THE SEMICOLON BUTTERFLY 



299 



with a pale gold-colored semicolon on the middle of the 

 hinder pair. 



Expands from 2| to 2f inches, or more. 



The paly-gold character beneath the hind wings has much 

 more nearly the shape of a semicolon than of a note of 

 interrogation ; * for which reason I have called this the semi- 

 colon butterfly, instead of translating the specific name. It 

 first appears in May, and again in August and September, 

 and is frequently seen on the wing, in warm and sunny 

 places, till the middle of October. The caterpillars live on 

 the American elm and lime trees, and also on the hop-vine, 



Fig. 124. 



and on the latter they sometimes abound to such a degree as 

 totally to destroy the produce of the plant. In the latter 

 part of August the hop-vine caterpillars come to their full 

 growth, and suspend themselves beneath the leaves and 

 stems of the plant, and change to chrysahds. This fact 

 affords a favorable opportunity for destroying the insects in 

 this their stationary and helpless stage, at some loss, however, 

 of the produce of the vines, which, when the insects have 

 become chrysalids, should be cut down, stripped of the fruit 

 that is sufficiently ripened, and then burnt. There is prob- 



f * This butterfly received its name from the Greek note of interrogation, which 



is iJentie;il with our semicolon. — Ed j 



