^ Britxham Yount^ l^niversity Harold B, Lee Library Gift of FLORENCE E. AND EARLE G. VOUGHT ^ {/ , PUTNAM'S NATURE FIELD BOOKS Companion books to this one Mathews American Wild Flowers American Trees and Shrubs Wild Birds and their Music Durand Wild Flowers in Homes and Gardens My Wild Flower Garden Common Ferns Lutz Insects Loomis Rocks and Minerals Eliot Birds of the Pacific Coast Armstrong Western Wild Flowers Alexander Birds of the Ocean Anthony North American Mammals Thomas Common Mushrooms Sturgis Birds of the Panama Canal Zone Miner Seashore Life Breder Marine Fishes of Atlantic Coast Morgan Ponds and Streams Longyear Rocky Mountain Trees and Shrubs Pu^tnam } ^^®^^ ^°°^ °^ *^^ ^^^^^ Each in One Volume fully illustrated including many Colored Plates » Plate 1 Popilio cresphonfes FIELD BOOK gV INSECTS with special reference those of northeasti united states, aiming answer common quest! By frank E. LUTZ, CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENTOMC AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HI Second Edition^ Revised and EnU With about 800 Illustrations ^ Many i G. p. PL i.wiLiviSSONS NEW YORK AND LONDON tibe Tknicfterbocfter press ^ yOUGHT COLUECTIDN 14BRARY BYU ^. FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS \ Copyright, 1918 by Frank E. Lutz pcond edition, revised and enlarged Copyright, 192 1 by Frank E. Lutz First published, January, 10 18 ^vised edition, published June, 1921 Printed seven times, 1918-1927 ighth impression, November, 1927 Ninth impression, January, 1929 Tenth impression, May, 1930 ..fldy of entomology Is one of the most fascinating of ;. It takes its votaries into the treasure-houses of Nature, lains some of the wonderful series of links which form the -chain of creation. It lays open before us another world, of ich we have been hitherto unconscious, and shows us that the tiniest insect, so small perhaps that the unaided eye can scarcely see it, has its work to do in the world, and does it. HABOLO B. LEE LIBR^^- J' ^' "^''''''' Made in the United States of America PREFACE I am glad to have this opportunity of thanking those who have kindly responded to the request made on page 523 for criticisms and suggestions. As far as seemed practicable, they have been acted upon in this edition. All typographical errors that have been noticed in the body of the book are now corrected and new matter has been put in the appendix. In addition to short notes on a variety of subjects, there is an extensive key for determining the order to which an insect, adult or immature, belongs, a key to the fam- ilies of beetles, another to wild bees, and notes to help in the identification of caterpillars. The Field Book of Insects was intended for individuals, but so many teachers have used it in their classes that it may not be amiss to indicate a pedagogical point of view that influenced the choice of material. Certain families or groups of species were selected in each of the important orders for more detailed attention on the theofy that it is well to ''know a little about many things and much about a few.'* In beetles, for example, a general survey is given of the order and the Long-horns received an ''unfair'' amount of space; in the True Flies it is the Syrphidce and the various House Flies; in Hymenoptera it is the Bumble Bees; and in ill COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS FACING PAGB Plate I. — Papilio cresphonfes . . Frontispiece Plate X. — Hetcerina americana; Calcpteryx maculata; Perithemis domitia; and Libellula pulchella . 44 Plate XVII. — Stagmomantis Carolina and a Phasmid (Manomera) ....... 64 Plate XIX. — Dissosteira Carolina; Pterophylla camellifolia; Amblycorypha oblongifolia; CEcanthus; and Panchlora .,,,,, y2 Plate XXIII. — Fulgora; Scolops sulcipes; a young cercopid in its ** spittle"; Acanalonia hivittaia; Graphocephala coccinea; Ceresa bubalus and its egg-scars; Thelia bimaculata; Archasia belfragei; Entylia sinuata; and Telamona ampelopsidis . 86 Plate XXVIL — Anosia plexippus; Basilarchia arthemis; and Basilarchia archippus . . . 116 Plate XXVIII. — Euptoieta claudia; Argynnis cybele; Argynnis aphrodite; and Argynnis idalia . 118 Plate XXXIII. — Lyccena comyntas; Lyccena ladon; Chrysophanus hypophlceus; Feniseca tarquinius; Thecla melinus; Thecla damon; Libythea bachmani; and Calephelis borealis . . .132 Plate XXXVI. — Papilio turnus; Papilio glaucus; Papilio troilus; Papilio polyxenes; and Papilio philenor . . . . . . .140 Plate XXXVIII. — Hemaris thysbe; Deilephila lineata; Ampelophagus myron; and Pholus pan- dorus ......•• 148 vii COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS, FACING PAGE Pl.ate XLIII. — Actias luna , . . .160 F^ATE XLV. — Automeris to and Dryocampa rubicunda . . . . . . .162 Plate XLIX. — Haploa clymene; Utetheisa hella; Isia isahella; Estigmene acrcEa; Dlacrisia virginica; Apantesis nais; and Euchcetias egle . . .168 Plate LIII. — Catocala relicta; Catocala cara; Catocala vidua; and Catocala ultronia . .180 Plate LIX. — Thyridopteryx ephemerceformis; Euclea Moris; Sibine stimulea; and Harrisina americana 200 Plate LXVI. — Odontomyia cincta; Tabanus ni- grovittatus; Chrysopila Ihoracica; Anthrax lateralis; Bombylius major; Psilopodinus patibulatus; Syrphus americanus ; Volucella evecta; Bombyliomyia abrupta; and Milesia virginiensis . 248 Plate LXX. — Musca do7nestica; Stomoxys calcitrans; Chrysomyia macellaria; Calliphora vomitoria; Lucilia ccesar; Sarcophaga hcemorrhoidalis; and Drosophila melanogaster . . . . ,2^2 Plate LXXIII. — Cicindela sexguttata; Cicindela generosa; Lebia grandis; Calosoma calidum; Calo- • soma scrutator; Platynus cupripennis ; Agonoderus pallipes; and Brachinus fumans . . ,286 Plate LXXV. — Silpha noveboracensis; Necrophorus marginatus; Creophilus villosus; Tachinus fimbriatus; a staphylinid larva; Megilla Jus- cilabris; Coccinella Q-notata; Adalia bipunctata; Hippodamia convergens; Anatis i^ -punctata; and Epilachne borealis ...... 296 viii COLORED ILLUSTRATIONS, FACING PAGE Plate LXXXI. — Fhanceus carnifex; Cotalpa lanigem; Allorhina nitida; Desmocerus palliatus; Sapenla Candida; Cyllene rohinice; Chrysochus auratus; and Galerucella luteola . . . 332 Plate LXXXIII. — Crioceris asparagi; Lema tri- lineata; Leptinotarsa lo-lineata; Diahrotica 12- punctata; Diahrotica vittata; Phyllotreia vlttata; Chalepus rubra; larva of Cassida hivittata; and [ Coptocycla hicolo^ ...... 364 Plate XC. — Mutilla occidentalis; Elis ycincta; Chrysis cceruleans; Eumenes Jraternus; Odynerus birenimaculafus ; Monohia quadridens; Vespa crab^o; Vespa communis; and Vespa muculata . 424 Plate XCII. — Psammochares atrox; Sceliphron cemenlarium; Chalybion cceruleum, Chlorion ich- neumonea; Sphex (incorrectly spelled on plate) urnaria; Bembex sptnolce; Cerceris clypeata; Sphecius speciosus; and Crabro .... 434 Plate XCIV. — Bomhus impatiens; Bombus ter- narius; Bombus pennsylvanicus ; Xylocopa vir- ginica; Nomada luteola; and Agapostemon radiatus . . . . • • .45c IX Plate II JO 1 ^ in. or more; the broad, green, front margin of the front wings is sharply separated from the much larger brown portion. The egg-mass of sinensis is shaped like a short, broad cornucopia; the eggs are protected by a brownish substance somewhat like dried foam. Several other species occur in the South. All are very beneficial since they destroy large numbers of injurious insects. They are quite harmless to man and, indeed, make good pets. Phasmid^ In the tropics, where this family, the Walking Sticks, is at home, many of the species have wings, but the north- ern representatives, Diapheromera femorata and Manomera blatchleyiy are wingless — sticks without leaves (see Plate XVII). These curious insects, which may be either brown or green, are not really rare as far north as New York, but, as they look so like twigs and never fly, they 5 65 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. are rarely seen by the layman except when they are so unusually abundant as to be destructive. They feed on the leaves of almost any sort of tree. The shot-Hke eggs are dropped singly and promiscuously to the ground where they lie over winter, or possibly over two winters. I once found these insects so abundant in a Pennsylvania locality that the trees were all but stripped of leaves and the dropping eggs sounded like rain. The remainder of the Orthoptera typically have the hind femora enlarged and thickened for leaping. ACRIDIDiE By remembering that the antennae are always much shorter than the body, one has no difficulty in recognizing this family of Grasshoppers. The migratory Rocky ^Mountain Locust {Melanoplus spretus), which occasion- ally has been so destructive in our West, and the Biblical locusts, which were eaten with wild honc}^, belong here. Some species make a rasping sound by rubbing their hind legs against their front wings (tegmina); others rattle, while flying, their hind wings against the tegmina. These sounds are primarily amorous serenades and Nature's serenades without attentive ears would be even more curious than the ears for which the grasshoppers perfonrie In this family there is an auditory organ on each side of the first abdominal segment, just above and back of the places where the large hind femora start. Notice the clear round spot on the next grasshopper you catch. Short-homed grasshoppers, as a rule, lay their eggs in clusters, under- ground (Plate XVIII); perhaps you have noticed, in the fall of the year, females along the path with their abdomens sunk to the base in a small hole which they had made by pushing aside the earth. . . These small grasshoppers, the Grouse Locusts, are distinguished from their rela- tives by their pronotum extending back to, or beyond, the tip of the abdomen. There are numerous species, some of which are quite variable and one of which {Acrydium ornatus) is shown in Plate XVIII. Four genera ma^ ^ ^parated as follows: 66 Plate XVIII Grasshopper Eqg Mass Acrydium ornatus SchistocercQ americanQ TruxQiis brevicornis Spharagemon bolii 67 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. 1. Antennae with 21 or 22 joints Tettigidea. Antennae with 12 to 14 joints , 2. 2. Pronotnm with a high, arched, median longitudinal ridge Nomotettix, Top of pronotum rather fiat, median ridge low 3. 3. Vertex of head not projecting beyond the eyeSo Paratettix, Vertex of head projecting in front beyond the eyes. ... 4. 4. Pronotnm reaching to the eyes Neotettix. Pronotnm not reaching the eyes Acrydium. It is difficult to distinguish, in all cases, Truxalinas ^-^^^ certainty between this and the next or Acndinae .... J^, ^ ,. , subfamily. The Truxalmge have no spme on the prostemum (or at most an oblique tubercle) and they typically have receding chins. Plate XVIII shows a rather extreme type, Truxalis hrevicornis; the antennae are flat at the base and pointed at the apex; side ridges of pronotum straight; general color either green or brown. This species inhabits moist places. Pseudopomala also has flattened antennae and a very oblique face but its prostemum has an obtuse tubercle. In Eritettix the an- tennal joints just before the end are thicker than the others and the apical spur on the inner side of the hind tibiae is twice as long as the other spur. In Mermiria the space between the mesosternal lobes is almost linear in its narrowest part and the metasternal lobes touch. Some other genera (in which, as in these, the head is shorter than the pronotum and not distinctly elevated above it, may be separated as follows : 1. No small depressions (''foveolae ") on the upper surface of the head between and in front of the eyes or, if present, invisible from above; face very obHque 2. Such f oveolas present and visible from above ; face less oblique 5* 2. Hind tibia with 18 to 21 spines on the outer margin. Syrhula. S. admirahilis: male, about i in. long; ground color usuall}^ brown; yellow on face, base of antenna, an oblique line from each eye, lower sides of pronotum and parts of hind femora. The female is about 1.5 in. long; 68 GAY-WINGED LOCUSTS, usually greenish ground-color; a reddish brown stripe, bordered with black, extends from top of head to back of pronotum. Hind tibia with not over 15 spines on outer margin. . . 3. 3. Antennae about, or more than, 1.5 times as long as head and pronotum together; a median ridge on upper front of head. Clilosaltis, C. conspersa has yellowish or brown general color; length, nearly i in.; front wings of female only about half as long as abdomen. Eggs are laid in soft wood. Antennae shorter; no such distinct ridge 4. 4. Upper margins of sides of pronotum longer than sides are wide, and parallel. Dichromorpha. The general color of the male viridis is dull brown and the length is about .7 in.; the female is either brown or bright green and at least I in. long; front wings usually not as long as the abdomen. Sides of pronotum relatively broader and top margins squeezed together in the middle Crphulella, 5. Median ridge of pronotum rather high and sharp, cut plainly in front of middle Mecostethus, Median ridge not so 6. 