Part 24 (1/2)

(The Tortoise-sh.e.l.ls)

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 96.--Neuration of the genus _Vanessa_.]

_b.u.t.terfly._--Medium-sized insects, the wings on the upper side generally some shade of black or brown, marked with red, yellow, or orange. The head is moderately large, the eyes hairy, the palpi more or less heavily scaled, the prothoracic legs feeble and hairy. The lower discocellular vein of the fore wings, when present, unites with the third median nervule, not at its origin, but beyond on the curve. The cell of the primaries may or may not be closed. The cell of the secondaries is open. The fore wings have the outer margin more or less deeply excavated between the extremities of the upper radial and the first median, at which points the wings are rather strongly produced.

The hind wings have the outer margin denticulate, strongly produced at the extremity of the third median nervule.

_Egg._--Short, ovoid, broad at the base, tapering toward the summit, which is broad and adorned with a few narrow, quite high longitudinal ridges, increasing in height toward the apex. Between these ribs are a few delicate cross-lines. They are generally laid in large cl.u.s.ters upon twigs of the food-plant.

_Caterpillar._--The caterpillar moults four times. In the mature form it is cylindrical, the segments adorned with long, branching spines arranged in longitudinal rows; the spines much longer, and branching rather than beset with bristles, as in the genus _Grapta_. It lives upon elms, willows, and poplars.

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis in general appearance is not unlike the chrysalis of _Grapta_.

The genus is mainly restricted to the north temperate zone and the mountain regions of tropical lands adjacent thereto. The insects hibernate in the imago form, and are among the first b.u.t.terflies to take wing in the springtime.

(1) =Vanessa j-alb.u.m=, Boisduval and Leconte, Plate XIX, Fig. 9, ? (The Compton Tortoise).

_b.u.t.terfly._--No description is required, as the figure in the plate will enable it to be immediately recognized. On the under side of the wings it resembles in color the species of the genus _Grapta_, from which the straight edge of the inner margin of the primaries at once distinguishes it. It is a very close ally of the European _V.

vau-alb.u.m_. Expanse, 2.60-2.75 inches.

The caterpillar feeds upon various species of willow. It is a Northern form, being found in Pennsylvania upon the summits of the Alleghanies, and thence north to Labrador on the east and Alaska on the west. It is always a rather scarce insect.

(2) =Vanessa californica=, Boisduval, Plate XX, Fig. 11, ? (The California Tortoise-sh.e.l.l).

_b.u.t.terfly._--On the upper side deep fulvous, mottled with yellow, spotted and bordered with black. On the under side dark brown; pale on the outer half of the primaries, the entire surface marked with dark lines and fine striae. Expanse, 2.00-2.25 inches.

_Early Stages._--The larva and chrysalis have been described by Henry Edwards in the ”Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences,” vol.

v, p. 171. The caterpillar feeds upon _Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_.

This insect is a close ally of the European _V. xanthomelas_. It ranges from Colorado to California and as far north as Oregon.

+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XX | | | | 1. _Grapta satyrus_, Edwards, ?. | | 2. _Grapta satyrus_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 3. _Grapta progne_, Cramer, ?. | | 4. _Grapta progne_, Cramer, ?, | | _under side_. | | 5. _Grapta zephyrus_, Edwards, ?. | | 6. _Grapta zephyrus_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 7. _Junonia coenia_, Hubner, ?. | | 8. _Junonia lavinia_, Cramer, ?. | | 9. _Junonia genoveva_, Cramer, ?. | | 10. _Vanessa milberti_, G.o.dart, ?. | | 11. _Vanessa californica_, Boisduval, | | ?. | | 12. _Pyrameis caryae_, Hubner, ?. | | 13. _Anartia jatrophae_, Linnaeus, ?. | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE XX.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+

(3) =Vanessa milberti=, G.o.dart, Plate XX, Fig. 10, ?; Plate III, Fig. 36, _larva_; Plate IV, Figs. 43, 49, 50, _chrysalis_ (Milbert's Tortoise-sh.e.l.l).

_b.u.t.terfly._--Easily distinguished by the broad yellow submarginal band on both wings, shaded outwardly by red. It is nearly related to the European _V. urticae_. Expanse, 1.75 inch.

The life-history has been worked out and described by numerous writers.

The caterpillars feed upon the nettle (_Urtica_).

This pretty little fly ranges from the mountains of West Virginia northward to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, thence westward to the Pacific.

(4) =Vanessa antiopa=, Linnaeus, Plate I, Fig. 6, ?; Plate III, Fig. 28, _larva_; Plate IV, Figs. 51, 58, 59, _chrysalis_ (The Mourning-cloak; The Camberwell Beauty).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This familiar insect needs no description. It is well known to every boy in the north temperate zone. It is one of the commonest as well as one of the most beautiful species of the tribe. A rare aberration in which the yellow border invades the wing nearly to the middle, obliterating the blue spots, is sometimes found. The author has a fine example of this ”freak.”

The eggs are laid in cl.u.s.ters upon the twigs of the food-plant in spring (see p. 5, Fig. 11). There are at least two broods in the Northern States. The caterpillars feed on willows, elms, and various species of the genus _Populus_.

Genus PYRAMEIS, Doubleday