192 
MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES. 
the woods high up among the branches of the trees and would soon 
be lost to view. I found by walking very slowly over the road and 
carefully scanning every wet place and every heap of dung, I could 
see these shy, alert creatures before they became frightened and took 
wing, and in this way procured a good number. Sometimes while I 
was approaching stealthily what looked like a tiny line of brown on 
the road a butterfly of some other kind would sail past and away 
would go my intended prize after the new comer, chasing him per¬ 
haps several rods down the road. I found if I remained standing 
quietly by he was very likely to return soon. The place where these 
butterflies were to be seen did not occupy over a quarter of a mile of 
the road, and I found them in the same place when returning from 
the mountain a week later. The most interesting thing in connec¬ 
tion with this butterfly is that the larva is carniverous (a very 
unusual thing among the Lepidoptera') and feeds on the colonies 
of woolly plant-lice inhabiting the alder. The larva, according to 
French, is green with three white stripes down the back. Besides 
the specimens mentioned taken in New Hampshire, I have one from 
Wellesley, Massachusetts, and two from Gainesville, Virginia. 
THECLA. Hairstreaks. 
The large genus Theda , the “ Hairstreaks,” next engages our 
attention and in the eastern half of our country is well represented. 
While we have no members of this genus to equal in coloring some 
of the resplendent creatures which inhabit the hot valleys of the 
Andes or rival many from Mexico or Central America, still we have a 
number that are both interesting and beautiful. Many of the species 
of this genus have one or more delicate prolongations or tails to the 
lower wings. These in some of the tropical insects of this group are 
long and curved and add much to the beauty and oddity of the speci¬ 
mens. The males usually have a dark oval patch of color near the 
upper margin of the upper wings. This is generally quite distinct 
and easily seen. Most of our native species are of different shades of 
brown with fine lines and markings beneath and with bright patches 
of color, strongest on the under side near the inner angle of the 
lower wings. In some species the thorax is strong and stout, furnish¬ 
ing powerful muscles to work the usually short wings. Many of 
these insects are swift flyers although they do not generally make 
long flights. They are usually most abundant on the edges of forests, 
