Habitat Arizona and northern Mexico.
(6) Melitæa dymas Edwards, [Plate XX], Fig. 4, ♀. Type (The Least Checker-spot).
Even smaller than the preceding, having an expanse of only 0.85 to 1.00 inch. It is much paler on the upper side than M. perse, and the markings are different.
Ranges from southwestern Texas and Arizona to Mexico.
Genus PHYCIODES Doubleday
(The Crescent-spots).
Usually quite small butterflies, the species found in our region being some shade of fulvous or reddish, above with dark markings, which are less distinctly reproduced on the paler under side of the wings. Of the spots on the under side the most characteristic is the crescent between the ends of the second and third median nervules. This, when present, is pearly white or silvery in color. Structurally these insects differ most markedly from the preceding genus in the enlarged second and the fine very sharp third joint of the palpi. Eggs higher than wide, slightly ribbed on top, pitted below, giving them a thimble-like appearance. Caterpillars cylindrical, with rows of short tubercles, much shorter than the spines in Melitæa, dark in color, marked with paler longitudinal stripes. Chrysalis with head slightly bifid, generally pale in color, blotched with brown.
Numerous species occur in Central and South America, but only about a dozen in the United States and Canada, most of them in the Southwestern States.
(1) Phyciodes nycteis Doubleday and Hewitson, [Plate XXI], Fig. 2, ♂ (Nycteis).
Easily mistaken on the wing for Melitæa harrisi, which it closely resembles on the upper side, and with which it is often found flying, but an examination of the under side at once reveals the difference. The redder fore wings, paler hind wings, and the crescent on the lower outer border of these are marks which cannot be mistaken. Expanse ♂, 1.25-1.65 inch; ♀, 1.65-2.00 inches.
Ranges from Maine to the Carolinas and westward to the Rocky Mountains.