Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/503

BUTTERFLY 497 comes hardened, forming the dermo-skeleton ; it is then the perfect butterfly, which sips the honey from the flowers, reproduces, and dies. The butterflies, properly so called, fly only during the day, and at rest usually hold their wings erect ; the antennas are terminated by a little club, or are filiform in a few genera ; they are the only lepidoptera, a few moths excepted, in which the lower wings do not have a rigid bristle or fringe to retain the upper pair; their caterpillars have always 16 feet, and the chrysalis is naked, attached by the tail, and in general angular. Linnasus com- prised all the butterflies under the genus papilio, but Latreille divided them into two sections, as follows: Section 1 contains all those which have a single pair of spines, on the posterior ex- tremity of the tibi, the wings perpendicular when at rest, and the antennse usually club- shaped at the end, but sometimes filiform ; this includes the genera papilio and hesperias rurales of Fabricius, and is itself divided as follows: 1. Those in which the third articulation- of the lower palpi is sometimes almost wanting, at others distinct, but as well covered with scales as the preceding one, and the hooks of the tarsi very apparent; some of them are six- footed, all the feet formed for walking, and nearly the same in both sexes, and their chrysalis in addition to the common posterior attachment is fixed by a silken thread across the body, or enclosed occasionally in a large cocoon, and the central partition cell of the under wings is closed underneath ; in the four- footed species the chrysalis is simply attached by the tail; the caterpillars are elongated and almost cylindrical. 2. Those in which the lower palpi have three distinct joints, of which the last is nearly naked or with much fewer scales than the preceding one, the hooks of the tarsi very small and scarcely projecting, and the discoidal cell of the under wings open behind ; the caterpillars are oval, or formed like the sow-bug; the chrysalis short, contracted, smooth, and attached by a silken thread across the body. Section 2 is composed of species whose posterior tibiee have two pairs of spines, one at the end and the other above, whose lower wings are commonly horizontal when at rest, and whose antennae often end in a bent point ; the caterpillars, few of which are known, fold up leaves, and spin within this covering a thin silken cocoon, in which the chrysalis is de- veloped, smooth and without angular projec- tions. Among the genera of the first division of section 1 is paqpilio (Latr.), remarkable for their elegant shapes and beautiful colors ; those spotted with red on the breast Linnaras called equites Troes, or Trojans, and those without the spots Achivi, or Greeks. They are found in the tropical and temperate zones of both hemi- spheres; the caterpillars, when touched, thrust forth from a slit in the first segment just behind the head a pair of soft horns joined together somewhat like the letter Y ; these are scent or- gans, giving out an unpleasant odor, and doubt- less designed for their protection against flies and ichneumons. Many have the under wings elongated, as the P. Machaon(LTm.), a European species of large size, with yellow wings spotted and striped with black, the under ones having some blue spots near the posterior edge, one of which is like an eye with red at the internal angle ; the caterpillar is green, with black rings dotted with red, and feeds on the leaves of the carrot, fennel, &c. Of the American species, one of the finest is the P. asterias (Cramer), whose Papilio asterias. wings expand about four inches ; it is of a black color, with a double row of yellow dots on the back, a broad band of yellow spots across the wings, and a row of yellow spots near the hind margin ; the lower wings are tailed, and have seven blue spots between the yellow band and the outer row of yellow spots, and near the pos- terior angle an orange eye-like spot with a black centre ; the spots on the under side are tawny orange. This species is very numerous in July, hovering over flowers, especially the sweet- scented phlox ; in this and the following months the eggs are laid singly on various umbellate plants ; the caterpillars have been found on the parsley, carrot, parsnip, celery, and other garden vegetables, to which they are very destructive ; they come to their growth toward the end of September, when they become chrysalids, in which state they remain all winter, being trans- formed into butterflies in May or June following. Another of our common and beautiful species is the P. philenor (Fabr.), with tailed greenish- black wings ; the superior wings with four or five white spots on the margin, most conspicu- ous beneath ; the lower wings highly polished green, with six pearl-white spots before the margin, beneath with a broad green border upon which are seven large fulvous spots, each surrounded by a black ring, and marked by a lateral white spot, and about six small white dots on the inner edge; thorax black, breast dotted with yellow, abdomen green with a lat- eral double row of whitish dots ; the female is the largest, with brown wings and coppery re-