6. Apical spurs on inner side of hind tibiae equal in length ; ridges on sides of top of pronotum distinct throughout. Chorthippus, Our common species is curtipennis. Lower apical spur about twice as long as the upper; side-ridges distinct only in the middle. Ageneotettix, Not common east of the Mississippi. ^.. ., These differ from the preceding sub- (Edipodinae r ^ • 1 • family m not having, as a rule, such receding chins; some of them differ from other grasshoppers in having parti-colored hind wings, and some in also having crests on their pronotums (see Plate XVIII). They are the ones which make a noise when they fly and sometimes a male will hover in the air above a female and rattle away for dear life, meanwhile showing off his gay hind wings. When at rest on the ground, with the hind wings covered, they are very difficult to see because of their protective coloration. Dissosteira Carolina (Plate XIX) is one of the commonest species; the color of its tegmina varies 69 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. from blackish, through brown and reddish, to yellowish. The sand-colored species, with pale yellow and black hind wings, so common on the shores of the Atlantic and of the Great Lakes, is Trimerotropis maritima. In ArpJiia the crest is not notched. In Psinidia (antennae of male longer than the hind femora, basal joints strongly flattened; our common species is fenestraliSj whose black-bordered hind wings vary from pale yellow to red), Trimerotropis, and Circotettix (hind tibiae dusky towards base and at tip), the crest is notched twice. Some of those with only one notch are: 1. Disk of hind wing nearly transparent, uncolored 2. Disk of hind wing opaque or colored 3. 2. Pronotum roof-shaped and front margin angulate. Chortophaga. Our common species is viridifasciata; it may be either green or brown. Pronotum flat on top except for the prominent crest which is higher in front than behind; front margin of pronotum square-cut. En.:optolophus, In sordidus the base of the hind wings is yellow; hind tibiae with a pale ring near the base. 3. Body robust; lateral ridges of pronotum extending in front of the principal groove and not cut by it. Hippiscus. Not so 4. 4. Hind wings black with a pale border .... Dissosteira, Hind wings yellow at base with a dark median band. Scirtetica marmorata (tegmina marbled with grayish anci dark blotches; hind femora dark at apex and with 3 dark bands) and Spharagemon (Plate XVIII). Acrididae with the pronotimi not extend- ing to near the tip of the abdomen but with a prominent spine on the prosternum (the underside of the first segment of the thorax) are grouped in this sub- family. There are numerous species and even the common ones cannot be satisfactorily differentiated without going into technicalities. Schistocerca americana (Plate XVIII) is one of the largest in size and strongest in flight of our grasshoppers; another species is called damnifica, a name which sounds good to him who chases these " Bird-locusts " 70 LONG-HORNED GRASSHOPPERS. in the hot sun. M elano plus femur -ruhr urn is the extremely common, red-legged grasshopper of our fields, very similar to M. spretus. The fat, clumsy, short-winged "Lubber Grasshopper" of our Southeast is Romalea microptera and the almost wingless Lubber of our Southwest is Brachypeplus magnus. 1. Tegmina, especially of females, over an inch long. Schistocerca. Tegmina rarely an inch long 2. 2. General color green, in life; the least distance between the eyes less than ij^ times the width of the second an- tennal joint. Hesperotettix, The least common of these four genera. Usually brownish; eyes more widely separated 3. 3. Dorsal surface of pronotum not twice as long as the average breadth, the sides constricted at the middle. Melanoplus, Dorsal surface of pronotum relatively longer, the sides not constricted at middle Paroxya. TETTIGONIIDiE A proper nickname for the Acridid^ is "Locusts." This used to be very confusing since the scientific name of the long-horned grasshoppers, w^hich are not "Locusts," was Locustidse. It was recently discovered by some of those whose business it is to find out such things that "Locusti- dae" is not good usage. The matter is still sub judice but I prefer the less confusing one. The Long-horned Grass- hoppers may be distinguished from crickets (Gryllidse) by the fact that their wing-covers slope down on the sides and are not fiat above except for a short space near the base. Both families have long antennas; the males of both sing or, better, fiddle by rubbing their wing covers together; and both listen with "ears" which are situated near the upper part of the tibiae of their front legs. Among those genera having hind wings, Scudderia (tegmina of nearly equal breadth throughout) and Ambly^ corpha (tegmina widened at the middle) have no spines on yrostemum or vertex but have one on each side of the 71 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, tip of the hind tibiae. In Pterophylla the tegmina is broadly expanded in the middle and the pronotum is crossed by two distinct grooves. Few have not heard the masculine debates Pterophylla ^^ ^^ whether Katy did or didn't, but many camellifolia , . , . , . ^. do not know, by sight, either the disputant or Katy, both of whom usually stay high in trees. Plate XIX shows the male; the musical apparatus is at the base of the tegmina, and the leaf-like wing-covers themselves, broadly curving entirely around the body, act as sounding boards. The female's wing-covers do not have the thick rasp-veins at their bases; and at the hind end of her abdomen is a stout scimitar-like ovipositor with which she places her eggs in the bark of various trees. In many of the older books this species is called Cyrtophyllus cojicavus^ ana has been nicknamed the True Katydid. The "folia" part of the scientific name Amblycorypha ^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^ leaf-like appearance of the oblongifolia front wings. Nearly all of the Katydids are typically green, but, like some other green insects, they, and especially this species, have brown or pink ''sports" (see Plate XIX). The figure is of a female and shows the ovipositor. The "Oblong-leaf" and the other relatives of the True Katydid often live in low bushes. Under this general head w^e may group Meadow numerous species of Neoconocephalus (rather Grasshoppers , . : . - . large, green or brown species, with the front of the head more or less prolonged into a cone, and with spines on the underside of the front and middle femora), Orchelimum (usually an inch, or slightly more, long; females have stout and curved or sickle-shaped ovipositors), and Conoceplialus (smaller, as a rule; the ovipositor is slender and straight; prosternal spine very short ; see Plate XX) . Some authors class Neoconocephalus with Katydids rather than with Meadow Grasshoppers and, as a matter of fact, these insects are rather partial to bushy fields. The name Conoceplialus is apt to cause some trouble to those who consult books which were 72 Plate XIX f DissoskirQ Carolina ■^"^ry X / Plerophyllo camelUjoliQ / J Amblijcorypha obiongijolioV^ •-1 \ ■ ' ) X dcQnthus J PQnchlorQ ' CRICKETS. published more than several years ago; it refers to what is called in them Xiphidium, and Conocephalus in such books refers to what should be called Neoconocephalus, The members of all three genera have the habit of dodging around to the other side of the grass-blade or weed-stalk when you approach, rather than trusting to flight. They place their eggs, by. means of their sharp ovipositors, in the leaves of grasses, pith of twigs, and in similar situations. All grasshoppers are wingless when they Wingless g^j.^ young but the members of certain Grasshoppers ^ . , ^ genera do not get wmgs even when mature. Ceuthophilus (see Plate XX) is the most common genus, especially in the Northeast, and its members have been nicknamed " Cave Crickets " ; but they are not crickets and, while some species live in caves, the majority live in cellars, under the floors of out-buildings, under stones, in hollow logs, and the like. For some reason they are also called "Camel Crickets." Atlanticus is a genus usually found under fallen leaves in woods; its male members still retain remnants of the front wings, and, by using these, they are able to make sounds. Kellogg says of the ''Jerusalem Crickets" {Stenopelmatus) which live on the Pacific Coast that they are large, awkward, thick-legged creatures with "baby-faces." Gryllid^ One of the points of distinction between the long-horned grasshoppers and Crickets was given in the discussion of Tettigoniida3 ; another is that the ovipositors of crickets, when long, are needle-like. The musical apparatus of the males (see Plate XX, which shows also an "ear" on a front leg) occupies a relatively larger portion of the wing-covers than it does among the Tettigoniidas. Many of the species, especially of Nemobius, Gryllus, and Gryllotalpa, occur in two forms: one with short, and one with long, functional hind wings. Gryllotal a These creatures, the Mole-crickets (Plate XX), have curiously enlar[;;ed front legs, which are used in excavating their burrows; the hind 73 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, femora are slender. These insects are almost never seen above ground except at the mating season when they are sometimes attracted to lights. They usually live in rather damp soil and, in some countries, do great damage by eating the roots oi seedling crops; this is true of the "Changa" in Porto Rico. The female has no prominent ovipositor but places her eggs in a loose pile in her burrow. A related genus, Tridactylus^ contains species less than .4 in. long; the front tibiae are not broadly expanded but have three or four spines at the apex; hind femora slender; tarsi with only one joint. The large, black species belong to the P • t_ ^^ genus Gryllus (Plate XX) ; the usually more numerous, small, brown species are Nemo- hius. The males of both chirp by rubbing the file on the under side of one wing against the roughened surface on the upper side of the other. Nemobius is almost altogether vegetarian but I have never quite forgiven the omnivorous Gryllus for eating holes in a bathing suit which was left on the beach to dry. Both genera place their eggs singly in holes which they make in the ground with their sharp- pointed ovipositors. Gryllus is relatively tame; and not only may you watch the male chirping in a desultory fashion near his retreat (such as a burrow or under an old board), or angrily challenging another male to battle, or passionately entreating a female, but you may make pets of them. A lantern globe set on soil in a flower pot makes a good cage; feed them lettuce, moist bread and, especially if you have a numerous family the members of which are inclined to eat each other, some bone meal; if you wish to incubate the eggs, water the soil about as you would for plants. Most of the individuals pass the winter as eggs but some hibernate as almost-mature nymphs. The "Cricket on the hearth" is a light-colored European species (Gryllus domesticus) which is sometimes found in greenhouses and dwellings in this country. There are numerous species of these delicate, greenish or greenish-white musi- cians, the Tree-crickets. One of the principal specific 74 Plate XX Conocephalus Ceuthophilus A Crickets Musical apparatus Gryllotalpa borealis 7S FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. characters is the shape and arrangement of the black dots on the two basal joints of their antennas. However, as is the case with other groups of Orthoptera, each species has a tune of its own (the tempo depending on whether it is night or day, sunshiny or cloudy, warm or cold). Some students have become so expert in Orthopteran music that they have detected new species by ear even though careful study was needed to corroborate their opinions as to the taxonomic distinctness by discovering other char- acters. In this genus, the male (Plate XIX) seems to have gone largely to music — he has broad front wings but a relatively small body. The female, whose wings are wrapped closely to her body, lays her eggs in such stems as those of the raspberry. Xabeaj sl related genus, has no spines on the hind tibiae; first joint of antennae with a blunt tooth. In hi punctata the hind wings are nearly twice as long as the tegmina; the creature is pinkish, the female having two black spots on each tegmen (front wing). Anaxtpha has the second tarsal joint distinct, flattened vertically, and heart-shaped; exigua is less than .3 in. long. ISOPTERA The White Ants are not ants at all but more closely related to the other insects shown on Plate XXI or to roaches. Their greatest development is in the tropics. Our principal species (others occur in the South and West) is Termes flavipes. It nests in or under old logs and stumps, more rarely in the decaying wood of houses. Both males and fertile females (queens) have wings which they