186 
MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 
flowers which bloom at the time of year it makes its appearance, and 
is often so interested in its repast that it may be collected b}^ hand. 
Mr. Harris saj^s that the caterpillars live on Lespedeza , and that they 
are oval, convex and downy, of a pale green color with three dark 
green lines, the sides of the body reddish and the head black. The 
chrysalis, which is usually fastened to a leaf, is at first pale green, 
but becomes darker afterwards. It is sparingly clothed with whitish 
hairs and there are three rows of black dots on the back. The 
chrysalis state lasts from nine to eleven days. This butterfly is found 
in nearly all parts of the United States. 
cheysophanus. Coppers. 
The insects belonging to this genus can generally be separated 
from the other members of the family by the copper-red, orange-red 
or brownish-red colors of most of them. Conspicuous brown or 
black spots usually adorn the wings, both upper and under side. 
Our most numerous species of these little butterflies inhabit open 
fields and meadows and are sometimes exceedingly abundant. Our 
most common butterfly of this genus and probably the most com¬ 
mon butterfly to be found in New England and the middle states 
during May and again in August is Chrpsophanus liypoplazas. It 
is very partial to open fields where buttercups and sorrel abound, 
and the blossoms are literally alive with this pretty little insect 
during its greatest abundance. At evening they alight on the stems 
of grasses and weeds with their wings tightly closed, and one may 
go about after sunset or early in the morning and pick them off with 
the fingers. During the cool morning while the grass is covered 
with dew they remain quietly suspended from the stems and leaves 
of plants and will not readily take wing. One advantage of this 
mode of collecting is that one need take only perfect specimens, and 
those taken if put at once into papers are not liable to be injured. 
Two or three different varieties of this butterfly are to be found by 
diligent search. In one the black spots of the forward wings are 
almost or wholly wanting. This variety has been taken in some 
numbers about Cambridge, Massachusetts. In contrast with this is a 
dark variety, where the black spots of the upper wings are very much 
widened and elongated beyond the normal, covering a good part 
of their surface. 
These varieties are not numerous, but one may find them by col¬ 
lecting large numbers of specimens. In five hundred specimens of 
