Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/504

 498 BUTTERFLY flections. The P. Tumiu (Linn.), a common American species, somewhat resembles the P. Machaon of Europe ; the general color of the wings is yellow, bordered with black dotted with yellow, with five partial bands of black anteriorly ; on the lower wings are six yellow lunules in the black margin ; the anal angle ful- vous edged with white, with two or three green spots near it ; the body above is black, with a yellow lateral line; breast yellow, with two oblique lateral black lines. In the mountainous regions of Europe and Asia is found the genus Parnaisim (Latr.), the females of which have a horny boat-shaped pouch at the end of the ab- domen ; the caterpillars make a cocoon of leaves united by silken threads. A well known spe- cies in the Swiss valleys is the P. Apollo (Linn.), Parnassius Apollo. white spotted with black, with white eye-like spots, edged with red on the lower wings ; the caterpillar is velvety black, with a row of red spots on each side and one on the back. The genus Thais (Fabr.) is characteristic of the south of Europe. In the preceding genera the inter- nal margin of the lower wings is more or less concave ; in the genus pontia these are dilated beneath the abdomen so as to form a groove. The butterflies of this genus are found in vari- ous regions of the globe, and are commonly seen flitting over the fields and moist places, mounting high in the air when they meet a companion ; the caterpillar has no .protruding tentaculum on the neck, and the chrysalis is suspended by a thread passed across the body. The genus pontia includes the British cabbage butterflies, consisting of nine or ten species, of a white or yellow color and small size; the general color of the caterpillars is green, and they are very injurious to the vegetable gar- den. In Massachusetts there is a white but- terfly, P. oleracea (Harris), which hovers over tne cabbage, radish, and turnip beds about the last of May or beginning of June, for the purpose of depositing its eggs ; these are fast- ened, to the number of three or four on each leaf, to the under surface; they are hatched in a week or ten days, and the caterpillars attain their full size in three weeks, about 1J inch in length, and of a pale green color ; they devour every part of the leaf; the chrysa- lis state lasts about 11 days, so that the per- fect insects come out the latter part of July, and are ready to lay the eggs for another brood, the chrysalids of which survive the winter and come out in the following May. These butter- flies fly low and lazily when about to deposit their eggs, and are easily caught in large num- bers by a muslin net ; the titmouse and other insect-eating birds devour the caterpillars with avidity. Among the four-footed butterflies, one of the largest and handsomest genera is Danais (Latr.), including the Fabrician genera ofei/ploia and idea, in which the antennae are terminated by a club, the inferior wings rounded and not forming a groove for the abdomen, and the up- per wings more or less triangular. D. plexip- pu (Linn.), a common and large North Ameri- can species, is of a fulvous yellow color, with dilated black veins, black margin dotted with white; especially in the superior angle of the upper wings; body black, with numerous white dots on the trunk; the larva is ringed with black and white, with two slender processes on the anterior and two on the posterior part of the body ; the chrysalis is of a delicate green color, with golden dots; it feeds on different species of asclepias, and is abundant in the mid- dle and southern states. In the genus argynnii (Latr.), the anterior feet are short and feeble, the under surface of the lower wings is often decorated with silvery and opaline spots, or yellow ones upon a fulvous ground, and the upper surface varied with red or orange, with spots or lines of black or brown ; the caterpil- lars are beset with spines. In England, where there are several species, these butterflies are called fritillaries. The A. Diana (Cramer), of the southern states, though not one of the handsomest of the genus, is yet pretty from the contrast of the blackish and pale orange of its upper surface, and from the slender silvery lines of the under surface of the lower wings ; its general color above is a dark brown, with a very broad fulvous exterior margin, with a few blackish spots and nervures. The genus meli- ttea was separated from the last by Fabricius, and is distinguished principally by the yellow spots and checkered appearance of the under surface of the lower wings, and by the larva, which is pubescent, with small fleshy tubercles on the body, which is not armed with spines. The M. myrina (Cramer) is a pretty little spe- cies found from Massachusetts to Florida, some- what resembling the M. selene of Europe ; the wings are fulvous, with black spots and undu- lating lines ; below there are more than 30 sil- very spots, and an eye-like spot near the base of the inferior ones. In the genus Vanessa (Fabr.), the knobs of the antennss are short and broad; the palpi are long, curving, and contiguous, and form a kind of beak ; the wings are jagged or tailed on the posterior edges; the under side of the lower wings is often marked with a golden or silvery character in the mid- dle ; the caterpillars are armed with numerous spines, often live in company, and do not con- ceal themselves under a web or within a folded