392 THE STUDY OF INSECTS . 
plants, especially those of Cornus, Cimicifuga , and Actmo - 
meris. They are frequently attended by ants for the sake 
of the honey-dew which they excrete through tubes that 
they push out from the seventh and eighth abdominal seg¬ 
ments. 
The Tailed Blue, Everes comyntas (E-ve'res co-myn'tas).— 
The butterflies of the genus Everes can be distinguished 
from our other blues by the presence of a small tail-like 
prolongation of the hind wing. This is borne at the end of 
vein VII. Our common species (E. comyntas ) is distributed 
over nearly all parts of North America. The male is dark 
purplish violet above, bordered with brown ; the female is 
dark brown, sometimes flecked with bluish scales. In the 
Eastern United States this is the only species of the genus. 
The larva feeds upon clover and other leguminous 
plants. 
III. The Hair-streaks. —The Hair-streaks are distinguished 
from the other Lycaeninae by the fact that radius of the 
fore wings is only three-branched. They are usually dark 
brown, with delicate striped markings on the lower surface 
of the wings, which suggested the com¬ 
mon name given above; but some 
species are brilliantly marked with me¬ 
tallic blue or green. The hind wings 
are also commonly furnished with deli¬ 
cate tail-like prolongations (Fig. 466). 
The fore wings of the male often bear 
a small dull oval spot near the middle 
of the costal part of the wing, the dis- 
Fig. 4 66.—Theda caianus. ca i stigma, which is filled with the 
peculiar scent-scales known as andriconia. The males are 
iso distinguished by having a tuft of hair-like scales, the 
beard, on the front; this is wanting or very thin in the fe¬ 
males. About fifty species occur in America north of 
Mexico; of these nearly twenty occur in the eastern half 
of the United States. 
The Banded Hair-streak, Thecla caianus (Thec'la cal'a- 
