The butterfly guide

by W. J. Holland

Genus KRICOGONIA Reakirt

PL. CIII

Medium-sized butterflies, whitish or yellow on upper side, with some dark markings, especially in the male; fore wings somewhat falcate.

The genus is confined to the New World; one species occurs in our territory.

(1) Kricogonia lyside (Godart), form terissa (Lucas), [Plate CIII], Fig. 1, ♂; Fig. 2, ♀ (Godart’s Sulphur).

Our plate gives a very good idea of this insect in both sexes, the male being always marked near the outer angle of hind wings by a short black bar. Expanse 1.90-2.10 inches.

Found in southern Texas and Mexico.

There are a number of forms of this insect, slightly variant.

Genus MEGANOSTOMA Reakirt
(The Dog-face Butterflies).

PL. CIV

Closely resembling the insects of the next genus, from which they may be distinguished by the more pointed fore wings, and the fact that the rude outlines of the head of a dog are shown in yellow silhouette upon the fore wings. There are two species in our territory, one of which, M. eurydice Boisduval, found in California, may be distinguished from the other by the splendid purplish iridescence of the fore wings of the male.

(1) Meganostoma cæsonia (Stoll), [Plate CIV], ♂ (The Southern Dog-face). (See [p. 180.])

The sexes are much alike in this species, which ranges from Florida and the Gulf States northward as far as southern Illinois. Expanse 2.25 inches.

Genus COLIAS Fabricius
(The Sulphurs).

Medium-sized butterflies, yellow, orange, and sometimes white or greenish yellow with dark-bordered wings, the borders generally heaviest in the female. Eggs spindle-shaped, tapering at top and bottom, and attached to the surface where laid by a flat disk-like expansion; vertically and horizontally ribbed. Caterpillars elongated; head small; body generally green, striped longitudinally. They feed upon leguminous plants, and especially upon the various species of clover (Trifolium) and Astragalus, though some boreal species are known to feed upon the foliage of huckleberries ( Vaccinium) and willows.

The genus is large and is found on every continent except Australia. It is lacking in the very hot tropical regions of both the New and Old Worlds, but is found in Greenland and thence ranging south among the cordilleran uplifts to Patagonia. It is represented from Japan to Norway, and turns up at the Cape of Good Hope.

PL. CV

(1) Colias philodice Godart, [Plate CV], Fig. 1, ♂; Fig. 2, albino, ♀ (The Common Sulphur).

This is the common “Puddle-butterfly” or “Clover-butterfly” which every child has seen gathered in swarms about moist places, or hovering by the score or hundreds over the blossoming clover fields. There are many variations both in size and color. The females are frequently albinoes, that is to say they are white, rather than yellow. Now and then melanic males turn up, but they are rare. In these the wings are black, of the same color as the borders in normal specimens. Expanse 1.25-2.25 inches.

Ranges from Canada to Florida and westward to the Rocky Mountains.

PL. CVI

PL. CVII

(2) Colias eurytheme Boisduval, [Plate CVI], Fig. 1, ♂; [Plate CVII], ♀; form keewaydin Edwards, [Plate CVI], Fig. 2, ♂ (The Orange Sulphur). (See pp. 182 and 183.)

This is a form which is known to be very strongly polymorphic, having quite as many varieties and races as Lycæna pseudargiolus, for instance. C. keewaydin is a large winter form, which has the wings strongly washed with orange; there is a small winter form called C. ariadne, which is also laved with orange, though not so strongly. There is another form called C. eriphyle, which belongs to the summer brood, which has no orange on the wings, but is plain yellow; and there are still other forms. Expanse 1.60-2.15 inches.

The Orange Sulphur has a wide range, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from Canada to the northern portions of the Gulf States, though not invading the hotter parts of these states.

Genus TERIAS Swainson
(The Yellows).

Small butterflies, generally some shade of orange or yellow, with wings more delicate in structure than most of the genera belonging to the Pierinæ. Both wings generally rounded, but in a few species produced at the apex of the fore wing and at the end of the second median nervule of the hind wing. Eggs spindle-shaped, much swollen at the middle. Larva cylindrical, with a very small head, and the three first segments larger than those after them giving the body a humped appearance in front. Chrysalis compressed laterally, with the wing-cases forming a deep keel on the ventral side, more pronounced than in any other American genus, except Catopsilia.

This is a very large genus represented by many species in the tropical and subtropical regions of both the eastern and western hemispheres. Many of the species are dimorphic or polymorphic, and there is a vast deal of confusion as to their classification.

