_Egg._--Globular, flattened at the base, marked with irregular polygonal cells.
_Caterpillar._--The head is large, rounded, the two halves produced conically and studded with little conical papillae. The last segment of the body is bifurcate.
_Chrysalis._--Relatively long, strongly produced at the vertex; elevated on the thorax into a blunt tubercular prominence; green in color.
This genus, which has by some writers been sunk into the genus _Euptychia_, Hubner, is quite extensive. Nearly two hundred species are included in _Euptychia_, which is enormously developed in the tropical regions of the New World. Seven species of _Neonympha_ are found within the region of which this book treats.
(1) =Neonympha gemma=, Hubner, Plate XXV, Fig. 2, ?, _under side_ (The Gemmed Brown).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Upon the upper side the wings are pale mouse-gray, with a couple of twinned black spots on the outer margin of the hind wings. On the under side the wings are reddish-gray, marked with irregular ferruginous lines. Near the outer margin of the hind wings is a row of silvered spots, the spots corresponding in location to the dark marginal spots being expanded into a violet patch marked in the middle by a twinned black spot centered with silver. Expanse, 1.25-1.35 inch.
_Early Stages._--These have been beautifully described and figured by Edwards in the third volume of "The b.u.t.terflies of North America."
The egg is somewhat globular, rather higher than wide, flattened at the base, and marked with numerous shallow reticulated depressions. The caterpillar of the spring brood is pale green, of the fall brood pale brown, marked respectively with numerous longitudinal stripes of darker green or brown. It has two long, elevated, horn-like projections upon the head, and on the a.n.a.l segment two similar projections pointing straight backward. The chrysalis is small, green, or brown, strongly bifid at the head. The caterpillar feeds on gra.s.ses.
The insect ranges from West Virginia to Mexico.
(2) =Neonympha henshawi=, Edwards, Plate XXV, Fig. 8, ? (Henshaw"s Brown).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Much like _N. gemma_, but considerably larger and decidedly reddish upon the upper side of the wings. Expanse, 1.65 inch.
_Early Stages._--Mr. Edwards has figured the egg, which is different in shape from that of the preceding species, being broader than high, subglobular, flattened broadly at the base, green in color, and almost devoid of sculpturings upon its surface. Of the other stages we know nothing.
Henshaw"s b.u.t.terfly ranges through southern Colorado into Mexico.
(3) =Neonympha phocion=, Fabricius, Plate XXV, Fig. 7, ?, _under side_; Plate III, Fig. 8, _larva_; Plate IV, Figs. 10 and 11 (The Georgian Satyr).
_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side is immaculate gray; beneath pale, with two ferruginous transverse lines. Between these lines is a ferruginous line on each wing, rudely describing a circle. In the circle on the fore wing are three or four eye-spots with a blue pupil and a yellow iris; in the circle on the hind wing are six eye-spots which are oblong and have the pupil oval. Expanse, 1.25 inch.
_Early Stages._--These have been fully described, and are not unlike those of other species of the genus. The caterpillar feeds on gra.s.ses.
The insect ranges from New Jersey to the Gulf of Mexico as far west as Texas.
(4) =Neonympha eurytus=, Fabricius, Plate XXV, Fig. 4, ?; Plate III, Figs. 3, 6, 10, 13, 14, _larva_; Plate IV, Fig. 28, _chrysalis_ (The Little Wood-satyr).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Easily distinguished from other species in our fauna by the presence of two more or less perfectly developed ocelli on the upper side of the fore wing and also of the hind wing. Expanse, 1.75 inch.
_Early Stages._--This is a rather common b.u.t.terfly, the larval stages of which have been fully described by various authors. The egg is even taller in proportion to its breadth than that of _N. gemma_, which it otherwise closely resembles in outline and sculpturing. The caterpillar is pale brown, conformed in general form to that of other species of the genus, but somewhat stouter. It feeds on gra.s.ses. The chrysalis is pale brown, mottled with darker brown.
The insect ranges through Canada and the United States to Nebraska, Kansas, and Texas.
(5) =Neonympha mitch.e.l.li=, French, Plate XXV, Fig. 6, ?, _under side_ (Mitch.e.l.l"s Satyr).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Easily distinguished from the other species of the genus by the eye-spots on the under side of the wings, four on each of the primaries and six on each of the secondaries, arranged in a straight series on the outer third, well removed from the margin. These spots are black, ringed about with yellow and pupiled with blue.
_Early Stages._--Unknown.
The species is local, and thus far is recorded only from northern New Jersey, near Lake Hopatcong, and the State of Michigan. No doubt it occurs elsewhere, but has been overlooked by collectors.
(6) =Neonympha sosybius=, Fabricius, Plate XXV, Fig. 5, ?, _under side_ (The Carolinian Satyr).
_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper surface is immaculate dark mouse-gray. On the under side the wings are paler, with three transverse undulatory lines, one defining the basal, the other the median area, and one just within the margin. Between the last two are rows of ocelli. The spots in these rows are obscure, except the first on the primaries and the second and last two on the secondaries, which are black, ringed about with yellow and pupiled with blue.
The female is like the male, but a trifle larger.
_Early Stages._--These have been described by Edwards, French, and Scudder, and do not differ strikingly from those of other species.
