442 
The Moths and Butterflies 
markings, and all of them are more moth-like than butterfly-like in general 
appearance. They may be looked on, indeed, as a sort of connecting link 
between the moths and the true butterflies. 
The Hesperidae, or skipper-butterflies (PI. IX), are a great family of small, 
big-headed, robust-bodied butterflies of obscure patterning in browns and 
blackish (a few forms white and dark gray). Nearly two hundred species 
are known in this country, but few of them are at all familiarly recognized 
as distinct species; general collectors and amateurs know them better 
grouped into generic units, as Erynnis, Amblyscirtes, Eudamus, Thorybes, 
Pholisora, etc. Indeed, but few professional entomologists feel competent 
to undertake the identification of Hesperid species. A few well-marked or 
specially numerous and wide-spread forms are, however, fairly well known. 
The caterpillars of all have large heads, constricted necks, and bodies thick 
in the middle and tapering both ways, and often make protecting nests of 
leaves and silk. The silver-spotted skipper, Epargyreus tityrus (PL V, 
Fig. 3), is abundant over all the country and is readily recognizable by 
its large size and distinctive pattern; the broad, irregular, silver spot is on 
the under side of the hind wing. The caterpillar feeds on various Legu- 
minosae, especially wistaria and locust, and when full-grown is ij inches 
long, with large, ferruginous head bearing two large orange spots, and lemon- 
green body transversely banded with darker green; it builds a nest or case 
of leaves, in which it remains when not feeding; it pupates either in this 
larval nest or makes a loose cocoon somewhere on the ground, hibernating 
in this stage. Another of the larger species is the curious long-tailed skipper, 
Eudamus proteus , found in the south Atlantic states (ranging as far north 
as New York City) and distinguished by the tailed hind wings and iridescent 
green-brown color. The genus Hesperia includes a dozen or more species 
which are thickly white-spotted on a blackish-brown ground, giving them 
a checkered gray appearance; most of these checkered skippers are limited 
to the western states, but one, H. tessellata, is found commonly all over 
the country. It expands ij inches, and has even more white than dark on 
the wings; it flies rapidly about close to the ground and lays its eggs on 
various mallows; the larva is green with a dark interrupted dorsal line, dark 
lateral bands, and a pale band below the spiracles. 
A whole host of skippers are the “ sooty-wings,” members of several 
genera, but almost impossible to be distinguished by means of written 
descriptions. They vary in size from an expanse of 1 inch to nearly 2 inches, 
and have the wings grayish brown to blackish brown to truly sooty, usually 
with obscure indications of markings on both wings and almost always 
with a few small distinct white spots near the apex of the fore wings. The 
small sooty-wing, Pholisora catullus, common in the east, expands 1 inch 
and has uniformly nearly black wings with a few distinct white dots oil 
