SATYRIDiE. 
215 
one time high in air ancl again low down near the grass tops, and in 
spite of his slow flight, keeping well clear of the net. If the net is 
at last brought very close to him, he will try his last desperate scheme to 
elude his pursuer, and shutting his wings quickly together will drop 
into the grass, disappearing as if by magic. If it were not for the 
cunning of these frail little creatures, they would doubtless have 
gone to the wall long ago in the struggle for existence. 
The larva is cylindrical, tapering toward both ends, and has a 
forked tail. It is yellowish green in color, and covered with fine 
white hairs. When partly grown it passes the winter hidden among 
the lower stems of the'coarse swamp grass, upon which it feeds, and 
the next summer completes its growth, changes to a green chrysalis, 
and emerges a perfect fly. 
This butterfly with its varieties is a plentiful insect over the east¬ 
ern half of the country except in the extreme south. 
Satyrus uepliele. 
A more northern species than the preceding, and abundant in 
the northern part of the United States and Canada, is Satyrus nephele. 
In this insect the upper side is dark brown, without the ochre patch 
on the forward wings. Two small black eye-spots on the upper wing, 
surrounded with a faint yellowish brown ring, correspond with the 
large eye-spots of the preceding species. On the lower wing there 
is usually a single small black spot. These constitute the only 
markings of the upper side. On the under side the general color is 
much the same. The spots on the fore wings are enlarged, pupilled 
witli white, and encircled with distinct rings of tan color. Several 
smaller rings adorn the lower wings. The inner half of both sets of 
