  Edgar Fawcett. Butterfly.—Small, the males having four ambulatory feet, the females six, in which respect they resemble the LibytheinÆ, from which they may readily be distinguished by the small palpi. There is great variety in the shape and neuration of the wings. The genera of this subfamily have the precostal vein on the extreme inner margin of the wing; in some genera free at its end, and projecting so as to form a short frenulum, as in many genera of the moths. In addition the costal vein sends up a branch at the point from which the precostal is usually emitted. This apparent doubling of the precostal is found in no other group of butterflies, and is a strong diacritical mark by which they may be recognized. They are said to carry their wings expanded when at rest, and frequently alight on the under surface of leaves, in this respect somewhat approaching in their habit the pyralid moths. Many of the species are most gorgeously colored; but those which are found within our region are for the most part not gaily marked. They may be distinguished from the LycÆnidÆ not only by the peculiar neuration and manner of carrying the wings, but by the relatively longer and more slender antennÆ. Early Stages.—Comparatively little is known of these, though in certain respects the larvÆ and the chrysalis show a relationship to the LycÆnidÆ, with which some writers have in fact grouped Almost all of the species are American, and the family attains its highest development in the tropical regions of South America. Genus LEMONIAS, Westwood Butterfly.—Small, brightly colored, the sexes often differing greatly in appearance from each other. The eyes are naked. The palpi are produced, porrect; the last joint is short, thin, pointed, and depressed. The antennÆ are moderately long, provided with a gradually thickening, inconspicuous club. The upper discocellular vein is wanting in the fore wing. The middle and lower discocellulars are of equal length. The hind wing has the end of the cell obliquely terminated by the middle and lower discocellular veins. The apex of the fore wing is somewhat pointed, the outward margin straight. The outward margin of the hind wing is evenly rounded. Egg.—Flattened, turban-shaped, with a small, depressed, circular micropyle, the whole surface covered with minute hexagonal reticulations. Caterpillar.—Short, flattened, tapering posteriorly; the segments arched; provided with tufts of hair ranged in longitudinal series, the hairs on the sides and at the anal extremity being long, bent outward and downward. Chrysalis.—Short, suspended at the anal extremity, and held in position by a silk girdle, but not closely appressed to the surface upon which pupation has taken place; thickly covered with short, projecting hair. The citadel of this genus is found about the head waters of the Amazon, where there are many species. Thence the genus spreads northward and southward, being represented in the limits of our fauna by only a few species, which are found on the extreme southern borders of the United States. (1) Lemonias mormo, Felder, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 7, ?, under side (The Mormon). Butterfly.—The wings on the upper side are dark ashen-gray, Early Stages.—These have not been studied. The Mormon is found in Utah, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. (2) Lemonias duryi, Edwards, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 10, ? (Dury's Metal-mark). Butterfly.—The only specimen as yet known is the type figured in our plate. I doubt whether it is entitled to specific rank, and am inclined to believe it to be a form of the succeeding species in which red has replaced the greater part of the gray on the upper side of both wings. Expanse, 1.25 inch. Early Stages.—Unknown. The specimen came from New Mexico. (3) Lemonias cythera, Edwards, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 4, ?, under side; Fig. 5, ? (Cythera). Butterfly.—Distinguished from L. mormo by the red submarginal band on the secondaries on the upper side, the greater prevalence of red on the primaries, and by the tendency of the spots on the under side of the secondaries, just after the costa, to fuse and form an elongate pearly-white ray. The submarginal spots on the lower side of the fore wings are smaller than in mormo. The sexes do not differ except in size. Expanse, 1.00-1.30 inch. Early Stages.—Unknown. Cythera is found in Arizona and Mexico. (4) Lemonias virgulti, Behr, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 6, ? (Behr's Metal-mark). Butterfly.—Much like the preceding species on the upper side of the wings, but darker. The hind wings on the under side are much darker than in L. cythera, and the pearly-white spots relatively smaller, standing out very distinctly on this darker ground. Expanse, .90-1.10 inch. Early Stages.—Undescribed. Virgulti is common in southern California and Mexico. (5) Lemonias nais, Edwards, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 8, ?; Fig. 9, ? (Nais). Butterfly.—The ground-color of the upper side is bright red, clouded with fuscous on the base of the hind wings and bordered with the same color. There is a small precostal white spot on the primaries near the apex. The wings are profusely marked with small black spots arranged in transverse series and bands. The fringes are checkered with white. On the under side the wings are pale reddish, mottled with buff on the secondaries. The black spots and markings of the upper side reappear on the under side and stand out boldly on the lighter ground-color. Expanse, 1.00-1.25 inch. Early Stages.—These are beautifully delineated in "The Butterflies of North America," vol. ii. The egg is pale green, turban-shaped, covered with hexagonal reticulations. The caterpillar is rather stout and short, the first segment projecting over the head. The body is somewhat flattened and tapering behind, covered with tufts of hairs projecting outward and downward on all sides, only the two rows of short tufts on the back sending their hairs upward. The color is mouse-gray, striped longitudinally on the back with yellowish-white, the tufts more or less ringed about at their base with circles of the same color. The chrysalis is blackish-brown, attached at the anal end, held in place by a girdle, but not closely appressed to the surface on which pupation has taken place, and thickly studded with small projecting hairs. The larva lives on the wild plum. Nais occurs from Colorado to Mexico east of the Rocky Mountains. (6) Lemonias palmeri, Edwards, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 11, ? (Palmer's Metal-mark). Butterfly.