Butterflies Worth Knowing

PART I. Introduction

INTRODUCTION

BUTTERFLY TRANSFORMATIONS 5 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS 13 THE SCENTS OF BUTTERFLIES 15 BUTTERFLY MIGRATIONS 16 HIBERNATION OR WINTER LETHARGY 17 AESTIVATION OR SUMMER LETHARGY 21 FEIGNING DEATH IN BUTTERFLIES 22 COLORATION OF BUTTERFLIES 24 SELECTIVE COLOR SENSE IN BUTTERFLIES 32 WARNING COLORATION AND MIMICRY 33 HELIOTROPISM IN BUTTERFLIES 35 PARASITIC ENEMIES OF BUTTERFLIES 40 REARING BUTTERFLIES FROM CATERPILLARS 43 PHOTOGRAPHING BUTTERFLIES 47 BUTTERFLY COLLECTIONS 49

PART II

THE TRUE BUTTERFLIES--SUPERFAMILY Papilionoidea 55 PARNASSIANS (Parnassiinae) 56 SWALLOWTAILS (Papilionidae) 57 Black Swallowtail; Giant Swallowtail; Blue Swallowtail; Green-clouded Swallowtail; Tiger Swallowtail; Palamedes Swallowtail; Short-tailed Papilio; Zebra Swallowtail; Synopsis of the Swallowtails WHITES, ORANGE-TIPS, AND YELLOWS (Pieridae) 82 The Tribe of the Whites: White or Imported Cabbage Butterfly; Gray-veined White; Checkered White; Great Southern White; Synopsis of the Whites 83 The Tribe of the Orange-tips: Falcate Orange-tip; Olympian Orange-tip; Synopsis of the Orange-tips 92 The Tribe of the Yellows: Brimstone or Cloudless Sulphur; Dog's-head; Clouded Sulphur; Orange Sulphur; Pink-edged Sulphur; Black-bordered Yellow; Little Sulphur; Dainty Sulphur; Synopsis of the Yellows 97 NYMPHS (Nymphalidae) 111 The Tribe of the Fritillaries: Gulf Fritillary; Variegated Fritillary; Diana Fritillary; Regal Fritillary; Great Spangled Fritillary; Silver-spot Fritillary; Mountain Silver-spot; White Mountain Fritillary; Meadow Fritillary; Silver-bordered Fritillary; Synopsis of the Fritillaries 115 The Tribe of the Crescent-spots: Baltimore Checker-spot; Harris's Checker-spot; Silver Crescent; Pearl Crescent; Synopsis of the Crescent-spots 135 The Tribe of the Angle-wings: Violet-tip; Hop-merchant or Comma; Gray Comma; Green Comma; Red Admiral or Nettle Butterfly; Painted Beauty; Painted Lady or Cosmopolite; Mourning-cloak; American tortoise-shell; White J Butterfly or Compton Tortoise; Buckeye; Synopsis of the Angle-wings (I. Polygonias--II. Vanessids) 150 The Tribe of the Sovereigns: Viceroy; Banded Purple; Red-spotted Purple; Vicereine; Synopsis of the Sovereigns 192 The Tribe of the Emperors: Goatweed Emperor; Gray Emperor; Tawny Emperor; Synopsis of the Emperors 207 MEADOWS-BROWNS OR SATYRS (Agapetidae) 214 Common Wood Nymph or Grayling; Southern Wood Nymph; Pearly Eye; Eyed Brown; White Mountain Butterfly; Arctic Satyr; Little Wood Satyr; Other Meadow-browns; Synopsis of Meadow-browns HELICONIANS (Heliconidae) 229 Zebra Butterfly MILKWEED BUTTERFLIES (Lymnadidae) 232 Monarch; Queen SNOUT BUTTERFLIES OR LONG-BEAKS (Libytheidae) 236 Snout Butterfly METAL-MARKS (Riodinidae) 239 Small Metal-mark; Large Metal-mark GOSSAMER-WINGS (Lycaenidae) 240 The Tribe of the Hair-streaks: Great Purple Hair-streak; Gray Hair-streak; Banded Hair-streak; Striped Hair-streak; Acadian Hair-streak; Olive Hair-streak; Synopsis of the Hair-streaks 242 The Tribe of the Coppers: Wanderer; American Copper; Synopsis of the Coppers 252 The Tribe of the Blues: Spring Azure; Scudder's Blue; Tailed Blue; Silvery Blue: Synopsis of the Blues 258

