_b.u.t.terfly._--The upper side of the wings is dark brown. The under side is shown in the plate. Expanse, .90 inch.
_Early Stages._--Unknown.
This very pretty species is found in the extreme southern portions of Florida and the Antilles.
(25) =Thecla cecrops=, Hubner, Plate x.x.x, Fig. 7, ?; Plate XXIX, Fig.
18, ?, _under side_ (Cecrops).
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE x.x.x | | | | 1. _Thecla dumetorum_, Boisduval, ?. | | 2. _Thecla dumetorum_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 3. _Thecla affinis_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 4. _Thecla behri_, Edwards, ?. | | 5. _Thecla behri_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 6. _Thecla clytie_, Edwards, ?. | | 7. _Thecla cecrops_, Hubner, ?. | | 8. _Thecla nelsoni_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 9. _Thecla blenina_, Hewitson, ?, | | _under side_. (The figure is that of the | | type of _T. siva_, Edwards.) | | 10. _Thecla t.i.tus_, Fabricius, ?. | | 11. _Thecla niphon_, Hubner, ?. | | 12. _Thecla irus_, G.o.dart, ?. | | 13. _Thecla nelsoni_, Boisduval, ?. | | 14. _Thecla t.i.tus_, Fabricius, ?, | | _under side_. | | 15. _Thecla augustus_, Kirby, ?. | | 16. _Lycoena fuliginosa_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 17. _Thecla eryphon_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 18. _Thecla martialis_, ?, | | _under side_. | | 19. _Lycoena pseudargiolus_, Boisd.-Lec., | | var. _marginata_, Edwards, ?, _under side_. | | 20. _Lycoena pseudargiolus_, Boisd.-Lec., | | var. _lucia_, Kirby, ?, _under side_. | | 21. _Thecla henrici_, Grote and Robinson, ?. | | 22. _Thecla niphon_, Hubner, ?, | | _under side_. | | 23. _Lycoena couperi_, Grote, ?. | | 24. _Lycoena fulla_, Edwards, ?. | | 25. _Lycoena fulla_, Edwards, ?. | | 26. _Lycoena clara_, Henry Edwards, ?. | | 27. _Lycoena marina_, Reakirt, ?, | | _under side_. | | 28. _Lycoena doedalus_, Behr, ?, | | _under side_. | | 29. _Lycoena icarioides_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 30. _Lycoena enoptes_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 31. _Lycoena glaucon_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 32. _Lycoena pseudargiolus_, Boisd.-Lec., ?, | | _under side_. | | 33. _Lycoena isola_, Reakirt, ?, | | _under side_. (The figure is that of the type of | | _L. aloe_, Edwards.) | | 34. _Lycoena couperi_, Grote, ?, | | _under side_. | | 35. _Lycoena antiacis_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 36. _Lycoena antiacis_, Boisduval, ?. | | 37. _Lycoena pheres_, Boisduval, ?. | | 38. _Lycoena isola_, Reakirt, ?. | | 39. _Lycoena glaucon_, Edwards, ?. | | 40. _Lycoena aster_, Edwards, ?. | | 41. _Lycoena antiacis_, Boisduval, ?. | | 42. _Lycoena pheres_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 43. _Lycoena xerxes_, Boisduval, ?, | | _under side_. | | 44. _Lycoena sagittigera_, Felder, ?, | | _under side_. | | 45. _Lycoena ammon_, Lucas, ?, | | _under side_. | | 46. _Lycoena aster_, Edwards, ?. | | 47. _Lycoena aster_, Edwards, ?, | | _under side_. | | 48. _Lycoena scudderi_, Edwards, ?. | | 49. _Lycoena scudderi_, Edwards, ?. | | 50. _Lycoena lygdamas_, Doubleday, ?, | | _under side_. | | 51. _Lycoena enoptes_, Boisduval, ?. | | | | [Ill.u.s.tration PLATE x.x.x.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
_b.u.t.terfly._--Dark brown, glossed at the base of the wings and on the inner margin of the secondaries with blue. The under side is well delineated in the plate. Expanse, 1.00 inch.
_Early Stages._--These await description.
_Cecrops_ is common in the Southern States, and has been taken as far north as West Virginia, Kentucky, and southern Indiana.
(26) =Thecla clytie=, Edwards, Plate x.x.x, Fig. 6, ? (Clytie).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Blue above, with the apical two thirds of the fore wings black. The wings on the under side are white, with the usual marginal and transverse markings quite small and faint. Expanse, .90 inch.
_Early Stages._--Unknown.
Habitat, Texas and Arizona.
(27) =Thecla ines=, Edwards, Plate XXIX, Fig. 35, ? (Ines).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Much like the preceding species, but smaller, with the secondaries marked with blackish on the costa. On the under side the wings are slaty-gray, with numerous fine lines and a broad median dark shade on the hind wings, running from the costa to the middle of the wing. Expanse, .75 inch.