shed after their marriage flight. The males soon die but the queens live on and become swollen egg-layers. A large part of the offspring are sterile, wingless females, of which there^are two kinds: ordinary workers and soldiers. CORRODENTIA There are two families: Atropid^, in which the adults have no ocelli and the wings are absent or, at most, a single pair of small ones present; and Psocid^e, in which ocelli 76 Plate XXI ^°'"'% slightly stringy, white wax about three times her own bulk. Various species of Kermes occur on oak. The adult females are relatively large and look like galls. Coccinae The Soft Scales are usually of considerable size as com- pared with other scale -insects; their surface is rather waxy and their form more or less convex. Such "scale" as they have is merely the thickened surface of the insect itself and not a separate structure. Females of Pulvinaria secrete a mass of cottony material in which they place their eggs. P. innumerahilis is the 92 THE SAN JOSE SCALE. common Cottony Scale of maple, and, to a lesser extent, of elm, grape, Virginia Creeper, and other plants. When common, the ground or pavement beneath them becomes covered with a black, sticky substance, the honey-dew, upon which a peculiar fungus grows. Eulecanium is a large genus, some members of which are likely to be found in every yard that contains fruit. The females lay their eggs under their bodies but do not secrete a cottony covering. E. nigrofasciatum is the Terrapin Scale of the peach and other trees. E. pruino- sum is the Frosted Scale of fruit and forest trees. Tulip trees should be examined for E. tulipiferce; it is one of the largest Soft Scales of our region. Several species of Saissetia are frequently found on palms, ferns, and other house-plants. Diaspinae These are the scale-insects. Their body is covered by a shell, which is composed in part of moulted skins and in part of a secretion from the body itself. With good reason, this (Plate XXIV) Aspidiotus .g ^^g g^^ig j^Qg^ ^£^g^ inquired about. It perniciosus . , ^ . . ^ ^ , . . ., IS the Pernicious or ban J ose, and is so small (about .06 in. long at most) that it is not usually noticed until it has become destructively abundant. Felt says: "Trees which have been badly infested for some time have a rough bark covered with dark gray, scurfy patches, and, if this be scratched with a knife or finger nail, an oily yellowish substance will be crushed from the living insects under the scales. This insect breeds so rapidly that it is not uncommon to find large numbers on a tree previously comparatively free. In that event the bark may be literally covered with recently established scales and not appear very rough. There is, however, a peculiar, granu- lar look, and those familiar with the bark of a rapidly growing tree are aware that some change has taken place. There is nothing like a good magnifier in these cases, and, if this shows hundreds of circular, black or dark gray objects, with dot and ring, or lighter gray, yellowish marked scaies, send a sample of the bark to somebody 93 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. competent to identify the trouble. Cutting into the bark under a San Jose scale is almost sure to reveal a reddish discoloration of the green tissues beneath. . . . The winter is passed by this insect in a partly grown, dormant condition. Vital activities are resumed with the approach of warm weather, and the first outward indications of life are seen in the appearance of winged males and later of the crawling young, the latter of which appear in this latitude [New York] toward the last of June. . . . The females continue to produce young for a period of about six weeks, each averaging about 400, or from nine to 10 every 24 hours. This is an ovo-viviparous species. That is, the eggs develop within the mother and the young are bom alive. They may be seen as tiny yellow specks escap- ing from under the maternal scale, from which they wander in search of a favorable place to establish themselves. . . . The development of the scale begins, even before the young has selected its feeding place, as very minute, white, waxy filaments, which spring from all parts of the body, rapidly become thicker, and slowh^ mat down to form the circular white scale with a depressed ring and central elevation. . . . Thus the round of life may be com- pleted, as determined from a study of the female, in from 33 to 40 days. The detailed studies made at Washington show that four full generations are developed normally in that latitude and that there may be a partial fifth." The fact that this insect lives on a great variety of woody plants makes eradication difficult; we must spray more than the few trees we care about. If you have it, notify your State Entomologist and do not trust to Jim Jones around the corner, who says he can kill it for you. It is a native of eastern Asia; San Jose, California, is connected with it merely because the specimens upon which the first scientific description was based came from there. Lepidosaphes ulmi, called Mytilaspis pomorum in many pubhcations, is the Oyster-shell Scale. It infests a variety of trees, including apple, and is well described by its com- mon name, although the oyster-shell shape is not entirely diagnostic. The small end of the tapering, slightly curved scale is usually yellowish. See Plate XXIV for it and other species. 94 TRUE BUGS. HETEROPTERA Or True Hemiptera For the general characteristics of the True Bugs see p. 80. In the following key rare families have been omitted ; see Brues and Melander, or Parshley in Psyche, Vol. XXII. Nymphs may usually be distinguished from wingless adults (such as occur in certain families) by the fact that most nymphs have two pairs of pimple-like stink-glands near the middle of the back of the abdomen. When the basal part ("corium") of the front wings is thickened, the apical unthickened part is called the "mem- brane"; the triangular area, when present, at the tip of the 1. Antennae shorter than the head and usually nearly Or quite concealed; living in or near water 2. Antennae longer than the head (if sightly shorter, the eyes and ocelli are absent), usually free, rarely (Phy- matidae) lying in a groove 8. 2. Ocelli present ; littoral ; not .5 in. long 3. Ocelli absent; aquatic 4. 3. Antennae hidden; front legs stout, formed for grasping; broad, squat, roughened bugs with prominent eyes. Gelastocorid^e, also called Galgulidce and Nethridae. These predaceous Toad-bugs frequent muddy banks. Gelastocoris (=Galgulus) is our principal genus (Plate XXV) ; the front tarsi have 2 claws. Mononyx of the West and Nerthra of the South-east have but i claw on these. Antennae not hidden; front legs slender, as long as middle ones, formed for running. OcHXERiDiE. Re- sembles the preceding in form and habits. Ochterus is our only genus. 4. Hind tarsi without distinct claws (except Ple^^ p. 102) ; front legs not specially formed for grasping ^, Each hind tarsus with 2 claws; front legs formed for grasping 6. 9S FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, 5. Body flat above; top of head free from pronotum; front tarsi flattened, i -jointed, without claws, edges fringed; beak with not more than 2 joints, hidden CORIXID^ (p. 99). Body convex above and pronotum overlapping the head; front tarsi normal, 2-clawed; beak 3- or 4-jointed NOTONECTID^ (p. 100). 6. Membrane with veins 7, Membrane without veins. Naucorid^. They re- semble Gelastocoridae (3) but do not have prominent eyes, and crawl about on submerged plants. Pelocoris is our only genus. P . femoratus is ahont .4 in. long; pronotum shiny yellow or light brown, marked with numierous dark spots; front wings dark brown with a light shoulder-area. Afiibrysus occurs in the West. 7. Apical appendages of abdomen long and slender, not retractile; hind legs formed for walking . . . Nepid^ (p. 100). Such appendages short, flat, and retractile; hind legs flattened for swimming Belostomid.e (p. 99) . 8. Head shorter than thorax, including scutellum. 9. Head as long as entire thorax; body and legs slen- der HvDROMETRIDiE (p. IO4). 9. Last tarsal joint divided, claws back of tip; front wings, if present, of rather uniform texture throughout. . lo. Last tarsal joint not divided, claws at tip . . = 1 1. 10. Middle and hind legs very long, close together and distant from the front pair; beak 4-jointed but the first joint short Gerrid^e (p. 103). Middle and hind legs not very long, more equally spaced; b^ak 3- jointed Veliid^e (p. 103). 11. Antennae 5-jointed 12. Antennae 4-jointed (Do not count either the tubercle which bears the antennse or the minute intermediate segments which are sometimes present) 13. 12. First and second antennal segments thicker than the others; minute bugs living on surface of water. Hebrid^. Hehrus, our only genus. First antennal segment thick, second slender; scu- tellum rather large 27. 13. Prostemum with a median, longitudinal, striated or granulated, stridulatory groove visible in front of front 96 THE FAMILIES OF TRUE BUGS. coxae, receiving the tip of the beak, which is 3-jointed, short, and strong; length not less than .2 in 14. Prosternum without a stridulatory groove; size large or small 16. 14. Body very long and slender, almost thread-like Emesid^ (p. 108). Body not so 15. 15. Terminal segment of antennae thickened, front legs stout and much modified for grasping; membrane with numerous veins; tarsi 2-jointed. . . . . Phymatid^ (p. no). Terminal segment of antennae thread-like; front legs usually much like the others ; rnembrane with few veins ; tarsi 3-jointed Reduviid^ (p. 107). 16. Front wings w^holly membranous and, for the most part, with a dense network, sometimes resembling lace; cheeks raised, forming a groove which includes the base of the beak; tarsi 2-jointed; flat bugs of small size TiNGiDiD^ (p. 1 10). Not such insects 17. 17. Beak really or apparently 3-jointed 18. Beak 4-jointed; first segment sometimes short 22. 18. Bpdy convex below, fiat or slightly concave above; often wingless; small, aquatic, predatory bugs, usually found on floating vegetation. Mesoveliid^. Mesovelia mulsanti, our only species. Not such insects 19. 19. Tarsi 2-jointed; broad, flat bugs, living under bark; head produced between antenna?; abdomen broader than the closed wings Aradid.^ (p. 1 12). Tarsi 3-jointed 20. 20. Ocelli present 21. Ocelli and wings usually absent or rudimentary; parasitic on vertebrates Cimicid.e (p. 106). 21. Front wings with a cuneus, membrane without long closed cells, sometimics without veins; small, predatory bugs AXTHOCORID^. Front wings without a cuneus, membrane with 4 or 5 long closed cells; adults always fully winged; small flat- tened bugs with large, projecting eyes. .Saldid^e (p. 102). 22. Ocelli absent 23. Ocelli present 24. 7 Q7 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, 23. Membrane with two large cells at base from which extend about 8 branching veins; no cuneus; rather large, strong bugs PYRRHOCORiDiE (p. 1 10). Membrane with one or two small cells at base, rarely with longitudinal veins; distinct cuneus; first joint of beak rarely shorter than the head Mirid^ (p. 105). 24. Front legs modified for grasping, the tibiae and usually the femora arm.ed with rows of numerous, closely set, fine spines; first joint of beak very small. Nabid^, the Damsel-bugs. They are usually yellowish or black, rather flattened, predaceous, and found on flowers or leaves. Nahis ( = Reduviolus and Coriscus) is our principal genus. Front legs usually much like the others; first seg- ment of beak usually longer than v/ide 25. 25. Body very slender; antennse elbowed, the first joint long and clubbed, the last joint spindle-shaped; head constricted in front of the eyes; femora clubbed NEiDiDiE (p. 112). Not such insects 26. 26. Antennae usually inserted on or below a line drawn from the eye to the base of the beak; micmbrane ii.sually with 5, simple veins Lyg^id^ (p. 11 1). Antennae starting from well up on the sides of the head; membrane usually with num.erous, forked veins arising from a transverse basal vein (these veins sometimics hard to see) .Coreid^ (p. 113). 27. Scutellum nearly fiat, narrowed behind 28. Scutellum very convex, covering nearly the whole abdomen 29. 28. Tibiae usually with no (or very fine, short) spines Pentatomid^ (p. 1 13). Tibiae with rows of strong spines. Cydnid^. Some- times classed as a subfamily of Pentatomidse. 29. Pronotum round in front and nearly straight behind; margins of scutellum with furrows in which the edges of the wings fit w^hen at rest; tibiae strongly spinose. Sub- family Thyreocorinse of Cydnidae; has also been called CORIMEL^NID^. Pronotum hexagonal; margins of scutellum without furrows: tibi^ not strongly spinose. Scutellerid^. 