PART III

THE SKIPPER BUTTERFLIES--SUPERFAMILY Hesperioidea 266 GIANT SKIPPERS (Megathymidae) 267 Yucca-borer Skipper COMMON SKIPPERS (Hesperiidae) 268 The Tribe of the Larger Skippers: Silver-spotted Skipper; Long-tailed Skipper; Juvenal's Dusky-wing; Sleepy Dusky-wing; Persius's Dusky-wing; Sooty Wing 269 The Tribe of the Smaller Skippers: Tawny-edged Skipper; Roadside Skipper; Least Skipper 278

LIST OF COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

VICEROY BUTTERFLIES VISITING STRAWBERRIES (On Cover) THE REGAL FRITILLARY Frontispiece THE CAROLINA LOCUST 33 THE BLACK SWALLOWTAIL 48 THE CYNTHIA MOTH 49 GIANT SWALLOWTAILS 64 THE BLUE SWALLOWTAIL 65 TWO OF THE SWALLOWTAILS: PALAMEDES AND GIANT 66 THE GREEN-CLOUDED SWALLOWTAIL 67 CATERPILLARS OF THE GREEN-CLOUDED SWALLOWTAIL 80 THE TIGER SWALLOWTAIL 96 IMPORTED CABBAGE BUTTERFLY 97 CLOUDED SULPHUR BUTTERFLY 112 THE ZEBRA SWALLOWTAIL: SUMMER FORM 112-113 THE ZEBRA SWALLOWTAIL VISITING PAPAW BLOSSOMS 112-113 SOME OF THE TRIBE OF YELLOWS 113 SILVER-SPOT FRITILLARY AND GULF FRITILLARY 128 GULF FRITILLARY, SILVER-BORDERED FRITILLARY, AND BALTIMORE CHECKER-SPOT 129 THE HOP MERCHANT 144 THREE ANGLE-WINGS (AMERICAN TORTOISE-SHELL, RED ADMIRAL, VIOLET-TIP): UPPER SURFACE 160-161 THREE ANGLE-WINGS (AMERICAN TORTOISE-SHELL, RED ADMIRAL, VIOLET-TIP): LOWER SURFACE 160-161 THE PAINTED BEAUTY 161 THREE MORE ANGLE-WINGS: BUCKEYE, PAINTED BEAUTY, COSMOPOLITE 176 THE MOURNING-CLOAK 177 SOME COMMON SKIPPERS 192 THE STAGES OF THE VICEROY 193 BANDED PURPLE, RED-SPOTTED PURPLE, AND BLUE-EYED GRAYLING 208 THREE EMPEROR BUTTERFLIES 209 THE ZEBRA BUTTERFLY 224 MONARCH BUTTERFLY, CRYSALIS AND CATERPILLAR 241 SPRING AZURE, FALCATE ORANGE-TIP, BRONZE COPPER, AND GREAT PURPLE HAIR-STREAK 256 SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER 273

LIST OF OTHER PLATES

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SWALLOWTAIL BUTTERFLY JUST OUT OF CHRYSALIS 16 TIGER SWALLOWTAIL; HAMMOCK CATERPILLAR 17 BUTTERFLY FEIGNING DEATH; BUTTERFLY IN HIBERNATING POSITION 32 MONARCH BUTTERFLY: CHANGE FROM CATERPILLAR TO CHRYSALIS 32-33 MONARCH BUTTERFLY: CHANGE FROM CHRYSALIS TO ADULT 32-33 MIGRATION OF MONARCH BUTTERFLIES 48-49 THE IMPROVED OPEN VIVARIUM 48-49 BLACK SWALLOWTAIL VISITING THISTLE 64-65 IMPORTED CABBAGE BUTTERFLY, MAGNIFIED 64-65 IMPORTED CABBAGE BUTTERFLY; BLUE-EYED GRAYLING 81 FOUR-FOOTED BUTTERFLIES: VICEROY AND MOURNING-CLOAK 145 MONARCH BUTTERFLY RESTING; FLASHLIGHT PHOTOGRAPH OF MONARCHS IN MIGRATION 160 PHOTOGRAPHS OF A PET MONARCH BUTTERFLY 225 THE SNOUT BUTTERFLY; THE GIANT SWALLOWTAIL 240 STAGES OF THE GRAY HAIR-STREAK 257 THE SILVER-SPOTTED SKIPPER 272

