THE NYMPHS 



in wet open places where the mint grows, as its 

 favorite tipple is mint nectar. 



It has some queer habits. Many of the butter- 

 flies of the first brood appearing early in May 

 evidently feel that they have the whole summer 

 before them and are likely to neglect the impor- 

 tant transaction of egg-laying for several weeks. 

 The second brood issues in July and the third 

 in September, but owing to the procrastination 

 of the earlier butterflies the broods are hopelessly 

 mixed. Mr. Scudder has found that while the 

 caterpillars of the last brood winter as they are 

 hatched from the egg, many individuals of the 

 second brood when only half grown turn their 

 backs on the flesh-pots of the caterpillar world, 

 fall into a lethargy and wait until spring to finish 

 their growth ; from these come the earliest but- 

 terflies. Some of these little anchorites, how- 

 ever, seem to forsake their plan and after two or 

 three weeks of fasting turn to and eat their fill 

 and change to butterflies in September. The but- 

 terflies are more numerous in September than 

 during the summer months. 



The species occurs in Canada, the northern 

 United States, and in Colorado. The butterfly is 

 found " only about wet meadows and bogs, where 

 it frequents the mint blossoms." (Scudder.) 



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