THE LYCENIANS. 
273 
distinguished by the following characters. Six legs formed 
for walking ; short antennae, gradually 
thickened towards the end ; wings entire, 
hinder ones rounded, with a gutter on their 
inner edge to receive the abdomen, and 
the central mesh closed behind by an an- 
gular vein ; caterpillars cylindrical, smooth 
or downy ; not striped on the top of the 
back ; suspending themselves by the tail 
and a loop round the body ; chrysalids 
somewhat gibbous or bulging, not angulated 
at the sides, and conical at the upper ex- 
tremity. 
7\ e have several kinds of small six-footed butterflies, some 
of which are found, during the greater part of the summer, 
in the fields and around the edges of woods, flying low and 
frequently alighting, and oftentimes collected together in little 
swarms on the flowers of the clover, mint, and other sweet- 
scented plants. Their caterpillars secure themselves by the 
hind feet and a loop, when about to transform ; but they are 
very short and almost oval, flat below and more or less 
convex above, with a small head, which is concealed under 
the first ring ; and the feet, which are sixteen in number, 
are so short, that these caterpillars in moving seem to glide 
rather than creep. The chrysalids (Fig. 103) are rig. m 
short and thick, with the under side flat, the upper 
side very convex, and both extremities rounded or 
obtuse. They belong to a little group which may be called 
Lyconians (Lycasnam:), from the principal genus included 
in it. 
The most common of these butterflies has generally been 
mistaken for the European Lyccena Phlceas, but I am con- 
vinced that it is distinct, and propose to call it the American 
copper butterfly, Lyccena Americana (Fig. 104). The fore 
wings on the upper side are coppery red, with about eight 
small square black spots, and the hind margin broadly bor- 
35 
