THE PIERIDS 



The Sleepy Yellow 



Eurerna nicippe (Eu-re'ma ni-cip'pe) 



Plate XV, Fig. 3, 5 



The wings above are bright orange, marked with blackish 

 brown as follows : on the fore wings a narrow bar at the apex 

 of the discal cell, the apical portion of the wings, and the 

 outer margin ; on the hind wings, the outer margin. In the 

 female the outer marginal band is interrupted at the anal 

 angle of each wing, and on the hind wings it may be reduced 

 to an apical patch. The expanse of wings is from one and 

 six-tenths inches to one and nine-tenths inches. 



Caterpillar. — One inch in length ; body, slender and 

 downy ; color green, with a white stripe along the side marked 

 with yellow and bordered below with blackish. 



Food-plants. — Cassia, clover, senna. 



The black spots which decorate the middle of 

 the front wings of the yellows are reduced in this 

 species to narrow, transverse lines, which look 

 like eyes almost closed ; because of this feature 

 our name for this butterfly has always been the 

 sleepy yellow. The common popular name that 

 has been applied to it, the " black-bordered yel- 

 low," is not very distinctive in a family which 

 particularly affects black borders. The male is a 

 bright orange, while his wife is of a paler hue. 

 The lower side of the front wings is a brilliant 

 orange yellow at the base, fading near the edges 

 and looking like the western sky after sunset. 



97 



