The Butterfly Book: A Popular Guide to a Knowledge of the Butterflies of North AmericaHolland, W. J. (William Jacob)
Science
The Butterfly Book: A Popular Guide to a Knowledge of the Butterflies of North America
Holland, W. J. (William Jacob)
Butterflies -- North America
_Caterpillar._--The life-history in all the stages will be found
minutely described by Edwards in "The Butterflies of North America,"
vol. ii, and by Scudder in "The Butterflies of New England," vol. i. The
mature larva is black, banded with orange-red, and beset with short,
bristly, black spines. Before and during hibernation, which takes place
after the third moult, the caterpillars are gregarious, and construct
for themselves a web in which they pass the winter. After the rigors of
winter are past, and the food-plant, which is commonly _Chelone glabra_,
begins to send up fresh shoots, they recover animation, scatter, and
fall to feeding again, and after the fifth moult reach maturity.
_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is pendant, formed generally at a
considerable distance from the spot where the caterpillar feeds, for the
larvæ wander off widely just before pupation. It is pearly-gray,
blotched with dark brown in stripes and spots, with some orange
markings.
This very beautiful butterfly is quite local, found in colonies in
swampy places where the food-plant grows, but in these spots sometimes
appearing in swarms. It occurs in the northern portions of the United
States and in Canada, extending as far north as the Lake of the Woods,
and as far south as West Virginia. It does not occur west of the Rocky
Mountains.
(2) =Melitæa chalcedon=, Doubleday and Hewitson, Plate XVI, Fig. 2, ♂
(Chalcedon).
_Butterfly._--The male and female are much alike. The wings are black,
spotted with red and ochreous-yellow. On the under side they are
brick-red, with the spots of the upper side repeated, and in addition at
the base a number of large and distinct yellow spots. Expanse, ♂,
1.75-2.00 inches; ♀, 2.50 inches.
_Early Stages._--For a knowledge of these the reader may consult
Edwards, "The Butterflies of North America," vol. i, and "Papilio," vol.
iv, p. 63; Wright, "Papilio," vol. iii, p. 123, and other authorities.
The egg is pale yellowish when first laid, pitted at the base, and
ribbed vertically above. The caterpillar is black, with the bristling
processes on the segments longer than in the preceding species. The
chrysalis is pale gray, blotched with brown. The food-plants are
_Mimulus_ and _Castileja_.
This very pretty species is apparently quite common in northern
California about Mount Shasta. It is subject to variation, and I possess
a dozen remarkable aberrations, in one of which the fore wings are solid
black without spots, and the hind wings marked by only one central band
of large yellow spots; another representing the opposite color extreme,
in which yellow has almost wholly replaced the black and red. The
majority of these aberrant forms are females. They are very striking.
(3) =Melitæa macglashani=, Rivers, Plate XVI, Fig. 3, ♂ (Macglashan's
Checker-spot).
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