98 AQUATIC HEMIPTERA. These are sometimes classed as a subfamily of Pentatomi- das. Some species are large and brightly colored but they are not usually common. CORIXID^ The Water-boatmen (most boatmen are that kind) swim ''right side up." Compare Notonectidas. They are slightly heavier than water and rest on the bottom or on aquatic plants, but when they come up for air, the surface tension is sufficient to hold them at the top without much effort on their part. At such times, they float in a horizontal position, taking air directly into the thoracic spiracles and renewing the supply of air which is carried by hairs when they dive. It is said that these insects, while submerged, but especially at night, make a tolerably loud and sustained noise by rubbing their beak with their front legs. The eggs are usually fastened on, not in, submerged objects; the eggs of certain specie in the lakes near the City of Mexico are so abundant that they are gathered by the Mexicans and used for food. This family is predaceous and its members, like their relatives, are attracted, in their nocturnal flights, by light. The princi- pal genus in our region is Arctocorixa — Corixa of most publications (Plate XXV). Belostomid^ This family contains the Giant Water-bugs; also callea! Electric-light Bugs because the adults are frequently noticed flying about electric lights. Some of the tropical species are the largest of Hemiptera, being four and five inches long. The broad, flat hind legs and the flat body, with a keel in the middle underneath, well fit them for aquatic locomotion. The sharp-hooked front legs and the short, powerful beak make their predatory habits not to be depised by even fair-sized fish. They lurk on muddy bottoms, often slightly covering themselves with mud or leaves, ready to dart out after the unwary. Before men- tioning one of the interesting habits of some of them we must, unfortunately, note a change in names: the generic name, Belostoma, which has been used in most publications, should be Lethocerus, and Zaitha becomes Belostoma. 99 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. In this sense, the females of Belostoma, and of certain other genera, fasten their eggs onto the backs of the males. It is said that the males do not take kindly to this procedure but that they can not help themselves. 1. Hind tibiae much broader than middle ones; front coxae little longer than broad 2. Hind tibi^ little, if any, broader than middle ones; front coxae at least twice as long as broad. All of our species are less than i in. long Belostoma. 2. Margins of front femora with a longitudinal groove in w^liich the tibiae lie when folded. Lethocerus, of which americanus is our common species; it is about 2 in. long. Margin of front femora without such groove. Benacus griseus (Plate XXV). NEPID.E The long respiratory tail of Water-scorpions is not fully developed until the molt which gives them wings. It is perfectly harmless; all the sting these creatures have is at the other end, their beak. We have two genera, both of which are aquatic and predaceous: the body of Nepa is oval, fiat, and thin; that of Ranatra (Plate XXV) is linear and cylindrical. They are sluggish creatures, crawling but not swimming, often remaining motionless for hours on the muddy, leaf-covered bottom of their favorite haunts and rarely, if at all, coming to lights. Their eggs, which are placed in or on submerged objects, are furnished with filaments at one end, seven in Nepa and two in Ranatra. The only species of Nepa is apiculata^ which is about .75 in. long, not counting filaments. R, americana, about 1.25 in. long, is our most common species of Ranatra in the East. NOTONECTID^ The Back-swimmers are shaped somewhat like an over- turned boat, but they overturn themselves when they are in the water. They are lighter than water and normally rest at the surface, floating head-down, with the tip of the abdomen piercing the surface-film, their long hind legs extended like sweeps ready to send them swiftly to safety 100 Plate XXV ArctocoriKQ interrupta GelQsiocoris 0CUlQtU5 Benocus griseus Lyqus pratensis NotonectQ undulatQ Poecilocopsus lineatus Ranatra Qmericona Reduvlus personatus Gems remigis Anlus cristaiu? lOI FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, or food. They do not breathe through their tail but from it the air passes through hair-covered channels to spiracles on their thorax. Small fish and other aquatic animals are easy prey, and the suctorial beak will pierce even the careless collector's fingers. Doubtless the pearly color of their backs, which, as they swim, is seen against the sky, and the dark of their under (upper) side helps them to approach their victims and to avoid becoming victims. The adults fly well and are frequently attracted to lights. During the winter they sometimes may be seen swimming about in the shallow water in which they habitually live, even though it be covered with ice. It is said that these insects, by rubbing their front legs together, make a noise like the word "chew," twice repeated. The eggs are placed in the submerged stemis of aquatic plants. The adults of Plea striola are only about ,06 in. long; it is the only species of that genus. Our other species are much ^.arger and, for the most part, belong in Notonecta (Plate XXV). Saldid^ This family has been called Acanthiidae, but a techni- cality rules out the use of that name. Furthermore, its use would be confusing, as the Saldidae have no intimate connections w4th bed-bugs but live on the shores of lakes and rivers. Uhler, one of the master Hemipterists, wrote: "In the present family we have types which like Galgulus [Gelastocoris]y make holes for themselves, and live for a part of the time beneath the ground. Like the members of that genus too, a majority of them inhabit damp soils, and are often found in countless numbers on the salt or brackish marshes of our sea coasts. Their manner strongly recalls that of the tiger-beetles that inhabit the same places. When approached, or in any way disturbed, they leap from the ground, arise a few feet into the air, Dy means of their wings, and alight a short distance away, taking care to slip quickly into the shade of some protecting tuft of grass or clod, where the soil agrees with the color of their bodies." They feed chiefly upon the juices of drowned insects. There are numerous species of Saldula^ the principal genus of our region. They are rather soft in 102 WATER-STRIDERS, texture, with small head and prominent eyes. Their size is never large and their color is black, sometimes marked with white or yellow. Veliid^ These have been called Broad-shouldered Water-striders (see Gerridse). Rhagovelia ohesa is very common in somiC localities, preferring swift streams. It is black, about an eighth of an inch long, and usually wingless. Rhagovelia plumhea lives on the Gulf of Mexico, near the shores. Members of this family are more given to going mto the water than are their relatives and they may sometimes be seen running, back downwards, on the under side of the surface film. Gerrid^ The family name of this group of Water-striders or Pond-skaters has usually been given as Hydrobatid^. Unfortunately there have been considerable changes in the taxonomy of Hemiptera, as you will notice, and no agree- ment has yet been reached. One system is to make the Veliidae, Alesoveliidas, and Hydrometridse subfamilies of Gerridse. Of Gerridas, in the narrow sense, and now put in the genus Gerris, one common species (marginatus) has often been listed in the genus Limnotrechus, and another (remigis, Plate XXV), in Hygrotrechus. These two species and their less common relatives may be seen skating about on the surface of ponds or of the less rapid parts of streams, often jumping up and landing again without breaking the surface film. They go about on the two hinder pairs of legs, pushing with the middle pair, steering with the last, and holding the front pair up so as to be ready to grasp their food, which consists of either living or dead insects and the like. Why are they able to run on the surface of water? Because their hairy legs are not wetted and so, with the slight pressure of the insect's little weight, they dimple but do not break the surface film. A greased needle will float for the same reason. Both winged and wingless adults of the same species occur. Eggs are laid at or just beneath the surface of the water on almost any solid object. Adults 10^ FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, occasionally go under water; they hibernate and some- times come out in warm winter days to stretch their legs. If you desire to bring home alive for your aquarium species of this and related families, use for the purpose a dry box or one in which there is some damp moss; they frequently drown if carried in a pail containing w^ater. The following key includes the genera most often noticed in our territory-. 1. Body oval, less than 3 times as long as broad; pronotum not longer than broad 2. Body elongate, more than 4 times as long as broad; pronotum much longer than broad. Gerris 3. 2. Second segment of antennas longer than either third or fourth segment Metrohates hcsperiiis. Second segment of antennae shorter than either third or fourth segment Trepohates pictus. 3. Antennae longer than head and pronotum together; hind tibis and tarsi, together, much longer than middle tibiae. Subgenus Limnoporus, species rufoscutellatiis. Antennae shorter than head and pronotum together; hind tibiae and tarsi, together, but little longer than middle tibiae 4. 4. First segment of antennae nearly the same length as fourth. Subgenus Gerris, of which marginaius is a common species. First segment of antennae considerably longer than fourth. Subgenus Aquarius ^ of which remigis is our common species. Hydrometrid.^ This famiily has also been called Limnobatida^ and the type, as well as our only, genus is then called Limnohates instead of Hydrometra (see also Gerridae). The common name is ]\Iarsh-treaders. Hydrometra martini (also called lineata) is not rare but is not often seen. It is not quite .5 in. long, very thin, and walks very deliberately over the water and projecting plants. Quoting Uhler again- ''They delight to remain at rest, with perhaps a single claw hooked to some projecting object. When disturbed they move very slowly, and seem disposed to save themselves 104 SOME INJURIOUS BUGS. rather by concealment among rubbish and tangled growths than by active movements. The young forms are so very slender that they can only be detected with great difficulty in the places to which they resort." MlRID^ These are what have generally been called Capsidae. It is one of the largest families of true bugs and a very bewildering one to the students who would attempt to classify the species. Most of them are leaf-feeders but some are predaceous. The eggs of many, at least, have two filaments at one end, which project from the plant-stems in which they are laid. The ground-color of the very common Lygus ^ Tarnished Plant-bug (Plate XXV), ranges from dull brown to yellowish-brown, and its markings are also variable. Typically, the head is yellowish with three narrow-reddish stripes and the following markings are yellowish: margin of pronotum, several longitudinal lines on it, a V on the scutellum, the legs, and a spot at the apex of the thickened part of each front wing. This insect is very destructive of a large range of vegetation from strawberries to fruit-trees. Adults hibernate in rubbish and appear in early spring. The punctures, made for the purpose of sucking juices, seem to have a poisonous effect on buds and leaves. Pro- bably the eggs are laid in plant-tissues. The Four-hned Leaf-bug (Plate XXV) is Poecilocapsus ^^^^ ^^^^ (yellow after death), with the lineatus , -, r r i -. -. head, forepart ot the pronotum, and under- side of body, orange-red. There are four, more or less continuous, black, longitudinal lines on the pronotum and front wings. While particularly injurious to currants and the like, it attacks many different plants. "The presence of the pest is indicated by the appearance of the peculiar brown depressed spots on the tender terminal leaves in early summer. As the attack continues, whole leaves turn brown, curl up, become brittle, and are torn 105 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. or broken by the wind. The young shoot is checked an4 frequently droops and dies. The buds of dahHas and roses are often blasted." The vermilion nymphs hatch from overwintered eggs placed in slits, cut lengthwise into the stems of the plants, each containing six or more eggs. The adult stage is reached about the middle of June. Halticus uhleri is one of the smallest species of the family; black with yellow on legs, antennse, and, as scale- like tufts, on the front wings. They hop like fiea-beetles and feed on a variety of garden-plants. Som.e individuals are short- winged. Some Alirids slightly resem.ble ants in shape and have yellow spots so placed as to increase the resemblance by giving them the appearance of having narrow waists, but it is difficult to prove that this resemblance is of any use to them. ClMICID.