INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 



237 



a medium sized butterfly with purplish wings, the front pair 

 bearing a conspicuous orange or red band across their sur- 

 face. The larva feeds upon 

 hop and nettle. 



In the latter part of the 

 summer the Painted Beauty 

 is commonly found on the as- 

 ters and other fall flowers. It 

 is a very nimble and active 

 butterfly. The upper surface 

 of the wings is blackish, with 

 orange and white spots. The 

 under side of the wings is the 

 finest, being marbled with 

 brown, gray, and white, with 

 rose-colored spots on the front 

 pair, and two eye-like spots on 

 the hind wings. It is one of the daintiest and most beautiful 

 of our butterflies. It measures about two 

 inches across its wing-tips. This butter- 

 fly, like some others, has the interesting 

 habit of playing dead when caught, com- 

 ing to life and making off quickly when 

 there is a chance to escape. 



Another common butterfly is the Violet 

 Tip, so called from the violet border of 

 its brown wings. It is also called the 

 Comma Butterfly, because of a curved, 

 silvery spot on the under side of the 

 hind wing. A very handsome and the largest of our butter- 

 flies is the common Milkweed or Monarch Butterfly. Its 



Fig. 84. Monarch Butterfly Sipping Clover 



Nectar. 



Fig. 85. Comma Butter- 

 fly Just Out of Chrysalis. 



