HOW TO KNOW THE BUTTERFLIES 



branches of a chestnut oak in front of our win- 

 dows. What though the spring azure appears in 

 Protean forms ! The more incarnations of a 

 butterfly so beautiful the better. 



The spring azure's caterpillar loves to bore into 

 the very heart of the flower, and is of undoubted 

 assistance to Nature in her great work of blossom 

 pruning. 



Or is thy luster drawn from heavenly hues, 

 A sumptuous drifting fragment of the sky? 



T. W. Higginson. 



The Tailed Blue 

 Everes comyntas (E-ve'res co-myn'tas) 



Plate XXXVII, Fie. 7, 8, 9 



The possession of taillike prolongations of the hind wings 

 distinguishes this butterfly from the other blues occurring in 

 our Eastern fauna. The males are dark purplish violet above 

 bordered with brown, the females dark brown, sometimes 

 flecked with bluish scales. In both sexes there are several 

 black spots and one or two orange crescents on the outer 

 margin of the hind wings. Beneath, the wings are whitish 

 gray, and marked somewhat like the lighter forms of the pre- 

 ceding species, except in the presence of orange crescents near 

 the anal angle of the hind wings. Expanse of wings about 

 one inch. 



Caterpillar. — Length one-third of an inch ; slug-shaped. 

 Head very small and black. Body downy, dark green in 



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