^ Alost of us have had experience with one member of this family, although many do not like to talk about it. Per- haps no other insect has been given so many euphemistic names, but the one which is most generally understood is plain Bed-bug. In fact, that is a translation of (or, is it the other way around?) its scientific name, lectularius. It belongs to the genus Cimex, which has also, improperly, been called Acanthus. A description of its appearance and smell is unnecessary, especially in a Field Book; it is never found afield, under bark and the like; those are quite different creatures. It is also confused with the creature w^hich closely resembles it and is often found in the nests of swallows ; that is CEciacus vicarius ( = hirundinis) and rarel}^ bothers man. The number of generations a year of lectularis depends on the temperature and food-supply; there are, normally, only one or two and it is not true that "they become grand-fathers in a night." Kerosene in all the bed-room cracks and crannies will do the trick but, especially in the spring, the treatment should be repeated in order to kill those w^hich were unhatched at the time of the first application and may have been protected by the ^g-shell. io6 KISSING BUGS, Reduviid^ Some of the Assassin -bugs are rather striking creatures; nearly all are fairly large and some are gayly colored. They are predaceous, feeding chiefly on the juices of other insects. As the "Kissing Bug" this creature Reduvius ^pi^^g ^^y^ received considerable news- personatus paper space some years ago. Another, and better, common name is Masked Bed-bug Hunter. It often enters houses where it and its young feed on bed-bugs. Especially the young have many sticky hairs to which dust and other small particles adhere, making the mask. Many Reduviids have these sticky hairs and should not be put in a collecting bottle together with delicate insects. If personatus bites humans, as it rarely does, a very painful wound is caused, so that the newspaper stories have some basis in fact. K southern species of similar habits, but mxUch more given to sucking human blood, is Triatoma (= Conorliinus) sanguisuga. In the South, it is called the Big Bed-bug. It is about an inch long; black, marked with red on. the sides of the prothorax, at the base of the apex of the front wings, and at the sides of the abdomen ; the head is long, narrow, cylindrical, and thickest behind the eyes. It is said that the effect of its bite may last for nearly a year, and it is probable that attacks which are attributed to spiders are really the work of this insect. Out-of-doors, it feeds on insects, including grasshoppers and potato beetles. Another species which has been accused of being a kissing-bug is Melanolestes picipes. It is black; about .6 in. long; the head well drawn out in front of the eyes, behind which is a tranverse, impressed line; the prothorax is more or less bell-shaped and divided into two lobes; the legs are short, the femora stout, and each tibia has a large pad at its apex. In nature it is often found hiding under stones and boards. At>inni,p.rus crassipes is about .6 in. long; rather broad; black, the pronotum, scutellum, and abdomen margined 107 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, with red. It is usually found on pine trees, feeding on plant-lice and young caterpillars, often holding them down with the front feet as a dog does his bone. Pselliopus { = Milyas) cwctus is about .5 in. long; waxy- yellow with numerous, conspicuous, black rings on its legs. Like many other Reduviids, its eggs are glued to the bark of trees and covered with a water-proof substance. Ariliis cristatus (Plate XXV) varies from less than an inch to 1.5 in. in length; the middle of the pronotum has a longitudinal elevation something like a chicken's comb; general color grayish black, slightly bronzed. It is called the Wheel-bug. The nymphs are red, with black marks. They are our friends, if we do not handle them carelessly, as they use their beaks with good effect on many kinds of caterpillars and other injurious insects. Sinea diadema is about .5 in. long; brownish; front femora, head, and pronotum largely covered with short spines. It is often found on the flowers, such as goldenrocj ; although it eats injurious caterpillars, it does not hesitate to attack stinging insects and so is not especially welcome near bee-hives. Emesid^ These Thread-legged (not all are) Bugs should probably be placed as a subfamily of Reduviidae. The following are our more common forms. 1. Front tibiae and tarsi, together, not shorter than the front femora 2. These, together, shorter than the front femora, . . ..3. 2. Eyes large, very prominent, when seen from the side occupying the whole side of the head. . . .Luteva Carolina. Eyes small, little promiinent, when seen from the side occupying not more than half the side of the head. . .Ploi- ariola, of which errahunda is the common species. 3. Front tarsi i-clawed Barce. Front tarsi 2 -clawed. Usually Emesa hrevipennis (Plate XXVI). The front legs are formed for grasping, much like those of the Praying Mantis, while the I'cst of the 108 Plate XXVI PhqmatQ erosQ CorythucQ orcuala leucoplerus ^^Sni^J^-^, sernpes Anoso trislis ^ Podi&us macufivenkis MurqontiQ^ Euschistus hislrioniCQ variolarius MormideQ iuqens 109 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. insect suggests a delicate Walking Stick. It is called longipes in many publications. When full grown, it is usually at least 1.3 in. long, with wings only about a fourth as long as the legs. The ground-color is brownish, with the upper surface of the abdomen reddish and a few pale spots on each side of the head; the front legs more or less banded. It is said to feed chiefly on spiders. Phymatid^ The two genera may be separated as follows : Scutellum short, head with a bifid prolongation above the insertion of the antennae, Phymata; and scutellum very long, extend- ing to the tip of the abdomen, head without such pro- longation, Macrocephalus. We have but few species of Ambush Bugs. Phymata erosa (Plate XXVI) is the one most likely to be collected. Like most of the others, it conceals itself in fiow^ers, where it captures various insects, including large butterflies and even bees. The front legs are short but very powerful, and apparently its beak is quite deadly. The generic name means "tumor" and was probably suggested by the projections from the bod}". The somewhat knobbed antennas fit in grooves under the sides of the pronotum. This species is greenish-yellow, marked with a broad black band across the expanded part of the abdomen. The fem^ale is about .4 in long; the male somewhat less. TlNGIDID^ The adult Lace-bugs are small, delicate and, under a lens, beautiful insects; in most of the species the front wings and other parts, including expansions of the pro- thorax, are like fine lace. Furthermore, they lack the unpleasant odors of many Hemiptera. They are usually found on the under sides of leaves. The eggs are often placed near the leaf-veins. Some species, at least, hiber- nate as adults. Plate XXVI shows Corythuca arcuata, w^hich is common on oaks. Piesma cinerea is our only species of the subfamiily Piesminae; they have ocelli (other Tingidids do not) and the membrane has no net- work. no THE CHINCH-BUG. Pyrrhocorid^ These are called Red-bugs but they are not the creatures (mites) which get in human skin and cause red sores. Our commonest species is Euryopthalmus { = Largus) succinctus. It is about .5 in. long and rather stout; brownish black above, with red on the margins of the prothorax, outer margin of front wings, trochanters, and bases of femora; a fine bluish pubescence underneath. The young are brilliant steel-blue, with reddish legs, and a bright red spot at the base of the abdomen. Some authori- ties say it is a plant-feeder and others that it feeds mainly on insects and was "found to be very useful in California by eating the destructive cottony cushion scale, at one time threatening to destroy entirely the orange groves of that state." Perhaps it does both. The Cotton-stainer of the South is Dysdercus suturellus. Lyg^id^ About 200 species have been listed from America, north of Mexico. The family has also been called Myodochidae. Most of us have heard of the Chinch- Blissus ^^ (Pl^^^ XXVI), and all of us have helped leucopterus ^ \. . ^, ' , ^, pay for it. These pests have cost the United States about half a billion dollars. The worst injury has been to small grains and corn in the Mississippi Valley but frequent injury is done in the East, especially to timothy meadows which have stood for several years. It is black and white except for the red legs and bases of the antennae. Most of the adults occurring between the Rockies and the Alleghanies have normally long wings; in the South, East, and along the Lakes to northern Illinois, short-winged individuals are usually the more common. The young are yellowish or bright red, marked with brownish. Adults hibernate in clumps of grass or under rubbish. In early spring the females lay their yellowish-white eggs (up to 500 each) on the roots or at the bases of stalks, usually of grasses and grain. Even the long-winged adults do not fly much but usually walk from field to field. The first annual generation matures III FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. in early summer, and eggs are then laid on the unfolding leaves of corn if these are available. This brood matures in August and September. Oncopeltus fasciatus is about .6 in. long; red and black, the black above being a spot covering most of the pronotum and scutellum, a broad band across the middle of the closed wings, and the membranes. Lygceus kalmii (Plate XXVI) — and other species — has the same colors but the black on the pronotum is at the front, the wings next to the scutellum are black, and the middle band does not go all the way across; it is about .5 in. long. Myodochus serripes (Plate XXVI) "is rendered very comical by the swinging of the long antennas with their thickened apical joint, while running over the ground among stones and rubbish of its favorite haunts. Mead- ows and rich soils in thin woods furnish it with needed shelter, and there it may be found throughout the entire year, half concealed by bits of twigs and dead leaves, or stowed away beneath the loose fragments of rock which lie scattered over the ground" (Uhler). The long, slender neck is quite distinctive. Neidid^ The Stilt-bug family has been called Berytidse and has also been classed as a subfamily of the Coreidae but it is probably more closely related to the Lygseidae. There are but few species, Jalysus spinosus being the most common. It is about .3 in. long, with a very slender, pale body, and long, slender legs. It is rather sluggish and usually found in the undergrowth of oak woods. At first sight it suggests a tawny crane-fly. ARADID.E These Flat-bugs are responsible for the notion that bed-bugs live also under bark and that they then may have wings. They are dark brown or black and the reddish, wingless young do look like bed-bugs. They probably feed on fungus. A good way to collect them is to knock dead sticks together over a white sheet. This jars off the insects and they can be seen more readily. 112 THE SQUASH^BUQ, COREIDiE The Squash-bug family is an extensive one. Most of the species have an unpleasant odor, and there is a tendency to have the edges of the abdomen raised so that the wings lie in a depression. The Squash-bug (Plate XXVI) is known ?^?* to most gardeners who have grown any of the squash family. Its chief claim tc scientific fame is that it was used prominently in the development of our present knowledge concerning the germinal relations of sex. The pronotum and the thick- ened parts of the front wings are speckled brown, the side- margins of the pronotum are yellowish; the hind femora do not bear a row of spines. Adults spend the winter, as well as the summer nights, under rubbish. The oval, pale-yellow to dark eggs are laid in irregular clusters, usually on the under side of leaves. The young are rather gregari- ous and gay with their crimson legs, head, and front part of thorax, but these change to black as they grow. In the North the adult stage is reached about August. The following rough notes may be helpful in the North- east. A brownish species about .4 in. long, without a row of spines on the hind femora, but with a leaf-like expansion on each antenna, is probably Chariesterus antennator. Species of the largely predaceous Alydus are usually fully .5 in. long, slender and have a row of spines on the hind femora. The following are usually more than .6 in. long and have spines on the hind femora: Archimerus and Euthochtha galeator have more or less cylindrical hind tibise; Acanthocephala and Leptoglossus have leaf-like expansions cf the hind tibiae. Pentatomid^ The name of Stink-bugs has been fastened on this family, possibly because some of the species are responsible for giving raspberries a bad, smelly taste once in awhile. Another name is Shield-bugs, on account of the large scutellum. Psyche, Vol. XXII, contains a synopsis of the family with keys to the New England species by Parshlev. 