LEPIDOPTERA 



173 



The cabbage butterflies (Pl'eris) (Fig. 143), of which there are three 

 species in the different sections of the United States, are the most de- 

 structive to agricultural products of any of our butterflies. They have 

 three broods in the North and more in the South. 



The wings of Pieris rupee are a dirty white above, tinged with yellowish 

 in the female. The base and apex of the fore wings are blackish and the 

 female has two black dots on the fore wings; the male has but one. There 

 is a black spot on the anterior margin of the hind wing. In the male it 

 is indistinct. The larva is green, with a narrow greenish-yellow band upon 

 the back and a similar narrow broken " stigmatal band." It is covered 

 with fine short hairs. It feeds upon cabbage and other cruciferous plants. 

 It is exceedingly hard to combat, from the facts that there are so many 



Fig. 143. Cabbage-worm and butterfly (Pontia ra'pce): a, Female; 

 b, egg; c, worm eating on a cabbage leaf; d, suspended chrysalis; a, c, and 

 d slightly enlarged. (Chittenden, Cir. 60, B. Ent., U. S. D. A.) 



broods and that the larva bores into the heart of the cabbage. The work 

 of extermination must necessarily be done before the cabbage begins to 

 head. Fresh pyrethrum and kerosene emulsion are helpful. It is hardly 

 safe to use Paris green except with quite young plants. 



The gossamer winged butterflies (Lycceni'dce) include three well-marked 

 groups which are commonly distinguished by their various colors as the 

 " blues," " the coppers," and the " hair-streaks." They are quite small 

 and delicate. The larvse are slug-like. The " blues " are often seen 

 flitting about mud-puddles. Several species of the family are carnivorous. 

 One of them, the " harvester " (Penis' eca tarquin'ius), common east of the 

 Mississippi River, is small, with the " upper surface of wings dark brown, 

 with a large irregular yellow patch on the disk of the fore wing and one of 



