30 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
July, 1911 
The first two specimens (upper row at left) are Basilarcria cistyanax. Next to them is 
Graft to. In terrogationis with the question mark upon his wings 
tion after they were pinned. A large 
pasteboard box was lined with cor¬ 
rugated paper, such as is used for 
mailing photographs; into this pins 
could easily be fastened, and our 
amateur collector's outfit was com¬ 
plete. 
The work of collecting, arranging, 
and classifying really was very ex¬ 
citing. Sometimes most beautiful 
and brilliant bits of color would be 
s-een floating over the flower beds, 
stopping here and there to sip a bit 
of honey from lily or rose, and then 
slowly and gracefully sailing away 
over the fence into our neighbor's 
territory in a most tantalizing and 
aggravating way, for it was one of 
our rules that nothing should be cap¬ 
tured outside of the garden. Then 
the boy, armed with his net, would 
retire to the shade of the arbor, where 
ugly parsley-worm 
ing the country 
h u n d reds of 
t h o usands of 
dollars annual¬ 
ly. The vora¬ 
cious little green 
caterpillar de¬ 
stroys entire 
fields of cab¬ 
bages and other 
vegetables. He 
first reached this 
country about 
fifty years ago, 
probably coming 
to us on some 
steamship, for he 
reached Quebec 
in i860. Since 
then he has 
taken possession 
of the cabbage 
he would sit awaiting the return of 
the vagrant. 
° # A 
Our first prize was the beautiful Papilio troilus, or the Spice- 
bush Swallow-tail. How exquisite he looked in his black velvet 
robe with the shaded blue border, fastened at the bottom neaf 
the swallow-tails with one deep orange gold button, and decorated 
around the edges with a double row of brass buttons! It seemed 
as though the proud fellow knew that the pure white phlox upon 
which he had alighted was just the background to set off his 
royal costume. He must have wandered from the park where he 
spent his early life feeding upon the sassafras trees. After reach¬ 
ing maturity he draws the edges of a leaf together, sews them in 
a firm, strong seam, and lies hidden there, swinging in his dainty 
green, cradle until he feels the stirring of his wings. 
Our second captive was the Anosia plexippus, who proudly 
lords it over others of his kind under the common name of the 
Monarch. Clothed in reddish orange with heavy black veins and 
a wide black border, he sails high above the flowers with great 
strength and dignity. The Monarch has a record peculiarly his 
own. He is the only butterfly known to migrate as the birds do 
in the fall. It is said that any chrysalids or caterpillars unde¬ 
veloped at the time of the frost, die, while the butterflies which 
we see in the spring have returned from their long flight to the 
Gulf States. They fly in swarms, and have been 
seen in such numbers on the east and south 
coasts of New Jersey, clinging to the dry twigs 
of leafless trees in October, that the branches 
have had the appearance of trees in full autumn 
foliage. These butterflies have been seen as far 
as five hundred miles out at sea. They belong 
also to the class of protected insects, which are 
provided with a secretion which is distasteful to 
birds and predacious, insects. The scent pouch 
of the Monarch is situated near the center of 
the lower wing, and is completely hidden by 
long soft feathers or scales. This odor they are 
able to emit at will, and in that way drive off 
insects and birds that might otherwise prey upon 
them. The caterpillar feeds upon the milkweed. 
The garden was full of common little white 
and yellow butterflies, and we were surprised to 
find upon examination how great was the variety 
among them. The innocent-looking little white 
Pieris rapce, or Cabbage Buttei fly, has probably 
been one of our most expensive pleasures, cost- 
Anosia ftlexiftftus, the bold¬ 
flying Monarch, who mi¬ 
grates to warmer lands in 
the fall 
Colias fthilodice (male and female), the bright- 
colored and more* beautiful form of the clover- 
worm 
