486 



NATURAL HISTORY OF ARTHROPODS. 



Fig. 610. — Arf/ijnnis bellona. 



do all of the genus, ujioii violets or alliecT plants, but liitlicrto it lias been impossible to 

 raise the species iu capti\-ity. A. ci/bele and A. aplirodite are aniong our most common 

 species, the former being taken in great numbers in June about the Howers of thistles 

 and other composite plants. A. atlantis is abundant in the White Mountains, N. H., 

 and a small species, A. nioiitiiius, is met with only in the same range, but is of con- 

 siderable rarity, Mr. Scudder remarking that " probably no collector has seen more 

 than eight or ten of these butterflies in a day's scramble among the mountains. They fly 

 close to the ground, among the scanty foliage growing in the rocky crevices of the 

 steep mountain slopes." California, and indeed the whole of the Pacific States, pro- 

 duce some fine species of Argi/nnis, A. leto, and A. nokomis being remarkable for 

 having the female almost black. The former of these is somewhat common in the Yo- 



semite valley and about the base of 

 Mount Shasta; the latter is only 

 met with in Utah and Arizona. 



Europe and Asia also furnish 

 handsome species of the genus. By 

 some authors the genus has been 

 subdivided, and the smaller species, 

 ill which the under side is without 

 silver spots, and the wings narrowei- 

 and more produced, have been assigned to the genus Hrenthis. Of this section, to 

 which A. montinus (alluded to .above) belongs, our most comiiion species is A. bellona, 

 which is abundant tlirougliout the summer in sw.ampy meadows. 



^Telitwa contains nearly fifty species, nearly all of which are natives of Euro2:)e and 

 North America, a few only being found in Amoorland and Kamscliatka. They are 

 prettily marked with brown, yellow, and white chequered spots, without silver on the 

 under side, which is variousl}' adorned with bands of white and yellow. Two of the 

 most conspicuous species of this country ave M. 2)haa:ton and JI. chalceJon. The for- 

 mer of these, though somewh.at local, is occasionally found in great numbers in its 

 haunts, and is apt to run into very peculiar aberrations, the wings becoming suffused, 

 and losing nearly all trace of the original markings. The food plant is the CJielone 

 glabra. M. chalcedon is aliundaiit in sjiring in California, and may lie found in com- 

 pany with M. palla, flying on warm da^'S in almost every flowery meadow. Its chrys- 

 alis is clear white, with black and yellow spots, and is a very pretty object. The larva 

 feeds upon species of Scrophulariaeeje, but its favorite plants .are Dijilacus glutinosus 

 and Castilejia parvlflora. It is black, with yellow tubercles, and is furnished with 

 long black sjiines. The larvos in their young stages are 

 gregarious, and hibernate in a curiousl}' formed web, as 

 also do those of M. pihacston. 



PJujciodes and JiJrenin are large genera, containing to- 

 gether (having boon united by recent authors) over one 

 hunilred species. They are mostly brownish, with yellow 

 or white spots and blotches, small in size, and not particu- 

 larl)- attractive, save to the scientific observer. P. t/iaros 

 is one of the commonest of North American butterflies, being abundant everywhere 

 from May to September. 



Grapta includes a. number of Euro]iean and American s]>ocies, in 'svhich the wings 

 are very angular, deeply excised in the border, the underside of secondaries bearing a 



Fig. (ill. — JVi//c.'o(/.s iha 



