 

 Picridae includes the yel- 

 low butterflies (sometimes 

 called puddle butterflies, 

 from their habit of swarm- 

 ing around puddles) and 

 the common white cabbage 

 butterfly, which is almost 

 the only form of economic 

 importance in the family. 

 The larvae are slender 



green caterpillars, clothed with short, fine hairs, 

 and are often finely striped, resembling the 

 cabbage worms. The larvae of the common 

 clouded sulphur (Etuymus pkilodice) feed on 

 clovers and leguminous plants, but are rarely 

 numerous enough to be injurious. 



The gossamer-winged butterflies (Lycaenidae), 

 so called on account of their delicate struc- 

 ture, include the little blue and copper-colored 



FIG. 268. The common 



blue butterfly (Lycaena 



pseudargiolus Boisd.), 



underside of female 



(After Fiske) 



