veloped silk organs, especially those of 

 some of the moths. They consist of long, 

 simple tubes which open by a spinaret 

 at the under lip. The silk which the 

 caterpillar spins is used for various pur- 

 poses, in construction of webs, tents and 

 cases, and in the rolling and fastening of 

 chrysalis. 



The change undergone by the Butter- 

 fly in passing from caterpillar state to 

 chrysalis has always excited much inter- 

 est. Most species suspend themselves by 

 the posterior end of the body. A cater- 

 pillar of this kind spins a loose button of 

 silk in some suitable place and firmly at- 

 taches itself by the hooks of the hinder 

 legs and appendages and hangs by the 

 tail. It next curves the front part of the 

 body upward on the vertical side, and 

 after a time, when the front part of the 

 body becomes greatly swollen by the de- 

 scent of the body fluids, a rent is pro- 

 duced in the back of the caterpillar and 

 the chrysalis gradually protrudes ; after 

 remaining in chrysalis state for a greater 

 or less time, the fully developed insect 

 emerges. 



Moths do not suspend a chrysalis, but 

 spin cocoons, or, for transformation, en- 

 ter several inches in the ground. 



The Ruddy Silver-spot (Argyunis 

 alcestis) belongs to a class of spotted 

 butterflies which can be easily recog- 

 nized by the silver spots on the under- 

 side of the wings. Unfortunately our il- 

 lustration only shows the upper surface 

 which is spotted only with black. This 

 butterfly flies from toward the last of 

 June to the first of September. It is a 

 native of the Western States from Ohio 

 to Montana. Its caterpillar feeds on vio- 

 lets. 



The Crescent-spots form a group of 

 butterflies which finds its greatest devel- 

 opment in Central and South America. 

 There are a large number of species, 

 many of which are quite highly 

 colored. Those found in the United 

 States and Canada are usually quite 

 plain, the predominating colors being 

 shades of brown or yellow, with more or 

 less of black. The Phyciodes nycteis of 

 our illustration is quite common 

 throughout the Northern United States 

 from the Atlantic Coast to the Rocky 

 Mountains. 



There is a lovely class of butterflies. 

 chiefly of a yellowish color, which gath- 

 er by hundreds on wet roadsides or flit 

 from flower to flower in field or garden. 

 They are called Sulphurs. They are 

 yellow or orange in color, and the wings 

 are margined with black. James Whit- 

 comb Riley has written of these butter- 

 flies in the following verse : 



Above the arching jimson-weeds flare twos 

 And twos of sallow-yellow butterflies, 



Like blooms of lorn primroses blowing 

 When autumn winds arise. 



The Sulphurs feed upon clover and, to 

 some extent, on other leguminose plants. 

 Colias eurythemc of our illustration is a 

 very variable and widely distributed spe- 

 cies, its range extending from the Atlan- 

 tic to the Pacific and from Canada to the 

 southern border of the United States. 

 Me gano stoma caesonia, which is also pic- 

 tured, is much more common in the 

 southern than in the northern United 

 States. It is frequently called the Dog- 

 face Butterfly on account of the fact 

 that the outline of the yellow on the 

 fore wings seems to suggest the head of 

 a dog, the black spot serving as an eye. 



Probably no butterfly is better known 

 than is the Monarch (Anosia plexip- 

 pits). This butterfly easily adapts itself 

 to a change of environment, and quite 

 recently it has been carried across the 

 Pacific, and has found lodgment in Aus- 

 tralia, where it has rapidly multiplied. 

 It seems destined to become a cosmopoli- 

 tan species. Its larvae feed upon the 

 common milweeds (Asclepias) , and it is 

 often called the Milkweed Butterfly. 



The Mourning or Purple Cloak, as it 

 is called in America, or the Camberwell 

 Beauty in England, is technically known 

 as Vanessa antiopa. It is one of the 

 most beautiful of our larger butterflies, 

 and it is so common that it needs no de- 

 scription. The Purple Cloak is often to 

 be found in midwinter sticking to rafters 

 and barns and crevices of walls and 

 stone heaps, huddled together in great 

 numbers. It comes out of its winter 

 quarters early in the spring, before snow 

 has entirely disappeared, and is seen gen- 

 erally in warm and sheltered spots. The 

 poet Wilson refers to this butterfly : 

 When first the lone butterfly flits on its wings. 



The caterpillar lives, in great numbers, 



95 



