"July is the gala-time of b.u.t.terflies. Most of them have just left the chrysalis, and their wings are perfect and very fresh in color.
All the sunny places are bright with them, yellow and red and white and brown, and great gorgeous fellows in rich velvet-like dresses of blue-black, orange, green, and maroon. Some of them have their wings scalloped, some fringed, and some plain; and they are ornamented with brilliant borders and fawn-colored spots and rows of silver crescents.... They circle about the flowers, fly across from field to field, and rise swiftly in the air; little ones and big ones, common ones and rare ones, but all bright and airy and joyous--a midsummer carnival of b.u.t.terflies."--FRANK H. SWEET.
_b.u.t.terfly._--b.u.t.terflies of medium or large size, generally with the upper surface of the wings reddish-fulvous, with well-defined black markings consisting of waved transverse lines, and rounded discal and sagittate black markings near the outer borders. On the under side of the wings the design of the fore wings is generally somewhat indistinctly repeated, and the hind wings are marked more or less profusely with large silvery spots. In a few cases there is wide dissimilarity in color between the male and the female s.e.x; generally the male s.e.x is marked by the brighter red of the upper surface, and the female by the broader black markings, the paler ground-color, and the sometimes almost white lunules, which are arranged outwardly at the base of the sagittate spots along the border.
[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 89.--Neuration of the genus _Argynnis_.]
The eyes are naked; the palpi strongly developed, heavily clothed with hair rising above the front, with the last joint very small and pointed.
The antennae are moderately long, with a well-defined, flattened club.
The abdomen is shorter than the hind wings; the wings are more or less denticulate. The subcostal vein is provided with five nervules, of which the two innermost are invariably given forth before the end of the cell; the third subcostal nervule always is nearer the fourth than the second.
The cell of the fore wing is closed by a fine lower discocellular vein, which invariably joins the median vein beyond the origin of the second nervule. The hind wing has a well-defined precostal nervule; the cell in this wing is closed by a moderately thick lower discocellular vein, which joins the median exactly at the origin of the second median nervule. The fore feet of the males are slender, long, and finely clothed with hair. The fore feet of the females are of the same size as those of the males, but thin, covered with scales, and only on the inner side of the tibiae clothed with moderately long hair.
_Egg._--The eggs are conoidal, truncated, and inwardly depressed at the apex, rounded at the base, and ornamented on the sides by parallel raised ridges, not all of which reach the apex. Between these ridges there are a number of small raised cross-ridges.
_Caterpillar._--The caterpillar is cylindrical, covered with spines, the first segment always bearing a pair of spines somewhat longer than the others. All of the species in North America, so far as their habits are known, feed upon violets at night. During the daytime the caterpillars lie concealed.
_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is angular, adorned with more or less prominent projections. The head is bifid.
The genus _Argynnis_ is one of the largest genera of the brush-footed b.u.t.terflies. It is well represented in Europe and in the temperate regions of Asia, some magnificent species being found in the Himalayas and in China and j.a.pan. It even extends to Australia, and recently two species have been discovered in the vicinity of the great volcanic peak, Kilima-Njaro, in Africa. But it has found its greatest development upon the continent of North America. The species composing this genus are among our most beautiful b.u.t.terflies. Owing to the fact that there is a great tendency in many of the forms closely to approximate one another, the accurate distinction of many of the species has troubled naturalists, and it is quite probable that some of the so-called species will ultimately be discovered to be merely local races or varietal forms. The species that are found in the eastern part of the United States have been studied very carefully, and their life-history has been worked out so thoroughly that little difficulty is found in accurately determining them. The greatest perplexity occurs in connection with those species which are found in the region of the Rocky Mountains.
While silvery spots are characteristic of the under side of most of the fritillaries, in some species the silvery spots are not found; in others they are more or less evanescent, occurring in the case of some individuals, and being absent in the case of others.
(1) =Argynnis idalia=, Drury, Plate X, Fig. 3, ?; Plate V, Fig. 4, _chrysalis_ (The Regal Fritillary).
_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the fore wings of the male is bright fulvous, marked very much as in other species of the genus. The upper side of the hind wings is black, glossed with blue, having a marginal row of fulvous and a submarginal row of cream-colored spots. On the under side the fore wings are fulvous, with a marginal row of silver crescents, and some silvery spots on and near the costa. The hind wings are dark olive-brown, marked with three rows of large irregular spots of a dull greenish-silvery color. The female is at once distinguished from the male by having the marginal row of spots on the hind wings cream-colored, like the submarginal row, and by the presence of a similar row of light spots on the fore wings. Expanse, 2.75-4.00 inches.
_Egg._--The egg in form is like those of other species of _Argynnis_.
