From drawings by W. I. Beecroft
See pages [207-214]
After some weeks of this sheltered existence the caterpillar is ready to change to a chrysalis. It leaves the tent and commonly attaches a bit of silken web to the under side of a leaf or branch of its food plant or some other kind of shelter. Here it changes to a chrysalis, to emerge a little later as the beautiful burnt-orange butterfly. There are said to be two broods each season, in some regions, although in others there seems to be but one. The butterflies hibernate in hollow trees or in such other shelters as they may find.
Goatweed Butterfly: a, larva; b, chrysalis; c, larval case. (After Riley)
The full-grown caterpillar (a) is an inch and a half long and of a general grayish color, dotted thickly with slightly elevated points. The chrysalis (b) is suggestive of that of the Monarch butterfly. It is light green covered with whitish granules.
The adult butterfly is remarkable for the falcate shape of the outer margin of each front wing and the broad tail at the hind outer angle of each hind wing. In the male the upper surface of all the wings is of a dark orange tone, with a rather narrow brown marginal marking. In the female this marginal band is broader and is nearly paralleled by another narrower band a little nearer the body. In bright sunshine there is a distinct purplish red iridescence over practically the whole upper surface. The under side of both wings is of a color to suggest a dead brown leaf, with a purplish iridescence in certain angles of light.