113 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, See the key (p. 98) for Scutellerince (Shield-bugs) Thyreocorinae (Xegro-bugs), and Cydninae (Burro wing- bugs). The x\sopinae have the first joint of the beak largeh^ free and relatively short and thick; there is a spine on the basal abdominal segment. A common genus is Podisiis (Plate XXVI), in which the pronotum is sometimes extended into a sharp spine on each side. The northern subfamily, x\canthosomina3, have but two joints in each tarsus; the following subfamilies have three tarsal joints. The Graphosominae have a broad scutellumi, which is blunt at the apex and extending back to near the tip of the abdomen. Podops is our only genus, and cinctipes (over .25 in. long, 2nd to 4th antennal joints darker) is our common species. The principal family, Pentatominae, has the scutellum smaller and more or less narrowed apically. The following belong here. Brochymena (quadripustulata is a common species with us) has a shallow groove on the underside of the abdomen and the beak extends back of the posterior coxse. They are broad, rough, brown species, .5 in. long and live on trees. They look like bits of bark and are best obtained by beating. A medium-sized brown species with an angle on each side of the pronotum, behind, is usually a Euschistus (Plate XXVI). The first segment of the rostrum is not much thicker than the second, and all the tibiae are grooved. Chlorochroa uhleri is a bright green bug, about .5 in. long, with yellow side-margins and a yellow tip to the scutellum. Bright green bugs larger than this are usually Acrosternum, Mormidea liigens is show^n on Plate XXVI. The popular interest in Murgantia Jiistrionica (Plate XXVI) is indicated by its long list of names, among which are Harlequin Cabbage-bug, Calico-back, Terrapin- bug, and Fire-bug. It is shining black or deep blue, profusely marked with red. It feeds on cabbage and related plants, wild and cultivated. The white eggs, which are placed in a double row, look like small barrels because of their two black bands and a white spoto Adults hibernate. 114 BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS. LEPIDOPTERA Most students of insects start by collecting Butterflies and Moths and some people act as though adult Lepidop- tera are the only " bugs " worth looking at. It is true that most butterflies and many moths are among the beautiful things of this earth, when they are mature, but still "And what's a butterfly? At best, He's but a caterpillar, drest." and, until you get the right viewpoint, caterpillars are not so pretty. Personally, I think the craze for Lepidoptera is overdone. Compared with many other insects, they are uninteresting ; the adults are not given to doing things much more exciting than flitting about, mating, and laying eggs in a relatively common-place way. However, it is only in comparison with some of the other insects that they are uninteresting — "How happy could I be with either, Were t'other dear charmer away!" and, as this little book aims to obey vox populij I have given Lepidoptera what seems to me relatively large — but all too small — consideration. Unless otherwise stated, the descriptions of larvae refer to full-grown specimens, younger ones difter somewhat; and "food" means the food of larvae. The scientific name of this Order means " scaly- winged " and refers to the fact that the hairs which cover the wings are flattened or scale-like. It is these scales which give color to the wing, as may be seen in Plate I which shows the wings of one side denuded. We may accept two sub- orders: Rhopalocera and Heterocera. The "cera" in these names means "horn" and refers to the antennae; the "Rhopalo" means "club," and the "Hetero" means "otherwise, " in the same sense as when we say " Orthodoxy is my doxy and heterodoxy is another kind of doxy." Butterflies have club-shaped antennas, a knob at the extreme end, and belong to the Rhopalocera. Moths are Heterocera : some of them, especially the males, having feathered antennae; some having thread-like antennae; 115 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. some having a swelling in their antennae near, but not at, the end; while a few rare tropical species have orthodox butterfly clubs. The pupae of butterflies are not protected by cocoons as are those of some moths and are usually called **chrysalids" (singular: "chrysalis"). Butterflies, as a rule, fly only by day when but few moths are stirring. Butterflies usually hold their wings erect, when at rest, while moths hold them flat or fold them against the body. RHOPALOCERA Butterflies of the United States are grouped in five families: Nymphahdee, Erycinidae (p. 130), Lycaenidae (p. 131), Papilionidae (p. 134), and Hesperiidae (p. 142). NYMPHALID.E The adults of both sexes in the Brush-footed Butterflies have the front pair of legs so small as to be useless for walking and often quite inconspicuous. The chrysalids hang head-down with the tail fastened in a pad of silk. The Monarch (Plate XXVII) is the Anosia species which gathers in large flocks at the end of summer and together they move south, coming back in the spring as stragglers. The male has a small black patch on one of the veins on the upper side of each hind wing; this is a pocket containing scent- scales, a sachet bag. The adult is ''mimiced" by Basil- archia archippus. The easily recognized larva feeds on milkweeds, fearless of birds because of its acrid taste. The pupa in its "green house with golden nails" is to be found hanging on the same plants or on some near shelter. This strong flier is rapidly becoming world-wide in dis- tribution. Some authors use Danais for the generic name and a formerly used name for the species, archippus^ is apt to be confused with the specific name of the mimic. Anosia berenice (The Queen), somewhat like plexippus 'but with the ground-color a rich brown, occurs in the Southwest and southward. The Anosias belong to the subfamily Euploeina?. In L-.he Gulf vStates there is a narrow-winged species (The 116 Plate XXVII Anosio plexippus 0 r t h e fTi i 5 'Basilarchlo ^_ orchippus / :'' THE FRITILLARIES. Zebra, Heliconius charithonius) , brownish-black striped with yellow, belonging to the subfamily Heliconiinae. This interesting group abounds in the American tropics; its members are supposed to be very distasteful to in- sectivorous vertebrates, and therefore to be models for numerous mimics. The following (to p. 127) belong to the subfamily Nym- phaHnae. Dione vanilla^ (Gulf Fritillary) comes as far north as Virginia: its wing expanse is about three inches; reddish brown above with black spots, of which a row along the margin of each hind wing are circles enclosing brown, and three near the middle of the front margin of the front wing are circular, each enclosing a white dot ; below it is gloriously spangled with silver. The upper side of the Variegated Fritillary Euptoieta -^ ^^^^^ ^^ p^^^^ XXVIII; the under side is not silver-spotted. The larvae feed on pansies, violets, mandrake, passion-flower, Portulacca, and other things. The chrysalis is white and black, with shghtly gilded tubercles. The Regal Fritillary usually prefers Argynms swampy meadows. The male differs from the female (Plate XXVIII) in having the submarginal row of spots orange, instead of cream, and the black margin of the front wings less pronounced. Eggs are laid in the fall and the young larvag live over winter. They feed on violets; are black and yellowish red; and have two rows of yellowish, black-tipped spines on the back, and black spines with orange bases on the sides. The chrysalis is brown, variously marked. Note (Plate XXVIII) the broad yellow- ^'bllT'^ ish band near the edge of the under side of the hind wings of the Great Spangled Fritillary. The larvae feed on violets and hibernate while still young, frequently having eaten nothing but their egg shells. When full grown, they are a rather velvety black with black, sometimes orange-based, spines. The chrysalis is a mottled dark brown, 117 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. Note (Plate XXVIII) the absence of a h^d'T broad yellowish submarginal band on under- side of hind wing, but usually there is a narrow one and it is often difficult to tell aphrodite from cyhele; they may hybridize. The life history, immature stages, and range, much like cyhele. The Mountain Silver-spot is much like ^ til atlantis rgynms ^^^ preceding species but is smaller, and darker at the base of the wings both above and below. On the upper side there usually is present a narrow black border to all the wings and on the hind pair the black spots in the middle are connected to form a very narrow irregular band. Below, the submarginal band of yellow on the hind wings is paler. The males have a decided odor of sandal-wood. In early stages and life history it is similar to aphrodite but it is more confined to mountainous regions especially in the Southeast. There are many other species of this genus in the West, all rather difficult to identify correctly; and Brenthis (q. v.) is often united with it. A. diana of the Southeast is interesting because the male has the outer third of the upper side of the wings orange while the female is black with blue spots. As a rule, larvae of this genus have the front spines the longest ; they feed chiefly at night. The chrysa- lids have a forked head. Although the upper side of the Silver-bor- Brenthis dered Fritillary is tawny with black mark- ings and resembles B. hellona^ the species are easily distinguished by the fact that myrina is rich in silver spots on the under side of the wings (Plate X^IX). Its larvae feed on violets, and after hibernating get to be about an inch long; they are dark olive brown with lighter markings and are covered with fleshy spines. ChrysaHs: dark with darker spots and somewhat curved forward. See Plate XXIX and the description of Brenthis myrina. The Meadow Fritillary has no ^ ^^^ silver underneath. Its life-history is much like that of myrina. The chrysalids of Brenthis have tw^^ rows of conical Ii8 Plate XXVIII EuploieHQ cloudiQ Acybele Arqynnis aphrodite A r q ij n n i 5 i d q I i q THE CRESCENTS, tubercles on their backs. B, montinus is interesting be- cause it is found only on, or near, the summits of the White Mountains ; the underside of the hind wings is much darker than in myrina and the silver spots are not so large or so numerous. See Plate XXIX and discussion concem- Phyciodes ' Melitcea harrisi. The wings of the Silver nycteis J^ ?. , , Crescent are tawny-orange, lighter on the under side, and marked with black; the hind wing, below, is largely silvery white; the usually imperfect "crescent" is along the margin. The larvse, which feed on sunflowers and other Compositas, are brownish-black with a rather conspicuous orange stripe along each side; many rather short, black, hairy spines. Although the larvae hibernate, they do not seem to construct a shelter; probably they crawl into a ''ready-made." The variable Pearl Crescent has two Phycio es broods: those adults which come from tharos ... over-wmtered larvae are (among other differences) brighter and with more distinct light markings on the under side (variety marcia, Plate XXIX) than those which develop during the summer. By chilling the pupae we can cause some of the summer brood to be marcia. The larvae feed on asters and are black with yellow spots above, yellow side-stripes, and yellowish spines. The slightly angulated chrysalis has brownish creases on a light ground-color, and, on the middle of the abdomen, a slight transverse ridge. Phyciodes batesi differs from tharos by having heavier black marki igs above and by the lack of conspicuous dark markings on the lower side of the hind wings, these being almost uniformly pale yellow. I'here are many other species in the West. The adult Bahimore (Plate XXIX) is fn phaeton found m swampy meado\\^s during June and July. The wings are nearly black, marked with red and pale yellow. The larvae, which feed chiefly on Scrophulariaceae, are dark orange, ringed with black, and covered with short hairy spines. They hatch 119 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. in late summer and are gregarious, spinning a silken tent in which they pass the winter; in the spring they scatter and become full grown by June, The chrysalids have a roiinded head, sharp tubercles on their backs, and are whitish with dark and orange miarkings. Resembles Phyciodes nycteis on the ehtaea upper side, but the underside is darker and harrisi , . . ., has a continuous row of silver spots along the outer margin of the hind wings. The larvae feed on the aster, Doellingeria umhellata; they are reddish with a black stripe down the middle and nine rows of black, branched spines. The species of Grapta are called Angle- wings; they "look as if ^lother Nature had with her scissors snipped the edges of their wings, fashioning notches and points accord- ing to the vagaries of an idle mood." The}^ are tawny, with darker markings above, and below there is a combi- nation of brown and gray which corresponds closely with the color of dead leaves. The chrysalis has a forked head and a prominent tubercle on the back of its thorax. All of the species hibernate as adults, hidden in hollow logs and similar places. By stretching your imagination a bit you vjrapta ^ ^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^ Question Mark made by the silver spots on the under side of the hind wings but they look to me like (. and I think Fabriciushad some other question on his mind when he named the species interrogationis. It is also called Violet-tip, because of the violet Papilio-like tail. The summer form {umhrosa) has the dark markings on the upper side "clouded." Plate XXX shows the winter form, fabricii. The larva feeds chiefly on hop and elm ; it has a pair of branched spines on the tip of its head and others on its body; it is chestnut- colored with light dots in longitudinal rov/s. Like other Grapta larvae, it frequently cocks its head when not feeding. The chrysalis, which is the color of dead leaves, is very angular and has a "Roman nose" on its thorax; in addi- tion, the thorax bears one or more pairs of metallic silver or gold spots. 