BUTTERFLIES WORTH KNOWING

BUTTERFLIES

PART I. Introduction

INTRODUCTION

In popular esteem the butterflies among the insects are what the birds are among the higher animals--the most attractive and beautiful members of the great group to which they belong. They are primarily day fliers and are remarkable for the delicacy and beauty of their membranous wings, covered with myriads of tiny scales that overlap one another like the shingles on a house and show an infinite variety of hue through the coloring of the scales and their arrangement upon the translucent membrane running between the wing veins. It is this characteristic structure of the wings that gives to the great order of butterflies and moths its name Lepidoptera, meaning scale-winged.

In the general structure of the body, the butterflies resemble other insects. There are three chief divisions: head, thorax, and abdomen. The head bears the principal sense organs; the thorax, the organs of locomotion; and the abdomen, the organs of reproduction.

By examining a butterfly's head through a lens it is easy to see the principal appendages which it bears. Projecting forward from the middle of the top is a pair of long feelers or antennae. Each of these consists of short joints which in general may be divided into three groups: first, a few large joints at the base connecting the feeler with the head; second, many rather small joints which make up the principal length; third, several larger joints which make up the outer part or "club" of the antennae. In the case of the Skippers, there are in addition a number of small joints coming to a sharp point at the end of the club. Just below the insertion of the antennae on each side of the head are the large compound eyes, which are almost hemispherical. With a powerful glass, one can see the honeycomb-like facets, of which there are thousands, making up each eye. Just below the eyes there are two hairy projections, called the palpi, between which is the coiled tongue or sucking tube. (See plate, page 64-65.)

Anatomically the thorax is divided into three parts--the prothorax, the mesathorax, and the metathorax; but the lines of division between these parts are not easily seen without denuding the skin of its hairy covering. The prothorax bears the first pair of legs. The mesathorax bears the front pair of wings and the second pair of legs. The metathorax bears the hind pair of wings and the third pair of legs. In many butterflies, the first pair of legs are so reduced in size that they are not used in walking.

The abdomen is composed of eight or nine distinct rings or segments, most of which have two spiracles or breathing pores, one on each side. It also bears upon the end of the body the ovipositor of the female or the clasping organs of the male.

BUTTERFLY TRANSFORMATIONS

The butterflies furnish the best known examples of insect transformations. The change from the egg to the caterpillar or larva, from the caterpillar to the pupa or chrysalis, and from the chrysalis to the butterfly or imago is doubtless the most generally known fact concerning the life histories of insects. It is a typical example of what are called complete transformations as distinguished from the manner of growth of grasshoppers, crickets, and many other insects in which the young that hatches from the egg bears a general resemblance to the adult and in which there is no quiet chrysalis stage when the little creature is unable to eat or to move about.

The Growth of the Caterpillars

Caterpillars are like snakes in at least one respect: in order to provide for their increase in size they shed their skins. When a caterpillar hatches from the egg it is a tiny creature with a soft skin over most of its body but with rather a firm covering for its head. While we might fancy that there could be a considerable increase in size provided for by the stretching of the soft skin it is easy to see that the hard covering of the head will not admit of this. So the story of the growth of a caterpillar may be told in this way:

A butterfly lays an egg upon a leaf. Some days later the egg hatches into a larva, which is the technical name for the second stage of an insect's life. In the case of the butterfly we call this larva a caterpillar. The little caterpillar is likely to take its first meal by eating the empty egg shell. This is a curious habit, and a really satisfactory explanation of it seems not to have been made. Its next meal is likely to be taken from the green tissues of the leaf, commonly the green outer surface only being eaten at this time. The future meals are also taken from the leaf, more and more being eaten as the larva gets older.

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