_Early Stages._--Unknown.
_Ines_ is found in Arizona.
(28) =Thecla behri=, Edwards, Plate x.x.x, Fig. 4, ?; Fig. 5, ?, _under side_ (Behr"s Hair-streak).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Both sides are well displayed in the plate, and therefore need no particular description. Expanse, 1.10 inch.
_Early Stages._--Unknown.
This species is found in northern California and Oregon, and eastward to Colorado.
(29) =Thecla augustus=, Kirby, Plate x.x.x, Fig. 15, ? (The Brown Elfin).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Brown on the upper side; paler on the under side. The fore wings are marked by a straight incomplete median band, and the hind wings by an irregularly curved median band or line. Back of these lines toward the base both wings are darker brown. Expanse, .90 inch.
_Early Stages._--These are not well known. Henry Edwards describes the caterpillar as "carmine-red, covered with very short hair, each segment involute above, with deep double foveae." The chrysalis is described by the same observer as being "pitchy-brown, covered with very short bristly hair, the wing-cases paler." The food-plant is unknown.
This species is boreal in its haunts, and is found in New England and northward and westward into the British possessions.
(30) =Thecla irus=, G.o.dart, Plate x.x.x, Fig. 12, ?; Plate V, Figs. 32-34, _chrysalis_ (The h.o.a.ry Elfin).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Grayish-brown on the upper side. The wings on the under side are of the same color, paler on the outer margins, and darker toward the base. The species is subject to considerable variation. The variety _arsace_, Boisduval, has the hind wings marked with reddish near the a.n.a.l angle, and the outer margin below marked with h.o.a.ry-purple. The usual small crescentic spots appear on the outer margin of the hind wings, or they may be absent. Expanse, 1.10 inch.
_Early Stages._--An epitome of all that is known is to be found in "The b.u.t.terflies of New England." The caterpillar feeds on young plums just after the leaves of the blossom have dropped away.
The species is rather rare, but has been found from the Atlantic to the Pacific in the lat.i.tude of New England.
(31) =Thecla henrici=, Grote and Robinson, Plate x.x.x, Fig. 21, ? (Henry"s Hair-streak).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Much like the preceding species on the upper side, but with the outer half of the wings broadly reddish-brown. The secondaries on the under side are broadly blackish-brown on the basal half, with the outer margin paler. The division between the dark and light shades is irregular and very sharply defined, often indicated by a more or less perfect irregularly curved median white line. Expanse, 1.00-1.10 inch.
_Early Stages._--These have been described by Edwards in the "American Naturalist," vol. xvi, p. 123. The habits of the larva are identical with those of the preceding species.
It occurs from Maine to West Virginia, but is rare.
(32) =Thecla eryphon=, Boisduval, Plate x.x.x, Fig. 17, ?, _under side_ (Eryphon).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Closely resembling the following species both on the upper and under side of the wings, but easily distinguished by the fact that, on the under side of the fore wings, the inner of the two dark bands on the outer third of the wing is not sharply angulated below the third median nervule, as in _T. niphon_, but is more even, and in general parallel with the submarginal line. Expanse, 1.15 inch.
_Early Stages._--These have not been described.
_Eryphon_ replaces the Eastern _T. niphon_ on the Pacific coast.
(33) =Thecla niphon=, Hubner, Plate x.x.x, Fig. 11, ?; Fig. 22, ?, _under side_; Plate V, Figs. 38, 40, _chrysalis_ (The Banded Elfin).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Reddish-brown on the upper side. The under side is accurately depicted in the plate. Expanse, 1.10 inch.
_Early Stages._--These have been elaborately described by Scudder in his great work. The caterpillars feed upon pine.
The Banded Elfin is found from Nova Scotia to Colorado, in the Northern States, where its food-plant occurs, but is never abundant.
[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 132.--Neuration of _Thecla niphon_, enlarged.
Typical of subgenus _Incisalia_, Minot.]
(34) =Thecla affinis=, Edwards, Plate x.x.x, Fig. 3, ?, _under side_ (The Green-winged Hair-streak).
_b.u.t.terfly._--On the upper side closely resembling the following species. On the under side the wings are uniformly bright green.
Expanse, 1.00 inch.
_Early Stages._--These await description.
The types came from Utah. I also have specimens from California.
(35) =Thecla dumetorum=, Boisduval, Plate x.x.x, Fig. 1, ?; Fig. 2, ?, _under side_ (The Green White-spotted Hair-streak).
_b.u.t.terfly._--Dark fawn-color above, sometimes tinged externally with reddish. On the under side both wings are green, the primaries having a short straight band of white spots on the outer third, and the secondaries a small white spot on the costa beyond the middle, and two or three conspicuous white spots near the a.n.a.l angle. Expanse, 1.10 inch.
_Early Stages._--The eggs are laid on the unopened flower-heads of _Hosackia argophylla_. This is all we know of the life-history.