The Butterfly Book

Chapter 51

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Genus CATOPSILIA, Hubner

(The Great Sulphurs)

"A golden b.u.t.terfly, upon whose wings There must be surely character"d strange things,

Onward it flew, ... then high it soar"d, And downward suddenly began to dip, As if, athirst with so much toil, "t would sip The crystal spout-head; so it did, with touch Most delicate, as though afraid to s.m.u.tch Even with mealy gold the waters clear."

KEATS, _Endymion_.

_b.u.t.terfly._--Large b.u.t.terflies, brilliant lemon-yellow or orange-yellow, marked with a few darker spots and with a narrow band of brown, especially in the female s.e.x, on the outer margin of the primaries. They are very quick and vigorous in flight, more so than is the case in any of the preceding genera.

_Egg._--The eggs are spindle-shaped, flat at the base, and acutely pointed, with a few longitudinal ribs and a mult.i.tude of delicate cross-lines.

_Caterpillar._--The caterpillar is relatively long, with the head small; the segments somewhat moniliform, resembling beads strung together, the surface covered with a mult.i.tude of minute papillae ranged in transverse rows.

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is strongly concave on the dorsal side, with the head greatly produced as a long, pointed, conical projection; the wing-cases are compressed and form a very wide, keel-shaped projection on the ventral side. This peculiar formation of the wing-cases reaches its greatest development in this genus.

The b.u.t.terflies of this genus are mainly tropical. Four or five species, however, are found in the warmer parts of the United States, and one of them ranges north as far as northern New Jersey, and has been occasionally taken even in northern Illinois.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 144.--Neuration of the genus _Catopsilia_.]

(1) =Catopsilia eubule=, Linnaeus, Plate x.x.xIII, Fig. 2, ?; Fig. 3, ?, _under side_; Plate II, Figs. 2, 4, _larva_; Plate V, Figs. 60-62, _chrysalis_ (The Cloudless Sulphur).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This splendid and vigorous b.u.t.terfly is found from New England and Wisconsin to Patagonia, being very abundant in the tropics, where it congregates in great swarms upon moist places by the side of streams. It haunts in great numbers the orange-groves of the South, and is very fond of flowers. It is rare on the northern limits of its range, though quite common on the coast of New Jersey. Expanse, 2.50 inches.

The caterpillar feeds on leguminous plants, but especially upon the different species of _Ca.s.sia_.

(2) =Catopsilia philea=, Linnaeus, Plate x.x.xIII, Fig. 4, ? (The Red-barred Sulphur).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This is another n.o.ble species of this fine genus, which includes some of the showiest insects of the subfamily. It may be readily recognized by the bar of deep orange crossing the cell of the primaries, and by the orange tint on the outer margin of the hind wings.

Expanse, 3.00-3.50 inches.

_Early Stages._--But little is as yet known of these. The larva feeds on the same kinds of plants as the larva of _C. eubule_. It occurs in Texas, and is said to have also been found in Illinois as a straggler.

It is abundant in Mexico, Central America, and southward.

(3) =Catopsilia agarithe=, Boisduval, Plate x.x.xIII, Fig. 1, ? (The Large Orange Sulphur).

_b.u.t.terfly._--About the same size as _C. eubule_, but deep orange on both sides of the wings. The wings of the female are bordered somewhat heavily with brown, and are duller in color than those of the male.

Expanse, 2.50-2.75 inches.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar, which resembles that of _eubule_, feeds upon various species of _Ca.s.sia_. The chrysalis is also much like that of =eubule=. We need, however, fuller information than that which we possess, drawn, for the most part, from the pages of authors who wrote in the last century.

The species occurs in the hot parts of the Gulf States, and is common throughout tropical America.

Genus KRICOGONIA, Reakirt

_b.u.t.terfly._--Medium sized, bright yellow on the upper and lower sides, with some dark markings, especially in the male. The primaries in the male are generally quite strongly falcate.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 145.--Neuration of the genus _Kricogonia_.]

_Early Stages._--Nothing has, as yet, been satisfactorily ascertained in relation to these.

The genus is not large, and is confined to the tropical regions of the New World, being represented in our fauna in the vicinity of the city of Brownsville, in Texas.

(1) =Kricogonia lyside=, G.o.dart (form =terissa=, Lucas), Plate x.x.xIV, Fig.

20, ?; Fig. 21, ? (Lyside).

_b.u.t.terfly._--This insect, which may easily be distinguished from all its allies by its peculiar markings, is found in Florida and Texas, and is widely spread over the Antilles and tropical America. We know nothing of its life-history. A number of closely allied forms, reckoned as species, are known from the Antilles and Central America. They are so closely related to each other that it is believed that they are possibly only varieties or local races. We cannot, however, be sure of this until the test of breeding has been applied. Expanse, 1.90-2.10 inches.

Genus MEGANOSTOMA, Reakirt

(The Dog-face b.u.t.terflies)

"Let me smell the wild white rose, Smell the woodbine and the may; Mark, upon a sunny day, Sated from their blossoms rise, Honey-bees and b.u.t.terflies."

JEAN INGELOW.

_b.u.t.terfly._--Closely resembling those of the following genus, _Colias_, from which they may be readily distinguished by the more acutely pointed apex of the fore wings and by the remarkable coloration of these wings in the male s.e.x, the dark outer borders being disposed upon the lighter ground-color so as to present the appearance of a rude outline of the head of a dog, whence these b.u.t.terflies have sometimes been called the "dog-face b.u.t.terflies."

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 146.--Neuration of the genus _Meganostoma_.]

_Egg._--Fusiform, strongly pointed at the apex, broader at the base, the sides marked with a few delicate ridges, between which are numerous cross-lines.

_Caterpillar._--Elongate, cylindrical, the head relatively small, striped on either side by a whitish lateral line, each segment having a transverse darker line. They feed upon leguminous plants.

_Chrysalis._--Pointed at the head, convex on the abdominal segments on the dorsal side, with a decided hump on the thorax. The wing-covers unite to form a moderately deep carinate, or keel-shaped, projection on the ventral side, not, however, nearly as large as in the genus _Catopsilia_.

But two species of the genus are found within our fauna, one widely distributed throughout the Southern and Southwestern States, the other confined to the Pacific coast.

(1) =Meganostoma eurydice=, Boisduval, Plate x.x.xVI, Fig. 1, ?; Fig. 2, ? (The Californian Dog-face).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The splendid purplish iridescence of the fore wings of the male is only faintly indicated in the plate. This beautiful insect is peculiar to the Pacific coast, and there is a wide difference in appearance between the s.e.xes. Expanse, 1.80-2.00 inches.

_Early Stages._--The caterpillar feeds upon _Amorpha californica_. The life-history has been accurately described, and the various stages depicted, by Edwards.

(2) =Meganostoma caesonia=, Stoll, Plate x.x.xVI, Fig. 3, ?; Fig. 4, ?

(The Southern Dog-face).

_b.u.t.terfly._--The s.e.xes are much alike in this species, which ranges widely over the Southern States, and is found even in southern Illinois and sometimes still farther north. Expanse, 2.25 inches.

_Early Stages._--These have been fully described by various authors, most carefully by Edwards.

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