SR ee 
1905] NaTURE STUDY—No. 23. 59 
NATURE STUDY—No. XXIII. 
THe CLoupED SuLPHUR BUTTERFLY ( Colias philodice, Godt. ) 
A NATURE STUDY. 
By JAMES FLETCHER, Ottawa. 
Fig. 1.—Male. Fig. 2.—Female, 
In Nature Study work a few common objects studied thor- 
oughly as to their essential and salient points will be of more use 
than a large number of disconnected facts relating to many dif- 
ferent objects. The limitations of work undertaken must be clearly 
defined both as to method and aims. These must be thought out 
by the teacher beforehand and must be kept constantly in mind. 
With a view to directing the attention of teachers and others to a 
convenient exercise in studying insect life whichis available to all, 
I would suggest that the common Clouded Sulphur Butterfly offers 
special advantages. The butterfly is striking in appearance and 
interesting in habits ; it is common in all parts of Canada east of 
the prairies. It appears early in the year, and the various mem- 
bers of the pea and clover family upon which the caterpillars feed 
occur everywhere. Eggs of this butterfly can be secured with the 
greatest ease, and as its whole life-history, from the egg to the 
perfect butterfly takes only about one month no one need tire of 
the exercise before it is completed. The beauty of the egg, the 
rapid development of the caterpillar and the various changes as it 
passes from moult to moult, from the time of hatching until it 
reaches tull growth, will be found exceedingly interesting to all 
who will observe them, but the fascination of watching the change 
from caterpillar to chrysalis and then the gradual appearance of 
color and its increasing intensity day by day as the butterfly forms 
inside the shell, must be a source of keenest delight and wonder 
