178 
MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 
may seem, has gone round the world, and when one is collecting 
perhaps on the other side of the globe he will see species allied to 
those so well known in his native land, as they alight on the tropical 
foliage go through the same antics. One is apt to exclaim, u Dear 
me! where did that little butterfly learn that trick ? ” A fact like 
this is very likely to set one wondering how such a habit is trans¬ 
mitted and also why it should be so persistent in travelling so far. 
The larvae of these butterflies are interesting from the fact that 
they are slug-like in their form and movements, their abdominal legs 
Larva of Lycsena. 
being so short that they cling very closely to their support and glide 
rather than crawl. In this respect they resemble the larvae of 
Limacodes among the Bornbyx moths. They also somewhat resemble 
wood-lice, the head being small and capable of being retracted be¬ 
neath the folds of the first thoracic segments. The body is not 
adorned with tubercles and filaments as in most of the larvae of 
Limacodes. Some of the species are said by Professor Comstock to 
possess honey tubes through which honey dew is extracted for the 
use of ants. Many of the caterpillars are green in color and feed on 
the leaves of forest trees, oak being a favorite food plant. One of 
our native species is carniverous in the caterpillar stage and feeds on 
plant-lice. A few of the larvae are downy, but they are usually 
naked. The chrysalis is short, broad and thick and is convex on the 
back, rounded at both ends and flat beneath. It is attached by the 
tail to a silken mat and has a band of silk about the middle, holding 
it closely to the substance to which it is fastened. The Lyccenidce 
may be readily separated into three groups, the “ Blues,” includ¬ 
ing many blue, purplish and bluish-brown insects; the “ Coppers,” 
in which many of the species are copper-red or brownish-red; 
and the “ Hairstreaks,” wherein a large number bear tails and are 
of various colors, often ornamented with fine streaks of color beneath. 
The United States are rich in insects belonging to this family, the 
mountain regions of the Pacific coast being particularly so; while 
some of the most beautiful inhabit the valleys and table-lands of 
Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. 
