(6) Basilarchia lorquini, Boisduval, Plate XXII, Fig. 3, ♂ (Lorquin's Admiral).
Butterfly.—Easily distinguished from all the other species of the genus by the yellowish-white bar near the end of the cell of the fore wings and the reddish color of the apex and upper margin of the same wings. Expanse, 2.25-2.75 inches.
Early Stages.—These have been partially described by Henry Edwards, and minutely worked out by Dr. Dyar, for whose description the reader may consult the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xxiii, p. 172. The food-plant of the caterpillar is Populus, willows, and the choke-cherry (Prunus demissa).
Besides the forms figured in our plates there is a species in Florida named floridensis by Strecker, and subsequently eros by Edwards, which is generally larger and much darker than B. disippus, which it otherwise closely approximates.
THE BUTTERFLIES' FAD
"I happened one night in my travels To stray into Butterfly Vale, Where my wondering eyes beheld butterflies With wings that were wide as a sail. They lived in such houses of grandeur, Their days were successions of joys, And the very last fad these butterflies had Was making collections of boys. "There were boys of all sizes and ages Pinned up on their walls. When I said 'Twas a terrible sight to see boys in that plight, I was answered: 'Oh, well, they are dead. We catch them alive, but we kill them With ether—a very nice way: Just look at this fellow—his hair is so yellow, And his eyes such a beautiful gray. "'Then there is a droll little darky, As black as the clay at our feet; He sets off that blond that is pinned just beyond In a way most artistic and neat. And now let me show you the latest,— A specimen really select, A boy with a head that is carroty-red And a face that is funnily specked. "'We cannot decide where to place him; Those spots bar him out of each class; We think him a treasure to study at leisure And analyze under a glass.' I seemed to grow cold as I listened To the words that these butterflies spoke; With fear overcome, I was speechless and dumb, And then with a start—I awoke!"
Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
Genus ADELPHA, Hübner
(The Sisters)
Butterfly.—This genus is very closely allied to the preceding, and is the South American representative of Basilarchia. The only difference which is noticeable structurally is in the fact that the eyes are hairy, the palpi not so densely clothed with scales. The prothoracic legs of the males are smaller than in Basilarchia. The cell of the primaries is very slightly closed by the lower discocellular vein, which reaches the median a little beyond the origin of the second median nervule. The outer margin of the fore wing is rarely excavated, as in Basilarchia, and the lower extremity of the hind wing near the anal angle is generally more produced than in the last-mentioned genus.