_Caterpillar._--The caterpillar moults five times before attaining to maturity. When fully developed it is 1.75 inches long, black, banded and striped with ochreous and orange-red, and adorned with six rows of fleshy spines surmounted by several black bristles. The spines composing the two dorsal rows are white, tipped with black; those on the sides black, tinted with orange at the point where they join the body. The caterpillar feeds on violets, and is nocturnal in its habits.
_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is brown, mottled with yellow and tinted on the wing-cases with pinkish. It is about an inch long, and in outline does not depart from the other species of the genus.
This exceedingly beautiful insect ranges from Maine to Nebraska. It is found in northern New Jersey, the mountainous parts of New York and northern Pennsylvania, and is reported from Arkansas and Nebraska. It is rather local, and frequents open spots on the borders of woodlands. At times it is apparently common, and then for a succession of seasons is scarce. It flies from the end of June to the beginning of September.
(2) =Argynnis diana=, Cramer, Plate IX, Fig. 1, ?; Fig. 2, ? (Diana).
_b.u.t.terfly._--The male on the upper side has both wings deep rich brown, bordered with fulvous, this border being more or less interrupted by rays of brown along the nervules and two rows of circular brown spots, larger on the fore wings than on the hind wings. The wings on the under side are pale buff, deeply marked with black on the base and middle of the fore wings, and clouded with grayish-fulvous on the inner two thirds of the hind wings. A blue spot is located near the end of the cell in the fore wings, and the hind wings are adorned by a marginal and submarginal row of narrow silvery crescents and a few silvery spots toward the base. The female on the upper side is a rich bluish-black, with the outer border of the fore wings marked by three rows of bluish-white quadrate spots, the outer row being the palest, and often quite white. The hind wings are adorned by three more or less complete rows of bright-blue spots, the inner row composed of large subquadrate spots, each having a circular spot of black at its inner extremity. On the under side the female has the ground-color slaty-brown, paler on the hind wings than on the fore wings, which latter are richly marked with blue and black spots. The silvery crescents found on the under side of the hind wings of the male reappear on the under side of the female, and are most conspicuous on the outer margins. Expanse, 3.25-4.00 inches.
_Egg._--The egg is pale greenish-white, and conformed in outline to type.
_Caterpillar._--The larva is velvety-black, adorned with six rows of fleshy spines armed with bristles. The spines are orange-red at the base. The head is dull brown.
_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is dusky-brown, with lighter-colored short projections on the dorsal side.
This splendid b.u.t.terfly, which is the most magnificent species of the genus, is confined to the southern portion of the Appalachian region, occurring in the two Virginias and Carolinas, northern Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and being occasionally found in the southern portion of Ohio and Indiana, and in Missouri and Arkansas.
(3) =Argynnis nokomis=, Edwards, Plate X, Fig. 1, ?; Fig. 2, ?
(Nokomis).
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE X | | | | | | 1. _Argynnis nokomis_, Edwards, ?. | | 2. _Argynnis nokomis_, Edwards, ?. | | 3. _Argynnis idalia_, Drury, ?. | | 4 _Argynnis nevadensis_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 5. _Argynnis montivaga_, Behr, ?, | | _under side_. | | 6. _Argynnis alcestis_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 7. _Argynnis bremneri_, Edwards, ?. | | 8. _Argynnis electa_, Edwards, ?. | | 9. _Argynnis atlantis_, Edwards, ?. | | | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE X.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
_b.u.t.terfly._--The male on the upper side is bright fulvous, with the characteristic black markings of the genus. On the under side the wings are pale greenish-yellow, with the fore wings laved with bright pink at the base and on the inner margin. The spots of the upper side reappear on the under side as spots of silver bordered narrowly with black. The female has the ground-color of the upper side yellow, shaded outwardly with fulvous. All the dark markings of the male s.e.x reappear in this s.e.x, but are much broader, and tend to fuse and run into one another, so as to leave the yellow ground-color as small subquadrate or circular spots, and wholly to obliterate them at the base of the wings.
On the under side this s.e.x is marked like the male, but with all the markings broader. Expanse, 3.40-3.60 inches.
This species, the male of which resembles the male of _A. leto_, and the female the same s.e.x of _A. diana_, is as yet quite rare in collections.
It has been taken in Arizona and southern Utah. We have no knowledge of the life-history of the species.
(4) =Argynnis nitocris=, Edwards, Plate XIII, Fig. 4, ?, _under side_ (Nitocris).
_b.u.t.terfly._--The male is bright reddish-fulvous, marked like _A.
nokomis_. The under side of the fore wings is cinnamon-red, ochre-yellow at the tip. The hind wings are deep rusty-red, with a broad yellowish-red submarginal belt. The silver spots are as in _A. nokomis_.
The female on the upper side is blackish-brown, darker than _A.
nokomis_. The extradiscal spots in the transverse rows are pale yellow, and the submarginal spots whitish. The under side of the fore wings is bright red, with the tip yellow. The hind wings on this side are dark brown, with a submarginal yellow belt. Expanse, 3.25-3.75 inches.
