LEPIDOPTERA 101 



all the remaining species of butterflies may be ascribed 

 to this group, which is by far the most extensive of the 

 butterfly families. It is divided into several sub-families, 

 which are widely distributed. 



The larvae have varied shapes and habits. Many are 

 clothed with spines or fleshy filaments, others are of un- 

 usual and irregular shapes; few are difficult to recognize, 

 although it is hard to characterize them as a group. 

 The pupae or chrysalids also vary in shape but they 

 always hang from the tip of the abdomen and lack the 

 girdle. Not many species in the family have economic 

 importance. The large reddish-brown butterfly with black 

 markings, abundant everywhere throughout the summer, 

 is the " monarch." It is the only common representative 

 we have of one sub-family (Euploeince) . It is found 

 practically all over the habitable world, but survives the 

 winter only in the warmer portions of this country, mi- 

 grating northward in the spring and early summer. The 

 larva feeds on milkweed. It is a smooth, greenish- 

 yellow caterpillar with narrow black markings and has 

 a pair of long, fleshy filaments at each end of the 

 body. 



Another cosmopolitan species in a different sub-family 

 is the Thistle-butterfly. This is of medium size, of brown 

 color with markings of black, white and red, lighter, 

 and marked with bluish, eye-like circles beneath. Its larva 

 is a spiny caterpillar which feeds on thistles. The Red- 

 admiral, nearly related to the preceding, is distinguished 

 by the red bar across the angle of the fore wing, and the 

 mourning cloak, another relative, by its larger size, bluish- 

 purple color and golden margin of the wings. The Fritil- 

 laries, Silver-spots, or Argynnids, include many forms vary- 

 ing in size from small to quite large, but all resembling 



