THE GOLD-BANDED SKIPPER (RHABDOIDES CELLUS) 



By AUSTIN H. CLARK 

 U. S. National Museum 



(With Eight Plates) 



CONTENTS 



Preface i 



Rhabdoidcs ccllus (Boisduval and LeConte) [synonymy and list of refer- 

 ences] 3 



Locality records 7 



Range and distribution 9 



The named varieties of Rhabdoides cellus 1 1 



Key to the named varieties of Rhabdoides cellus I3 



Variation I3 



History I4 



Field notes 20 



Season 23 



Habits of the butterfly 24 



Eggs 25 



First-stage caterpillar 28 



Second-stage caterpillar 29 



Third-stage caterpillar 29 



Fourth-stage caterpillar 30 



Fifth-stage caterpillar 31 



Duration of the early stages 34 



Molting 34 



Habits of the caterpillar 35 



Shelters 35 



Shelters made by related species 38 



Possible correlation between the type of shelter and the texture of the leaves. 40 



Cocoon 40 



Pupation 41 



Pupa 42 



Parasite 47 



Key to the eggs of Rhabdoides and related genera 47 



Key to the caterpillar at birth in Rhabdoides and related genera 48 



Key to the mature caterpillar in Rhabdoides and related genera 48 



Explanation of plates 48 



PREFACE 



Early in the spring of 1934 while walking through the woods east 



of Great Falls, Md., Mrs. Leila F. Clark and I came upon a small 



glade at the base of a rather steep hill where a small stream broadened 



into a marshy spot. The abundance here of trailing arbutus (Epigaca 



Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 95, No. 7 



I 