The species ranges from the lat.i.tude of New Jersey southward, throughout the southern half of the Mississippi Valley to Mexico and Central America.
(7) =Neonympha rubricata=, Edwards, Plate XXV, Fig. 3, ? (The Red Satyr).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Easily distinguished by its much redder color from all its congeners, among which it has its closest ally in _N. eurytus_. It has an eye-spot near the apex of the fore wing, and one near the a.n.a.l angle of the hind wing. The basal area of the primaries beneath is bright reddish; the secondaries on this side are gray, crossed by two transverse lines as in the preceding species, and a double submarginal line. On the fore wings the double submarginal line is repeated, and in addition there is another line which runs upward from just before the inner angle to the costa, at about one third of its length from the apex. The eye-spots of the upper side reappear below, and in addition there is another near the outer angle of the secondaries, and a few silvery well-defined ocelli between the two on the secondaries.
_Early Stages._--Unknown.
The Red Satyr is found in Texas, Arizona, Mexico, and Central America.
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XXV | | | | 1. _Satyrodes canthus_, Boisd.-Lec., | | ?. | | 2. _Neonympha gemma_, Hubner, ?, | | _under side_. | | 3. _Neonympha rubricata_, Edwards, ?. | | 4. _Neonympha eurytus_, Fabricius, ?. | | 5. _Neonympha sosybius_, Fabricius, ?, | | _under side_. | | 6. _Neonympha mitch.e.l.li_, French, ?, | | _under side_. | | 7. _Neonympha phocion_, Fabricius, ?, | | _under side_. | | 8. _Neonympha henshawi_, Edwards, ?. | | 9. _Coenonympha california_, Dbl.-Hew., | | var. _galactinus_, Boisd., ?. | | 10. _Coenonympha california_, Dbl.-Hew., | | var. _eryngii_, Henry Edwards, ?. | | 11. _Coenonympha ochracea_, Edwards, ?. | | 12. _Coenonympha ochracea_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 13. _Coenonympha inornata_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 14. _Coenonympha california_, Dbl.-Hew., | | ?. | | 15. _Neominois ridingsii_, Edwards, ?. | | 16. _Neominois dionysius_, Scudder, ?. | | 17. _Erebia magdalena_, Strecker, ?. | | 18. _Erebia sofia_, Strecker, _ethela_, | | Edwards, ?. | | 19. _Erebia discoidalis_, Kirby, ?. | | 20. _Erebia tyndarus_, var. _callias_, | | Edwards, ?. | | 21. _Coenonympha ampelos_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 22. _Coenonympha kodiak_, Edwards, ?. | | 23. _Erebia disa_, var. _mancinus_, | | Dbl.-Hew., ?. | | 24. _Coenonympha haydeni_, Edwards, ?. | | 25. _Coenonympha elko_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 26. _Coenonympha elko_, Edwards, ?. | | 27. _Coenonympha pamphiloides_, Reakirt, | | ?. | | 28. _Erebia epipsodea_, Butler, ?. | | 29. _Coenonympha inornata_, Edwards, ?. | | 30. _Coenonympha ampelos_, Edwards, ?. | | 31. _Coenonympha pamphiloides_, Reakirt, | | ?. | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE XXV.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
Genus COENONYMPHA, Westwood
(The Ringlets)
"There is a differency between a grub and a b.u.t.terfly; yet your b.u.t.terfly was a grub."--SHAKESPEARE.
_b.u.t.terfly._--Small b.u.t.terflies. The costal, median, and submedian veins are all strongly swollen. The palpi are very heavily clothed with hairs, the last joint quite long and porrect. The antennae are short, delicate, gradually but distinctly clubbed. The eyes are naked. Both wings on the outer margin are evenly rounded.
_Egg._--The egg is conical, truncated, flat on the top, rounded at the base, with the sides marked with numerous low, narrow ribs, between which are slight cross-lines, especially toward the apex.
_Caterpillar._--The head is globular; the body is cylindrical, tapering gradually backward, furnished in the last segment with two small horizontal cone-shaped projections.
[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 117.--Neuration of the genus _Coenonympha_.]
_Chrysalis._--Ventrally straight, dorsally convex, strongly produced in a rounded, somewhat keeled eminence over the thorax; pointed at the end.
Generally green or light drab in color, with dark markings on the sides of the wing-cases.
This genus is distributed throughout the temperate regions both of the Old and the New World, and includes in our fauna a number of forms, the most of which are peculiar to the Pacific coast.
(1) =Coenonympha california=, Doubleday and Hewitson, Plate XXV, Fig.
14, ?; form =galactinus=, Boisduval, Plate XXV, Fig. 9, ?; form =eryngii=, Henry Edwards, Plate XXV, Fig. 10, ? (The California Ringlet).
_b.u.t.terfly._--This little species is to be distinguished from its near allies by its white color. The form _galactinus_ is the winter form; the form _california_ the summer form. The former is characterized by the darker color of the hind wings on the under side and the more prominent development of the marginal ocelli. The form _eryngii_ is simply a yellower form, with less dark shading on the under side.
_Early Stages._--These have been most carefully and beautifully worked out by Edwards, and the reader, for a full knowledge of them, may consult the splendid plate in "The b.u.t.terflies of North America," vol.
iii.