PL. CVIII

(1) Terias nicippe (Cramer), [Plate CVIII], Fig. 1, ♂; Fig. 2, ♀ (The Small Orange). (See Plate on [p. 184.])

The species is subject to considerable variation. Rare in New England, but common south of latitude 40° as far as the Rocky Mountains; also reported from Southern California, where it is rare. Expanse 1.50-2.00 inches.

(2) Terias mexicana Boisduval, [Plate CVIII], Fig. 3, ♂ (The Mexican Yellow). (See Plate on [p. 184.])

Easily recognizable by our figure. Expanse 1.75-1.85 inch. Found in Texas and Arizona, thence southward.

PL. CIX

(3) Terias lisa (Boisduval & Leconte), [Plate CIX], Fig. 1, ♂ (The Little Sulphur). (See Plate on [p. 184.])

Allied to the three following species, but may be told apart at once by the solid black outer borders of the wings and the absence of the black band on the hind margin of the fore wing. Expanse 1.25-1.60 inch.

Ranges from New England to Honduras, east of the Rockies.

(4) Terias elathea (Cramer), [Plate CIX], Fig. 2, ♂ (The Florida Yellow). (See Plate on [p. 184.])

May be told from the next two species by the white hind wings. Expanse 1.25-1.40 inch.

Found in Florida, Mexico, and the Antilles.

PL. CX

(5) Terias delia (Cramer), [Plate CX], Fig. 1, ♂; Fig. 2, ♀ (The Gulf Yellow). (See Plate on [p. 185.])

Almost exactly like the preceding species, but the hind wings are yellow above and red below, and the apex of the fore wing is red below. Expanse 1.25-1.50 inch.

Common in the Gulf States.

This species and the one preceding and following are very closely related but perfectly distinct. They are apt to puzzle the beginner, but by comparison he will soon learn to discriminate them.

(6) Terias jucunda (Boisduval & Leconte), [Plate CX], Fig. 3, ♂ (The Fairy Yellow).

Separable from the preceding species by the black border surrounding the hind wing, and the pale under surface. Expanse 1.60-1.75 inch.

Found in the Gulf States.

(7) Terias proterpia (Fabricius), [Plate CX], Fig. 4, ♂ (The Cadmium Orange).

Our figure will enable the student to immediately recognize it. Expanse 1.50-1.75 inch.

Found in Texas, Arizona, and Mexico.

Subfamily PARNASSIINÆ
(The Parnassians).

This peculiar group of butterflies is classed with the Papilionidæ because the internal vein of the hind wings is always wanting, a characteristic of all papilionine genera. The caterpillars are not provided with osmateria, or offensive scent-organs, and pupation takes place upon the ground among loosely scattered leaves which are interwoven by the larva with a few loose strands of silk. The insects are mainly inhabitants of the mountain regions of the northern hemisphere.

Genus PARNASSIUS Latreille
(The Parnassians).

PL. CXI

What has been said of the family will suffice to characterize the genus.

(1) Parnassius smintheus Doubleday & Hewitson, [Plate CXI], Fig. 1, ♂; Fig. 2, ♀ (The Colorado Parnassian).

This is a somewhat variable species, but may easily be recognized by the figures we give. Expanse ♂, 2.00-2.50; ♀, 2.25-3.00 inches.

Ranges from New Mexico and Colorado west to California and north to Montana. The caterpillar feeds upon Sedum and Saxifraga.

Subfamily PAPILIONINÆ
(The Swallow-tails).

Large butterflies. As shown on [Plate B], Fig. 10, the hind wings lack the internal vein, its place being held by the submedian vein. There is great diversity of form in this group. Many species are tailed, as are the three occurring in Europe, and the name common in England has come in popular phrase to be loosely applied to the whole genus.

There are many hundreds of species and varietal forms, most of which occur in the tropics of the eastern and western hemispheres. There are only three species found in all Europe; there are about thirty found in the United States and Canada.

Genus PAPILIO Linnæus
(The Swallow-tails).

This great genus has been subdivided for purposes of classification into a number of smaller groups or subgenera, which are useful when dealing with the whole assemblage of species, but which in a manual like this, dealing with only a few forms, may consistently be overlooked.

PL. CXII

PL. CXIII

(1) Papilio ajax Linnæus. Winter form walshi Edwards, [Plate CXII], ♂; summer form marcellus Boisduval, [Plate CXIII], ♂ (The Papaw Butterfly).