—Smaller than any of the preceding species. The ground-color of the wings is mouse-gray, spotted with white; on the under side the wings are whitish-gray, laved with pale red at the base of the fore wings. The white spots of the upper side reappear on the under side. Expanse, .75-.95 inch. Early Stages.—These are, so far as they have been worked out by Edwards, quite similar in many respects to those of the preceding species. The range of the species is from Utah southward to Mexico. (7) Lemonias zela, Butler, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 17, ?; Fig. 18, ? (Zela). Butterfly.—The upper side of both sexes is delineated in the (a) Lemonias zela, Butler, var. cleis, Edwards, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 19, ?; Fig. 20, ? (Cleis). The pale variety, cleis, is sufficiently well represented in our plate to need no description. On the under side it is like L. zela. The species occurs in Arizona and Mexico. Genus CALEPHELIS, Grote and Robinson Butterfly.—Very small, brown or reddish in color, with metallic spots upon the wings. Head small; eyes naked; antennÆ relatively long, slender, with a bluntly rounded club. Palpi very short; the third joint small, pointed. The accompanying cut shows the neuration. Early Stages.—Entirely unknown. (1) Calephelis cÆnius, LinnÆus, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 16, ? (The Little Metal-mark). Butterfly.—Very small, reddish-brown on the upper side, brighter red on the under side. On both the upper and under sides the wings are profusely spotted with small steely-blue metallic markings, arranged in more or less regular transverse series, especially on the outer margin. Expanse, .75 inch. Early Stages.—The life-history is unknown. CÆnius is common in Florida, and ranges thence northward to Virginia and westward to Texas. (2) Calephelis borealis, Grote and Robinson, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 12, ?, under side; Fig. 13, ? (The Northern Metal-mark). Butterfly.—Fully twice as large as the preceding species. The wings on the upper side are sooty-brown, spotted with black, and marked by a marginal and submarginal series of small metallic spots. On the under side the wings are light red, spotted with a multitude of small black spots arranged in regular series. Early Stages.—Unknown. This rare insect has been taken from New York to Virginia, and as far west as Michigan and Illinois. The only specimen I have ever seen in life I took at the White Sulphur Springs in West Virginia. It settled on the under side of a twig of black birch, with expanded wings, just over my head, and by a lucky stroke of the net I swept it in. (3) Calephelis australis, Edwards, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 14, ? (The Southern Metal-mark). Butterfly.—The wings in the male sex are more pointed at the apex than in the preceding species, and in both sexes are smaller in expanse. The color of the upper side of the wings is dusky, on the under side pale yellowish-red. On both sides the wings are obscurely marked with dark spots arranged in transverse series. The marginal and submarginal metallic bands of spots are as in the preceding species. Expanse, 1.00 inch. Early Stages.—Unknown. Australis ranges from Texas and Arizona into Mexico. (4) Calephelis nemesis, Edwards, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 15, ? (The Dusky Metal-mark). Butterfly.—Very small,—as small as coenius,—but with the fore wings at the apex decidedly pointed in the male sex. The wings are dusky-brown above, lighter obscure reddish below. Both the primaries and the secondaries on the upper side are crossed by a dark median band, broader on the primaries at the costa. The metallic markings are quite small and indistinct. Expanse, .85 inch. Early Stages.—Unknown. Nemesis occurs in Arizona and southern California. UNCLE JOTHAM'S BOARDER Annie Trumbull Slosson. MIMICRY Protective mimicry as it occurs in animals may be the simulation in form or color, or both, of natural objects, or it may be the simulation of the form and color of another animal, which for some reason enjoys immunity from the attacks of species which ordinarily prey upon its kind. Of course this mimicry is unconscious and is the result of a slow process of development which has, no doubt, gone on for ages. Remarkable instances of mimicry, in which things are simulated, are found in the insect world. The "walking-sticks," as they are called, creatures which resemble the twigs of trees; the "leaf-insects," in which the foliage of plants is apparently reproduced in animate forms; the "leaf-butterfly" of India, in which the form and the color and even the venation of leaves are reproduced, are illustrations of mimicry which are familiar to all who have given any attention to the subject. Repulsive objects are frequently mimicked. A spider has been lately described from the Indo-Malayan region, which, as it rests upon the leaves, exactly resembles a patch of bird-lime. The resemblance is so exact as to deceive the most sagacious, and the discovery of the creature was due to the fact that the naturalist who happened to see it observed, to his surprise, that what he was positive was a mass of ordure was actually in motion. A similar case of mimicry is observable among some of the small acontiid moths of North America. One of these is pure white, with the tips of the fore wings dark greenish-brown. It sits on the upper side of leaves, with its fore wings folded over, or rolled about the hind wings, and in this attitude it so nearly approximates in appearance the ordure of a sparrow as to have often deceived me when collecting. |
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