Early Stages.—These have been well described by various writers. The caterpillar feeds upon grasses.
Genus NEONYMPHA, Westwood
(The Spangled Nymphs)
"Oh! the bonny, bonny dell, whaur the primroses won, Luikin' oot o' their leaves like wee sons o' the sun; Whaur the wild roses hing like flickers o' flame, And fa' at the touch wi' a dainty shame; Whaur the bee swings ower the white-clovery sod, And the butterfly flits like a stray thoucht o' God."
MacDonald.
Butterfly.—Eyes hairy. The costal and median veins of the fore wings are much swollen at the base. The palpi are thin, compressed, thickly clothed below with long hairs. The antennæ are comparatively short, gradually thickening toward the outer extremity, and without a well-defined club. Both the fore wing and the hind wing have the outer margin evenly rounded.
[a]Fig. 116.]—Neuration of the genus Neonympha. (After Scudder.)
Egg.—Globular, flattened at the base, marked with irregular polygonal cells.
Caterpillar.—The head is large, rounded, the two halves produced conically and studded with little conical papillæ. The last segment of the body is bifurcate.
Chrysalis.—Relatively long, strongly produced at the vertex; elevated on the thorax into a blunt tubercular prominence; green in color.