This species, like the preceding, is from Arizona, and nothing is known of its egg, caterpillar, or chrysalis.
(5) =Argynnis leto=, Edwards, Plate IX, Fig. 5, ?; Fig. 6, ? (Leto).
_b.u.t.terfly._--The male on the upper side is marked much as _A. nokomis_, but the ground-color is duller red, and the basal area is much darker.
The under side of the fore wings is pale fulvous, upon which the markings of the upper side reappear; but there are no marginal silver crescents. Both wings on the under side are shaded with brown toward the base; the hind wings are traversed by a submarginal band of light straw-yellow. The female is marked as the male, but the ground-color is pale straw-yellow, and all the darker markings are deep blackish-brown, those at the base of both wings being broad and running into one another, so that the inner half of the wings appears to be broadly brownish-black. On the under side this s.e.x is marked as the male, but with the dark portions blacker and the lighter portions pale yellow.
Expanse, 2.50-3.25 inches.
The life-history of this insect remains to be worked out. It is one of our most beautiful species, and occurs in California and Oregon.
(6) =Argynnis cybele=, Fabricius, Plate IX, Fig. 3, ?; Fig. 4, ?; Plate XIII, Fig. 1, ?, under side; Plate V, Figs. 1-3, _chrysalis_ (The Great Spangled Fritillary).
_b.u.t.terfly._--The male is much like the male of _A. leto_, but the dark markings of the upper surface are heavier, and the under sides of the hind wings are more heavily silvered. The yellowish-buff submarginal band on the under side of the hind wings is never obliterated by being invaded by the darker ferruginous of the marginal and discal tracts of the wing. The female has the ground-color of the wings paler than the male, and both wings from the base to the angled median band on the upper side are dark chocolate-brown. All the markings of the upper side in this s.e.x are heavier than in the male. On the under side the female is like the male. Expanse, 3.00-4.00 inches.
_Egg._--Short, conoidal, ribbed like those of other species, and honey-yellow.
_Caterpillar._--The larva in the mature state is black. The head is blackish, shaded with chestnut behind. The body is ornamented with six rows of shining black branching spines, generally marked with orange-red at their base. The caterpillar, which is nocturnal, feeds on violets, hibernating immediately after being hatched from the egg, and feeding to maturity in the following spring.
_Chrysalis._-The chrysalis is dark brown, mottled with reddish-brown or slaty-gray.
This species, which ranges over the Atlantic States and the valley of the Mississippi as far as the plains of Nebraska, appears to be single-brooded in the North and double-brooded in Virginia, the Carolinas, and the Western States having the same geographical lat.i.tude.
A small variety of this species, called _A. carpenteri_ by Mr. W.H.
Edwards, is found in New Mexico upon the top of Taos Peak, and is believed to be isolated here in a colony, as _OEneis semidea_ is isolated upon the summit of Mount Washington. Specimens of _cybele_ much like those of this New Mexican variety are found in eastern Maine and Nova Scotia, and on the high mountains of North Carolina.
(7) =Argynnis aphrodite=, Fabricius, Plate XIV, Fig. 11, ?, _under side_; Plate V, Fig. 5, _chrysalis_ (Aphrodite).
_b.u.t.terfly._--This species closely resembles _cybele_, but is generally smaller, and the yellow submarginal band on the hind wings is narrower than in _cybele_, and often wholly wanting, the hind wings being broadly brown, particularly in the female s.e.x. The under side of the fore wings at the base and on the inner margin is also brighter red.
The caterpillar, chrysalis, and egg of this species closely resemble those of _cybele_. The caterpillar has, however, a velvety-black spot at the base of each spine, the chrysalis has the tubercles on the back shorter than in _cybele_, and the basal segments are party-colored, and not uniformly colored as in _cybele_.
(8) =Argynnis cipris=, Edwards, Plate XII, Fig. 3, ?; Fig. 4, ?
(The New Mexican Silver-spot).
_b.u.t.terfly._--This species, which belongs to the Aphrodite-group, may be distinguished by the fact that the fore wings are relatively longer and narrower than in _aphrodite_. The black markings on the upper side of the wings in both s.e.xes are narrower, the dusky clouding at the base of the wings is less p.r.o.nounced, and the ground-color is brighter reddish-fulvous than in _aphrodite_. On the under side the fore wings lack in the male the pinkish shade at the base and on the inner margin which appears in _aphrodite_, and both the male and the female have the inner two thirds of the hind wings deep cinnamon-red, with only a very narrow buff submarginal band, deeply invaded on the side of the base by rays of the deeper brown color of the inner portion of the wing.
Expanse, 2.75-3.15 inches. The insect flies from late June to the end of August.
_Caterpillar, etc._--We know nothing of the larval stages of this insect. The specimens contained in the Edwards collection came from Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico, and these localities approximately represent the range of the species.