120 Plate XXIX Brenthfs myrino Brenthls bellonci MelitoeQ phaeton Phi|ciodies thoros ^l^^'i^'^ Phyciodes ngctets Larva and \^n\ M.phaeto 121 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, ^ , Harris, a pioneer American entomoloo^ist Grapta comma i .1 • r -, ., , ' named the species from the silver mark on the under side of the hind wings (Plate XXX); and Edwards, one of our earliest and greatest Lepidopter- ists, named the lighter hibernating form harrisi, in his honor, calling the darker summer form dryas. The larva feeds on hop, nettles, and related plants, slightly rolling the leaves for its protection while eating; its color varies from brown to greenish white. " The angulated chrysalis closely resembles that of its allies of the same genus; it is pale wood-brown, tinged and streaked with pale green; the base of the tubercles along the back is of a metallic color, both in this species and in the Violet-tip (which it most resembles), and according to whether the color is silvery or golden, so will the price of hops (on which both are found) be high or low, according to the hop-growers; and so these chrysalids are termed Hop-merchants." This species (Plate XXX) is called Gray Comma; its under side is grayish and its "comma" is tapering at the ends. The larva feeds on currant, gooseberry, etc.; it is spined much like the Violet-tip but the body is yellowish brown, variegated above with dark green. The chrysalis is a striking mixture of buff, olive-green, brown, salmon, and white. The larva of G. faunus feeds on birch, willow, currant, and gooseberry; the adult's wings are deeply notched and the under side of the hind wings, each of which has a silver mark like comma, are strongly tinted with green along the outer third — the "leaf" is not quite dead! It is an in- habitant of mountains as far south as the Carolinas. The English name is Camberwell Beauty Vanessa antiopa ^^^' while rare in England, this species (Plate XXX) is found throughout the tem- perate regions of the world and gets as far south as C»^Hte- mala. We call it Mourning Cloak. It is the largest of those of our butterflies which hibernate as adults, and he who has not seen it flitting in the leafless woods of very early spring or "resting on the black willows, like a leaf still adhering" is indeed unfortimate. Just inside the T22 Plate XXX GroptQ interroqotionis Vanessa antiopu- ' 12% FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, yellow margin of the upper side is a row of blue spots $ the under side is the color of dead leaves. The eggs are laid in masses encircling the twigs of the willows, poplars, and elms upon which the velvety-black larva, with orange- red spots, feeds. The chrysalis is yellowish brown, with darker markings and red-tipped tubercles. Vanessa (or Grapta) j-album, Compton Tortoise, is slightly smaller than antiopa, tawny orange above with (among other markings) three large black patches and a E;pot of white along the front margin; below, ashy brown with a white J or L on the hind wings. V. milberti, Ameri- can Tortoise-shell, is very dark brown above with two tawny orange spots near the middle of the front m.argin and a broad band of similar color across each wing; under surface slate-brown; expanse, two inches or less. Both are northern insects; the larva of the former feeds on birch, and of the latter on nettles. The Red Admiral is found throughout yrameis most of the northern hemisphere. The &t3.l3.iita. Upper surface is purplish black with mark- ings as shown in Plate XXXI, the lightly shaded areas being bright orange and the apical spots white; the under surface of the hind wings is marbled and marked Vvdth wavy lines of intricate pattern and also with a green-dusted submarginal series of obscure "eye-spots." The larva, which feeds on nettle and hop, is usually black, spotted with yellow, and, like V. antiopa, the larvae of this genus have no spines on their heads. The larva slightly rollsj and lines, a leaf for its protection. The chrysalis is ashy brown with golden spots and is to be looked for (but not always to be found) hanging in a leaf which the larva has rolled. Winter is passed in either the pupal or adult stage; it is two-brooded. This species is sometimes called Hunter's Pyrameis Butterfly or Painted Beauty. The upper surface is tawny orange and brownish black, except for the white spots shown in Plate XXXI; the under side of the hind wings has two eye-like spots. The larva feeds on various ''everlastings" and is velvety black 124 Plate XXXI BQSllQrchlQ QStyQHQX .^ JunoniQ coeniQ Pyrameis earful 125 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. with narrow cross lines of yellow and a row of w^hite spots on each side. At first it makes a mat, under w^hich it feeds, of silk and the hairs of its food plant ; later it fastens leaves together and often pupates in this nest. The chrysalis is difficult to describe. Find it. There are two broods a year but pupae are to be found from June to March, although the adult usually emerges early and hibernates. I like ''Thistle Butterfly" better than Pyrameis "Painted Lady" since this lady "was born that way." The upper side is much like huntera; below, however, the hind wings (Plate XXXI) each have more than tw^o, usually four, good eye-spots. The head of the larva is hairy on top ; the body is greenish yellow, mottled with black, and the bristly spines are yellowish. It feeds on burdock, thistle, sunflower, holly- hock, and other plants, making a shelter much like that of huntera. The chrysalis is greenish or bluish white, marked with black and brown, and with tubercles which are often gold-tipped. This species is found throughout the habitable world with the exception of South America. It occasionally migrates in swarms. The upper surface of the Buckeye (Plate Junonia coenia XXXI) is dark brow^n with conspicuous peacock-like eye-spots, small orange spots, a dull whit- ish band on each front wing and a narrow but conspicu- ous band of yellowish orange on each hind wing; the under surface is gray-brown with much the same mark- ings except that the eye-spots of the hind wings are much reduced. The larva feeds on plantain, snapdragon, and Gerardia; it is dark gray, with yellow^ stripes and spots, and with purple spines, one pair of which is on the head. It is a southern species which gets as far north as New England. The upper side of the Red-spotted Purple Basilarchia is black and pale blue or green; the lower side is brown with a submarginal row of red spots, two red spots at the base of the fore wings, and four at the base of the hind wings. The curiously shaped larva is mottled with brown, olivaceous, and cream; it feeds on 126 I PURPLES AND THE VICEROY, the leaves of a variety of woody plants, especially willo\V and wild cherry. When young, it is much given to eating each side ol the outer end of a leaf and using the midrib, strengthened with silk, etc., as a perch on which to rest. When about half grown, it rolls the uneaten portion together, lines it and fastens it to the twig with silk, and passes the winter in this snug retreat. Scudder describes the chrysalis as "grotesquely variegated with patches and streaks of pale salmon, dark olivaceous, inky plumbeous, and yellow-brown, the lighter tints prevailing." The name Limenitis is often used instead of Basilar chia and this species is sometimes called Ursula. There are apparent intergrades between this and the following species. Plate XXVII gives a sufficient descrip- Basilarchia ^-^^^ q£ ^j^^ upper side of the Banded Purple; the under side is dark brown with similar markings and some orange spots in addition. The larva feeds on birch, willow, poplar, etc.; it is somewhat like astyanax (but has a saddle of pale buff) and has similar habits. Like some other young butterflies, it loosely fastens a small ball of leaf-scraps near its feeding place; this is supposed to distract an enemy's attention from it- self. This Canadian species reaches into northern United States in the high altitudes. Plate XXVII shows the Viceroy, which is Basilarchia g^^gQ called disippus^ in three of its stages. ipp Anosia plexippus is believed to have a taste which birds do not like and, as that species has a very striking appearance, any species which resembles it would be likely to be unmolested by them. B. archippus is said to *' mimic" A. plexippus for the sake of this pro- tection but that implies more than we know, all of which is that the two look marvelously alike and that archippus has departed widely from the appearance of its relatives. Plate XXVII was arranged to illustrate vividly this case of "mimicry," arthemis being taken as an example of the relatives of Basilarchia. Equally striking instances of the same phenomenon are known in tropical butterflies. The larva, which feeds on willow and poplar, varies greatly in its coloration. 127 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. Skipping a number of species which are not likely to b& seen by many users of this book, we come to the sub- family SatyrincB, the Nymphs and Satyrs, sometimes more descriptively called the Aleadow-browns. Their la.w3e have the last segment forked and the chrysalids are rounded. The brown of Pearly Eye's wmgs (Plate po^rtUndia XXXII) has been described as "clay," "soft," "Quaker drab" and "with pearly gray tints." The spots on the under surface are distinctly eyed and there are conspicuous pearly violet markings. The larva is yellowish green with red-tipped horns and caudal forks ; it feeds on grasses and hibernates when about half grown. The color of the upper side of the Grass Satyxodes Nymph's wings (Plate XXXII) is de- canthus ., ^^ 01 ,, 1 -. • • -. scribed as mouse-brown ; below it is slaty brown and the eye-spots are larger than those on the upper surface. The tubercles on the head of the green larva are red, striped with brown, and the tails are also red; it feeds on coarse grasses and sedges and, unlike its near relatives, is active by day. It is rather local in its distribution, pre- ferring moist meadows. This lover of shady forest-edges, the Little eurytus Wood-satyr (Plate XXXII), is dark brown above and lighter below, where the eye- spots are more distinctly ringed with yellow. The larv^a is greenish white, marked with brown, but there is no red; it feeds on grasses. Neonympha phocion is a southern relative of eurytus; it has no spots above and the three (or four) spots on the underside of the hind wings are so narrowed that they might be called squint-eyed. Tlie reader may find other species of this genus but will recognize them as Satyrinse, at least. The dark brown Common Wood-nymph Satjrrus alope (Plate XXXII) has several varieties, which are sometimes considered to be distinct species. The form in which the yellow bands on the fore wings are 128 Plate XXXII Debis porllondia * Sotyrodes CQnthus eonymphQ eurytus Sotyrus Qlope variety nephele 129 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. clouded with brown is called nephele and replaces alope in the north, New York City being in the tension zone. Together, they and other varieties of alope cover practically the whole of the United States and Canada. Along the Atlantic coast some individuals (called mari- tima) have the yellow band orange. The green larva has no "horns" on its head and is devoid of markings except for two pale stripes on each side; it feeds on grasses. The figure of the Snout-butterfly (Plate Libythea^ XXXIII) saves further description. The "snout" is made up of elongated palpi — a characteristic of the subfamily Libytheinas, of which this is the only representative in the Northeast, and probably other U. S. forms are merely varieties. Curiously