Take the dead insect in your hand, touching the wings as little as possible, as the delicate down is easily injured, and passing a pin through its body, fasten it in the bottom of your box. Open the wings carefully, and arrange them at once while they are soft and flexible. A pin fastened between the wings, not through them, will hold them in place until they are dry.
Examine the Archippus carefully, for it is a very beautiful creature. Its wings expand over four inches. They are tawny orange veined with black, and with a black border ornamented with rows of white dots. On the front border of the fore-wings are several yellow and white spots. The under side of the wings is deep yellow, veined and bordered the same as the upper side. Be very careful not to injure the antennas, or feelers, which project from the head; they are very delicate and easily broken. But do not be discouraged if your first attempt to mount and arrange a butterfly is unsuccessful. The first butterfly will no doubt be a forlorn-looking creature, its wings twisted and broken. Persevere, and your fingers will soon become skillful, and you will arrange the wings as neatly as an experienced naturalist could do it.
The dark butterfly in the background of the engraving is an Archippus, and the large one in front, with bands crossing its wings, and with little tails on its hind-wings, is the Papilio turnus—a brilliant yellow butterfly marked with black and blue. The latter is usually found in old apple orchards. It leaves the chrysalis early in June, which is the best time to capture it, as the specimens found fluttering about late in the season are too faded and dilapidated to be valuable in a collection. But there is another very beautiful member of this same family called Papilio asterias, which may be found in country gardens all through the month of July. It is usually fluttering over sweet-scented phlox and parley beds, because it is on these plants that it deposits its eggs, from which the caterpillar, commonly known as the parley worm, is hatched. The papilio asterias is a large butterfly, with black velvety wings, dotted with yellow on the margin. The hind-wings are tailed like those of the Papilio turnus, and ornamented with seven blue spots between two rows of yellow spots, and at the hind angle with an orange-colored eye with a black centre.
There are two pretty butterflies of the genus Nymphalis, which are found all through the summer. The Nymphalis disippe is very similar in color and markings to the great Archippus, but it is much smaller, as its wings expand only about three inches. Look for it near willows and poplars, for it is on those trees that its caterpillar lives and forms its chrysalis.
Its sister, the Nymphalis ephestion, is a creature entirely different in appearance. The caterpillars and chrysalides of both are similar, but, except in size and form of the wings, the gorgeous orange and black Disippe bears no resemblance to the Ephestion in its suit of dark navy blue with black and white trimmings.
Another beautiful butterfly is the Argynnis idalia. Its hind-wings are blue-black, with two rows of cream-colored and orange spots, while the fore-wings, which expand over three inches, are tawny-orange spotted with black. The under side of its wings, like those of nearly all butterflies of the genus Argynnis, is ornamented with silvery spots in a black border. The Idalia loves grassy fields and way-side flowers, and is not difficult to capture.
The tiny butterfly with bluish-brown and copper-colored wings ornamented with black, which is found in great numbers all through the summer fluttering over the grass and white clover by the road-side, is the Lycæna americana; and the small yellow butterfly with black markings on its wings, which flies in such quantities over clover fields that a single throw of the net will often intrap a dozen, is the Colias philodice. These two are the most common of our small butterflies, although there are many more you will find in your rambles through woods and fields. There are the skippers (Hesperiadæ), of which there are said to be more than eighty varieties, that fly near the ground with a jerking motion, as if they were skipping instead of flying from flower to flower. A peculiarity of the skipper is that when at rest it erects only the fore-wings, the hind pair remaining horizontal like those of a moth.
During the latter part of summer a family of delicate brown butterflies may be seen in the shady woods fluttering about beds of fern and moss. They, are called Hipparchians, and are the only butterflies which love shade better than sunshine. Their wings are very fragile, and the net should be thrown over them as gently as possible, as they are broken and ruined by careless handling. The Hipparchia alope is one of the largest of this pretty family. Its brown wings expand a little over two inches. Near the margin of the fore-wings is a broad yellow band in which are two round black spots with a blue centre. The Hipparchia eurytris is a delicate little beauty. It is smaller than the Alope, and each of its little pale brown wings is ornamented with two black spots with a tiny lead-colored centre.
Through the summer and autumn there are so many butterflies fluttering away their short lives in the sunshine that a description of them all would fill many pages of Young People. But catch all the different kinds you can find, and preserve them carefully; and if you have no good illustrated text-book in the country, you can obtain one next winter, and spend many long evenings in classifying your collection, and studying the habits of these pretty inhabitants of the fields and woods.