[a]Fig. 139.]—Neuration of the genus Neophasia.
Early Stages.—The egg is flask-shaped, fluted on the sides, recalling the shape of the "pearl-top" lamp-chimney. The caterpillar, in its mature form, is about an inch long. The body is cylindrical, terminating in two short anal tails. The color is dark green, with a broad white band on each side, and a narrow band of white on the back. The feet are black, and the prolegs greenish-yellow. The chrysalis is dark green, striped with white, resembling the chrysalids of the genus Colias, but somewhat more slender. The caterpillar feeds upon conifers. But one species is known.
(1) Neophasia menapia, Felder, Plate XXXIV, Fig. 7, ♂ (The Pine White).
Butterfly.—The insect on the under side sometimes has the outer margin of the secondaries marked with spots of bright pinkish-red, resembling in this style of coloration certain species of the genus Delias of the Indo-Malayan fauna.
Early Stages.—These have been thoroughly described by Edwards in his third volume. The caterpillar infests the pine-trees and firs of the northern Pacific States. The larva lets itself down by a silken thread, often a hundred feet in length, and pupates on the ferns and shrubbery at the foot of the trees. It sometimes works great damage to the pine woods.
Genus TACHYRIS, Wallace
"The virtuoso thus, at noon, Broiling beneath a July sun, The gilded butterfly pursues O'er hedge and ditch, through gaps and mews; And, after many a vain essay To captivate the tempting prey, Gives him at length the lucky pat, And has him safe beneath his hat; Then lifts it gently from the ground; But, ah! 't is lost as soon as found. Culprit his liberty regains, Flits out of sight, and mocks his pains."
Cowper.
This genus, which includes about seventy species, may be distinguished from all other genera belonging to the Pierinæ by the two stiff brush-like clusters of hairs which are found in the male sex attached to the abdominal clasps. All of the species belonging to the genus are found in the Old World, with exception of the species described in this book, which has a wide range throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the New World. The peculiarities of neuration are well shown in the accompanying cut, in which the hind wing has been somewhat unduly magnified in proportion to the fore wing.
Early Stages.—The life-history of our species has not been thoroughly studied, but we have ascertained enough of the early stages of various species found in the tropics of the Old World to know that there is a very close relationship between this genus and that which follows in our classification.