THE NYMPHS 



with yellow or orange. It bears short, branching spines, one 

 pair being on the top of the head. It feeds without cover. 



Food-plants. — Gerardin, especially the figworts, snapdragon, 

 and plantain. 



From the Gulf States there comes northward 

 varying distances each season a butterfly bearing 

 on the upper side of its wings six large eye-spots. 

 Of these the front wings bear two and the hind 

 wings four. Its ground color of olive green 

 banded and margined with copper and decorated 

 with eye-spots makes this butterfly very striking in 

 appearance. On the lower side the eye-spots are 

 represented by indistinct dots on the hind wings 

 or very small ocelli. Strangely enough, in the 

 latter case the larger spot on the upper side is 

 transformed into two small ones on the under side. 

 But look at this butterfly, holding it under side 

 toward you, and you will see the use of the eyes 

 on the front wings. These, set in an irregular 

 band of flesh color, make the creature look like 

 an owl's head with great staring eyes. It would 

 require great temerity on the part of a bird to 

 SfO near a flower that carried on its farther side 

 such eyes as these. 



The buckeye loves open fields, and .is es- 

 pecially saucy and impudent to other butterflies. 

 It is many-brooded in the South, but prob- 



161 