The species is more or less polymorphic. [Plate CXII] represents the form which emerges in the spring of the year from chrysalids which have overwintered; [Plate CXIII] shows the form which appears in the second brood and in which the tails are twice as long as in the first. There are other forms. Expanse 2.50-3.25 inches.

The caterpillar feeds upon the leaves of the Papaw ( Asimina triloba) and wherever this plant grows the insect may be found. It ranges from New England and Ontario to Florida and far westward through the valley of the Mississippi.

PL. CXIV

PL. CXV

(2) Papilio turnus Linnæus, [Plate CXIV], ♂; [Plate CXV], P. glaucus Linnæus, dark dimorphic ♀, under side (The Tiger Swallow-tail).

In the Middle States and southward a large proportion of the females are black, belonging to the form glaucus; in Ontario and northward and westward to Alaska the females are yellow, like the males. The Alaskan form is very small, dwarfed by the cold and poor feeding. The figure on [Plate CXIV] is that of a male from Alaska of the natural size; a specimen taken in Pennsylvania would be nearly twice as large. The metropolis of the species is the Appalachian uplift; but it ranges northwestward to Alaska and south to the Gulf States. Expanse 3.00-5.00 inches.

The caterpillars are partial to the foliage of wild cherry trees, but are found on a great variety of plants.

The dark female form reveals its relationship to the paler form by the stripes on the under side. On the upper side the insect shown on [Plate CXV] is very black and shows no stripes at all. I possess females with yellow wings on one side and black on the other. The identity of the forms named by Linnæus turnus and glaucus could not be more forcibly shown than by these specimens, in which the two are united by the vital force which called them into being.

PL. CXVI

(3) Papilio rutulus Boisduval, [Plate CXVI], ♂ (The Pacific Tiger).

Closely resembling P. turnus, which it replaces on the Pacific Coast in Washington and southward. The female is never dimorphic; the marginal light spots on the under side of the fore wings run together forming a continuous band, and are not separate as in P. turnus. Expanse 3.50-4.25 inches.

The larva feeds on alder and willows.

(4) Papilio eurymedon Boisduval, [Plate CXVII], ♂ (The White-striped Tiger).

Belonging to the same group as the two preceding species, but distinguished by the pale creamy white color of the ground-color of the wings, and by the fact that the submarginal spots on the under side of the fore wings form, as in P. rutulus, a continuous band. Expanse 3.50-4.00 inches.

The caterpillar feeds on Rhamnus californicus and other plants. The insect ranges from Mexico to British Columbia and eastward to Colorado.

(5) Papilio daunus Boisduval, [Plate CXVIII], ♂ (The Two-tailed Swallow-tail).

This fine insect is even larger than P. turnus, which it somewhat resembles, but from which it can at once be distinguished by the two tails on the hind wings, followed by a lobe at the anal angle. Expanse 4.00-5.25 inches.

Found in the region of the Rocky Mountains from Idaho south to Mexico, but not found west of the Sierra Nevada and Coast Ranges in California.

PL. CXIX

(6) Papilio pilumnus Boisduval, [Plate CXIX], ♂ (The Three-tailed Swallow-tail).

Easily recognized from our figure. The lobe at the anal angle is so much produced as to give the hind wing the appearance of having three tails. Expanse 3.80-4.30 inches.

A Mexican species which occasionally is found in Arizona. It is one of the most beautiful species of the group to which it belongs and is rare in collections.

PL. CXX

(7) Papilio cresphontes Cramer, [Plate CXX], ♀ (The Giant Swallow-tail).

One of the largest and most showy species of the genus found in our territory. The caterpillar feeds upon Ptelea, Xanthoxylon, and Citrus. It has a wide range from southern Ontario to Florida and through the Mississippi Valley to Mexico. Expanse 3.75-5.50 inches.

PL. CXXI

(8) Papilio Troilus Linnæus, [Plate CXXI], ♂ (The Spice-bush Swallow-tail).

The caterpillar, which is green, with two big eye-spots on the back a little behind the head, lives on the foliage of the sassafras and spice-wood, where it folds together a leaf, in which it conceals itself from view during the daytime, coming out to feed at night. The insect is found throughout the eastern United States and the Mississippi Valley, wherever its food-plant occurs. Expanse 3.75-4.25 inches.

PL. CXXII

(9) Papilio palamedes Drury, [Plate CXXII], ♂ (The Magnolia Swallow-tail). (See next page.)

The upper side of this fine insect is well shown on our plate; the under side is prevalently yellow. The larva feeds on the foliage of Magnolia glauca and the Lauraceæ. Expanse 3.50-4.50 inches.

