without doubt, been acquired for the pur- 

 pose of greater protection. This protec- 

 tion is needed because they are usually 

 of slower flight than the males and be- 

 cause several days are frequently re- 

 quired for the deposition of the eggs. 

 The usefulness of the life of the male 

 passes away just as soon as the eggs are 

 impregnated. 



While Butterflies are distributed all 

 over the globe, they are much more nu- 

 merous and, by far, more brilliantly col- 

 ored in tropical regions. "Within one 

 hour's walk of Para in Brazil, Bates 

 found no fewer than 700 species." But- 

 terflies are frequently quite gregarious 

 and fly in very large flocks. At one place 

 in South America, Bates says that he ob- 

 served about eighty species in one flock, 

 consisting of an enormous number of in- 

 dividuals flying in the sunshine. Most 

 of these were males, the females remain- 

 ing in the shade of the forest. 



Dr. Darwin relates an interesting ob- 

 servation made during his voyage around 

 the world in H. M. S. Beagle. He says: 

 "Several times when the ship has been 

 some miles off the mouth of the Plata, 

 and at other times when off the shores 

 of northern Patagonia, we have been 

 surrounded by insects. One evening, 

 when we were about ten miles from the 

 Bay of San Bias, vast numbers of Butter- 

 flies, in bands or flocks of countless myr- 

 iads, extended as far as the eye could 

 range. Even by the aid of a telescope 

 it was not possible to see a space free 

 from Butterflies. The seamen cried out 

 'it was snowing Buterflies/ and such in 

 fact was the appearance. More species 

 than one were present, but the main part 

 belonged to a kind very similar to, but 

 not identical with, the common English 

 Colias edusa. Some moths and hymen- 

 optera accompanied the Butterflies; and 

 a fine beetle (Calosopia) flew on board." 

 The Butterfly of which Dr. Darwin 

 speaks belongs to genus Colias or the 

 "Sulphurs." These are the yellow or 

 orange Butterflies so well represented in 

 the temperate regions of the whole world. 

 They are the yellow Buterflies which 

 congregate in large numbers in moist 

 places. 



Catopsilia philea is one of the great 

 sulphurs which may be given the com- 



mon name Red-barred Sulphur. Prob- 

 ably one of the great sulphurs is the But- 

 terfly of which Keats writes in "Endy- 

 mion" : 



* * * * A wild rose-tree 

 Pavilions him in bloom, and he doth see 

 A bud which snares his fancy : lo ! but now 

 He plucks it, dips its stalk in the water : how ! 

 It swells, it buds, it flowers beneath his sight; 

 And, in the middle, there is softly pight 

 A golden Butterfly ; upon whose wings 

 There must be surely character'd strange things, 

 For with wide eye he wonders, and smiles oft. 

 Lightly this little herald flew aloft. 

 Follow'd by glad Endymion's clasped hands ; 

 Onward it flies. 



The Red-barred Sulphur has been 

 found as far north as Illinois, but it is 

 only abundant in Mexico, Central Amer- 

 ica and southward. 



The genus Papilio is a group of large 

 and beautifully colored Butterflies of 

 nearly world-wide distribution. Dr. Hol- 

 land says: "There are about twenty- 

 seven species of this genus found within 

 the limits of boreal America. Our fauna 

 is therefore much richer in these mag- 

 nificently colored and showy Butterflies 

 than is the fauna of all Europe, in which 

 but three species are known from the 

 Dardanelles to the North Cape and Gib- 

 raltar. The genus is wonderfully devel- 

 oped in the tropics both of the New and 

 the Old World, and has always been a 

 favorite with collectors, containing many 

 of the largest as well as the handsomest 

 insects of the order." 



Our illustration depicts five species of 

 this genus. Papilis asterias is the com- 

 mon Eastern swallowtail ; Papilio ajax 

 ranges over the entire country, east of 

 the foot-hills of the Rocky Mountains ; 

 Papilio rutulus is a Pacific coast species, 

 and may be called the Western Tiger 

 Swallowtail ; Papilio lycimenus and Pa- 

 pilio macrosilaus are two South Ameri- 

 can swallowtails, the former having tail- 

 less wings. Grapta comma, so called be- 

 cause some of the markings on the hind 

 wing resemble the comma punctuation 

 mark, is found throughout the southern 

 part of the British Possessions, and is 

 quite generally distributed through the 

 United States, being more common in 

 the northern portions. Its larvae feed 

 upon the plants of the nettle family. 



125 



