HOW TO KNOW THE BUTTERFLIES 



The Great Purple Hair-streak 



Atlides halesus (At'li-des ha-le'sus) 



Plate XXXIII, Fig. 3, 4 



This is the largest of our Eastern hair-streaks, having an 

 expanse of wings of one and three-fifths to two inches. In 

 the male the greater part of the upper surface of the wings is 

 bright blue ; the discal stigma, the outer fourth of the fore 

 wings, the apex and inner margin of the hind wings, and the 

 tails are black. The under side is blackish brown, with a 

 red spot at the base of the fore wings and two or more at the 

 base of the hind wings. The fore wings have a dash of blue 

 along the cubitus, and the hind wings have a group of blue 

 and green spots near the anal angle. The under side of the 

 abdomen is orange. In the female the outer half of the 

 wings is black, and the fore wings lack the dash of blue 

 beneath. 



Caterpillar. — Green, slightly downy; on the sides nine 

 oblique, darker green bands ; on the back a slight stripe ; 

 along the base of the feet a stripe of yellowish green. 



Food-plant. — Oak . 



"Great" is a relative term in the butterfly 

 world as well as elsewhere. The name great pur- 

 ple hair-streak would seem to imply a vast insect, 

 whereas it is a small butterfly spreading less than 

 two inches, and when it is fully expanded might 

 well be described by that graphic though inele- 

 gant word "chunked." The wings are blue- 

 green, changeable in color, and the hind wings 



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