SOME INTERESTING INSECT CAPTURES. 



BY FRANKLIN SHERMAN, JR. 



Under this title we wish to record the occurrence in North 

 Carolina of a few of the interesting- species of insects which 

 we find from time to time as we are able to study the fauna 

 of the State, and our own collections, more closely. 



From the tops of such mountains as Mitchell and Grand- 

 father, to the low swamps of Brunswick county, our State 

 supports a fauna which in richness is equalled by few. One 

 must actually traverse the ground, and study the forms of life 

 in the different regions, to fully realize how great this 

 variation is. 



Papilio cresphontes, Cramer, (The Orange Dog). This 

 butterfly, which is doubtless the larg-est that occurs within 

 our borders, is typically a southern species and is common in 

 Florida, where the caterpillar feeds on the leaves of the 

 orange, thus earning the popular name of The Orange Dog. 

 But in later years the species seems to have been gradually 

 spreading- northward and in 1898 the author took one specimen 

 in Maryland, eight miles from Washington. In 1900 three 

 specimens were taken at Ithaca, N. Y., and we have been 

 informed that several others, as well as caterpillars of the 

 species, have since been taken there. It has also recently 

 been taken in Ontario, and Mr. W. J. Holland records it as 

 rather common about Pittsburg. My friend, Mr. C. S. 

 Brimley, who has for years been a thoroug-h student and 

 collector of butterflies in the vicinity of Raleigh, has been 

 unable to locate this species. On August 9th, 1902, one 

 specimen was taken on Shackleford Banks, near Beaufort, 

 Carteret county. It seems likely that in its northern migra- 

 tions it has remained near the coast, and when the cooler 

 regions are reached, it probably follows the warmer valleys 

 1904] 141 



