(1) Dircenna klugii, Hübner, Plate VIII, Fig. 1, ♂ (Klug's Dircenna).
Butterfly.—Fore wings transparent gray, broken by clear, transparent, colorless spots at the apex, on the outer borders, and on the middle of the wing. The inner margin of the fore wing is black. The hind wings are transparent yellowish, with a narrow black outer border marked with small whitish spots. The body is black, with the thorax spotted with white. Expanse, 2.75 inches.
The specimen figured in the plate is from Mexico. Whether the insect has ever been taken within the limits of the United States is uncertain. It is another of the species attributed to our fauna by Reakirt, but which since his day has not been caught in the nets of any of the numerous butterfly-hunters who have searched the region in which he said it occurs. It may, however, be found upon the borders of Mexico, in the hotter parts of which country it is not at all uncommon. The "gentle reader" will kindly look for it when visiting Brownsville, Texas, and southern California, and, when finding it, herald the fact to the entomological world.
SUPERSTITIONS
"If a butterfly alights upon your head, it foretells good news from a distance. This superstition obtains in Pennsylvania and Maryland.
"The first butterfly seen in the summer brings good luck to him who catches it. This notion prevails in New York.
"In western Pennsylvania it is believed that if the chrysalids of butterflies be found suspended mostly on the under sides of rails, limbs, etc., as it were to protect them from rain, there will soon be much rain, or, as it is termed, a 'rainy spell'; but, on the contrary, if they are found on twigs and slender branches, that the weather will be dry and clear."—Frank Cowan, Curious History of Insects, p. 229.
SUBFAMILY HELICONIINÆ (THE HELICONIANS)
"Men, like butterflies, Show not their mealy wings but to the summer." [a]Shakespeare], Troilus and Cressida, act iii, sc iii