BUTTERFLIES OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY 
especially in color and markings on the upper side; but the under side 
of the hind wings is very different, being provided with silvery white 
bands and crescent-shaped spots, which are absent in P. tharos. It 
is also larger than that species. It is somewhat rare in this vicinity. 
It is on the wing in June and July. The caterpillar lives on different 
kinds of asters and sunflowers. 
26. Black Checker Butterfly (Melitea phaeton). 
This pretty black species, with yellow and brick-red spots, is 
single-brooded, and is not rare in this vicinity, but is local in swampy 
places. It is found on the wing about the middle of June. In flight 
the butterfly is slow and sluggish. It alights on leaves, shrubs and 
grasses and on the ground. The eggs are laidin masses. The young 
caterpillars spin a web, in which they live until the following spring; 
after the caterpillars become older they leave the web and live singly 
on the leaves. Their food is turtle head (Chelone glabra), woodbine 
(Lonicera), Gerardia etc. 
27. Harris’s Butterfly (Melitea harrisit). 
Very rare in this neighborhood. On the upper surface it looks 
very much like Phyciodes nycteis, but. the under surface is quite differ- 
ent. It is on the wing from about the middle of June until August. 
The caterpillar feeds on the aster. 
20 
Mo 