Ranges from southern Virginia near the coast to the extreme southern end of Florida and westward to southern Missouri and eastern Texas.

(10) Papilio polyxenes Fabricius, [Plate CXXIII], ♂ (The Eastern Swallow-tail). (See next page.)

This butterfly and the three which follow belong to a group of the genus which in England is represented by P. machaon of the fens of Cambridgeshire and Norfolk. There are many species evidently derived in past time from common stock, which are found in America, and the writer believes that the original centre of dispersion was this continent, and that the English Swallow-tail represents the most western range of the migration, which probably began in Tertiary times, when the horse, the camel, and other North American animals passed over into Asia and became subsequently extinct in the land of their origin. P. machaon still exists in Alaska as the variety P. aliaska Scudder.

P. polyxenes, more commonly known by its later name P. asterius, or P. asterias, is found all over the Atlantic States and the Mississippi Valley. The caterpillar feeds upon umbelliferous plants, and is very partial to fennel. Expanse 2.75-3.25 inches.

(11) Papilio brevicauda Saunders, [Plate CXXIV], ♀ (The Newfoundland Swallow-tail).

There are two forms, one found on Anticosti, in which the spots on the upper side of the wings are bright yellow, the other in which they are more or less red in color. The latter form is common in Newfoundland, and is shown in the Plate. Closely related to P. polyxenes, but with shorter tails. Expanse 2.75-3.00 inches.

PL. CXXV

(12) Papilio indra Reakirt, [Plate CXXV], ♂ (The Mountain Swallow-tail).

The resemblance to P. polyxenes is marked, but it will be observed that the tails have undergone even greater reduction in length than in P. brevicauda, and that the band of yellow spots traversing the wings has been reduced in width. Expanse 2.50-2.75 inches.

Found on the high mountains of Colorado, Nevada, and California.

PL. CXXVI

(13) Papilio zelicaon Boisduval, [Plate CXXVI], ♂ (The Western Swallow-tail).

In many respects like P. polyxenes, but having the median bands of yellow greatly widened, until on the hind wing the band covers almost the entire basal half of the wing. Expanse 2.75-3.25 inches.

Ranges from Vancouver Island to Arizona and eastward as far as Colorado.

(Note. The name zolicaon, often given by authors, must be replaced by the original name zelicaon.)

PL. CXXVII

(14) Papilio philenor Linnæus, [Plate CXXVII], ♂ (The Pipe-vine Swallow-tail).

The caterpillar feeds upon the foliage of Aristolochia sipho, or the “Dutchman’s Pipe,” a plant extensively grown about verandas and porches, and native to the Allegheny Mountains. It also eats the leaves of Aristolochia serpentaria, a smaller plant of the same genus. The wings have an expanse of 3.75-4.25 inches.

The range is from Massachusetts to California and south into Mexico.

PL. CXXVIII

(15) Papilio polydamas Linnæus, [Plate CXXVIII], ♂ (The Reef Butterfly). (See Plate on [p. 198.])

This is the sole representant in our fauna of a great group of splendid butterflies peculiar to the tropics of the New World, which are true papilionids, but without tails, their wings generally of some shade of green, and wonderfully adorned with spots of other colors, generally yellow or crimson. It may easily be recognized from our figure. Expanse 3.00-3.50 inches.

It is found in the extreme southern part of Florida and on the adjoining reefs. It also has a wide range through the Antilles, Mexico, and Central America.

Family HESPERIIDÆ
(The Skippers).

Generally quite small butterflies, with stout thorax. Both sexes have six feet adapted to walking. Tibiæ of hind legs, with few exceptions, have spurs. Lower radial of hind wing in many genera wanting, being represented by a fold in the wing. Eggs hemispherical, flat on base. Larvæ cylindrical tapering from the middle before and behind, with large globular heads, smooth. Chrysalids generally formed on the ground or among leaves and rubbish lightly tacked together with a few strands of silk, in which the cremaster is caught.

A large family, most numerously represented in the tropics of both the Old and New Worlds. About three thousand species are known, of which over one hundred occur within our limits.

Subfamily PYRRHOPYGINÆ
(The Red-tailed Skippers).

Rather large butterflies when compared with others in the family. The antennæ terminate in a long, thick, blunt club, forming a regular curve, looking in outline like the handle of an old-fashioned walking-stick. Most of the species are red at the end of the abdomen. Confined to the New World. Only one genus and species of this family occurs within our borders.