enough, the males have only four usable feet although the females have six. The larva feeds on hackberry and wolf berry; its last two thoracic segments are slightly thickened; this "hump" bears two black tubercles ringed with yellow; the general body- color is green and there are three longi- tudinal stripes of yellow. Erycinid^ According to the system followed here, the same as is used by Holland in his Butterfly Book, all the species thus far considered belong to the family Nymphalidae. We come now to the Lemoniidas or Erycinidae, a family whose chief home is the American tropics. Their common name is Metal-marks. The same sexual difference in legs as was noted in the Libytheinae and as exists also in the Lycaenidae holds here. All the Nymphalid chrysalids hang by their tails; the Erycinid chrysalids have their tails fastened but they also have a silken support for their backs which holds them upright. The Northern Metal-mark (Plata Calephelis XXXIII) ranges from South Carolina to New York and Michigan and is the only Erycinid to be found so far north; a somewhat similar but smaller species (C. virginiensis, not ccEnius) is found just south of it. 130 THE HAIR-STREAKS, LvCiENID^ The Hair-streaks, Coppers, and Blues puzzle even the professional. Legs ("more or less") and method of hanging chrysalids are as in Erycinidae, but the Lycaenidae have neithqr a costal nor a humeral vein in the hind wings. Please do not ask any more questions just now but see Plate XXXIII, which will give you a general notion of the appearance of these creatures. The larvag are flat and something like slugs. The larva of the Common or Gray Hair- st melinus ^®^^* streak feeds on the developing seeds of hop, beans, Cynoglossum^ Hypericum^ and other plants. Plate XXXIII shows the adult. In the South- east there are two species whose upper sides somewhat resemble melinus: T, wittfeldi, which is larger and has conspicuous blue scales at the rear angles of its hind wings; and r. favonius, which has a red spot on each fore wing. The larva of the Olive Hair-streak feeds ^ ®^ ^ on cedar, but not smilax as some books damon say. The species is found in the East from Ontario to Texas, and several varieties have been described, Plate XXXIII shows that the adult is greenish below, T, halesus (Illinois southward) is iridescent bluish-green above on the thorax and basal half of the wings; below, the front wings are nearly plain; all of the wings have a crimson spot near the base and there are three rows of green spots on each hind wing. T, m-album (New Jersey and Wisconsin southward) is bluish on the inner half of the upper surface but, below, each fore wing is crossed by two lines of white, one of which is continued on the hind wing and is M-shaped at the rear. The larvae of both feed on oak. In addition, the following have more or less safe (for the Northeast) catch characters: Hind wings with long tails. r. cecrops: a red band across the. Ipwer surface of the wings just beyond the middle; New Jersey and Indiana southward; larva imknown. T, calanus: a double row of 131 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, close, dark, blue-edged spots just beyond the middle; Quebec to Colorado and Texas; larva on oak, chestnut, and walnut. T. liparops: numerous, broken, white cross- lines on under surface; north of the Gulf States to Quebec and the Rockies, not common; larva on Vaccinium (other food records are probably erroneous) = Hind wings with almost, or quite, no tail. T. titus: a row of coral-red spots on under side of hind wings; Canada to Florida and the Rockies; larva on plum and wild cherry. T. niphon: fringe of upper side of wings alternately brown and white, under side of wings rich, mottled brow^n, with distinct wavy white lines; larva on pines; Nova Scotia to Colorado. T. augustus: expanse less than one inch (smallest of the group), below uniform rusty brown except for darker basal area of the hind wings ; larva on Kalmia and Vaccinium; North Atlantic States, northward and westward. Probably all the Thecla larvae are attended by ants for the sake of their sweetish excretions and titus, at least, regularly passes the day in ants' nests, feeding by night. Scudder, the Master Lepidopterist, in Feniseca whose works most of the statements con- cerning butterflies which are given in this and similar books are to be found, used "The Wanderer" as the nickname for this species (Plate XXXIII) but says in Everyday Butterflies that it is "a very local insect, and apparently never wanders more than a few rods from its birthplace." Holland, who has done so much to popu- larize the study of Lepidoptera, uses as the English nam^e j *'The Harvester," but harvesting connotes vegetable' products. I am taking the liberty of dubbing it The ' Carnivore because its larva alone, of all our butterflies, is regularly a meat-eater although its relatives, if pressed by hunger, will eat each other. The female lays her eggs, usually singly, in, or near, masses of aphids (plant lice), especially of the woolly aphis of the alder. The larva has mandibles with four sharp, claw-like teeth and the whole mouth is fitted for sucking the body fluids of the victims* If aphids are the ants' cow^s, tarquinius is a beef -eater. 132 Plate XXXIII Lucoena 'comqnlQs Lucoena ladon / _ , \pUpQ Chrysophonus \ ■ v hypophloeus I ^1 FenisecQ iQrquinius Libytheo Calephelis bQchmoRi boreolis THE COPPERS AND BLUES. Possibly in order to hide from the ants, which might resent their ravages, the larvas Hve in a silken web which they spin and cover with empty ''hides." Possibly it is this strong diet which quickens the metamorphosis, for the larva reaches the pupal stage in three, instead of four or five, molts. Scudder points out a resemblance to a monkey*s face in the markings of the chrysalis (enlarged in Plate XXXIII). This species, w^hose nearest relatives live chiefly in Asia and Africa, is found from Nova Scotia to the Gulf States and in the Mississippi Valley. It should be said that the markings on the upper side of the adult are variable; the under side is paler and the hind wings have many small light-brown spots not appearing above. There are other American Coppers — h^ThSur^ butterflies, I mean,— but this species (Plate XXXIII) was once "really-named" americanuSy hence the "common" name. The adult is a fearless, pugnacious, active, little beauty. The larva feeds on sorrel (Rumex). Pupation usually takes place under an over-hanging stone, in which condition one brood passes the winter. The Bronze Copper is about half again Chrysophanus ^^ large as hypophlcBus; the female resembles that species on its upper side except that the dark base of the hind wing does not extend out so far; the male differs from both in having the upper surface of the front wing almost as dark as the base of the hind wing and with a violet reflection. The larva feeds on Rumex, There are two annual broods, and winter is passed in the egg. Ranges from Alaine to Pennsylvania and Colorado. The delicate hair-like tails of the Eastern Lycaena Tailed Blue (Plate XXXIII) will repay comyntas , . . , . ... close exammation; they have a white tip- The female is largely dark brown above. The larvas feed on clover and other Legumes, those of one of the three annual broods hibernating. 133 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. The Common Blue is also called pseud- Lycaena ladon argiolus and the Spring Azure. Small, blue butterflies are pretty sure to be this species, if they have no tails; but it is a creature of many fashions, some of which are shown in Plate XXXIII. These forms are partly sexual, partly seasonal (there are two broods around New York), partly climatic, and probably partly something else. The larvae feed on the flowers of various plants including Cornus^ Cimicifuga, Actinomeris^ SpircEa^ and Ceanothus, Ants attend the larvae and, by touching them with their antennas, induce the larvae to excrete from abdominal glands a sweet fluid which tha ants drink. Papilionid^ Both sexes of the Swallow-tails and their relatives have, normally, six good walking leg'o. The chrysalids have a silk supporting strap around them but it does not hold them as closely to the surface upon which they are fixed as in the Erycinidae and L3^c£enidae. This undesirable immigrant, the Im- Pierisrapae ^^^.^^^ Cabbage-butterfly (Plate XXXIV), is the only butterfly which seriously injures our crops. It was accidentally introduced from Europe in i860 at Quebec and in 1868 at New York; in twenty years it covered about half of the United States and Canada; now no cabbage patch from coast to coast is too small or too isolated for rapcB, The well-known green larva feeds on a variety of cruciferous plants but likes cabbage best — Thank you! There are usually three broods a season, winter being passed as a chrysalis from which adults emerge early in the spring before the native cabbage butterflies are stirring. These early spring adults are smaller and less heavily marked than the summer form, which is here illustrated. Some individuals (variety immaculata) are without the black spots on the upper side of the wings but the underside of the hind wings are yellowish as in the typical form. 134 Plate XXXIV Pieris rapoe W *£>*>*"#' / i ■■■■ "^fir Pieris protodice ''■^l^raceQ Euchloe genufiQ Largely White Bulterjlies 135 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTSc The Checkered White (Plate XXXIV) •^^®"^. is also called the Southern Cabbage Butter- protodice fly and used to be called the Common White but, like our other native cabbage-feeders, its numbers are diminishing as. those of the foreigner increase. The larvae feed on crucifers and, when they get a chance at cabbage, they merely eat the outside leaves, which are not worth much at any rate. The veins on the under side of the female's wings, especially the hind ones, are tinged with greenish yellow. Those adults which come from overwintered chrysalids (var. vernalis) have so much greenish gray on the hind wings that the white is reduced to narrow^ triangular spots; spots on the upper side are much reduced, or even absent. The larva of the Old-fashioned Cabbage- Piens napi butterfly now feeds on such crucifers ab it can get, but it is said to have been the Cabbage Butterfly. Some call it the Mustard White; some, the Gray- veined White. The Comstocks say ''The species is essentially northern, but it spread far south when Pieris rapce was introduced. In some way the European species has greatly reduced its numbers; it has literally taken to the woods as a result of this invasion and is seldom found elsewhere." It is naturally (not by hu- man intervention) found in Europe and throughout North America as far south as the Gulf States, but it varies greatly with region and season. Plate XXXIV shows the form you are most likely to see. To quote the Comstocks again : ** Evidently this species has not concluded whether it will in its final form be all white; or have the front margins and tips of the front wings blackish; or have one spot on each front and hind wing; or have one black blotch along the wings outside the middle; or if it will have the veins of both wings above penciled with gray." In the Gulf States there is Pieris monuste, which has a wing expanse of from 1.75 to 2.3 inches; the male is whitish above, except for a narrow brown outer margin to the fore wings ; the female has a broad brown outer m^argin on the fore wings, as well as a narrow brown outer margin on the hind wings, above. 136 THE COMMON SULPHUR, Do not be disturbed if you see the generic name Pontia instead of Pieris; it is probably better. See also Colias for a white butterfly which may confuse you. Plate XXXIV shows the male Falcate Euchloe Orange-tip, the orange tip being indicated by shading. The female has no such tip on the upper surface and neither sex has it below, the markings there being light greenish brown. The larva, which feeds on rock-cress, shepherd 's-purse, and other CruciferoC, is bluish green, with pale dorsal and side stripes, but, if you look closely, you can see fine stripes of other colors. Probably you have noticed that, among ?.l^^.. ^ flock of yellow butterflies, the Common philodice Sulphurs, which rises from a roadside pool as you pass, there is sometimes a white individual. This is usually an albino philodice and, it so, almost certainly a female. However, even when white, the species can be distinguished from Pieris by the silvery-centered spots on the under side of the wings (see Plate XXXV). The common, but rarely noticed, green larvae feed upon clover leaves. Colias eurytheme is about as variable as P. napi but can usually be recognized by the strong orange tint of the yellow on the upper side and the marginal markings which suggest philodice. Its larva feeds on clover. Most of us will agree with the Comstocks Meganostoma ^^^^ ^^^ u£^^^„ ^^ ^^^ Dog-face (Plate caesonia . . o \ XXXV) is more like that of a duck than of a dog. However, it makes the species easily recognizable. You may find it listed in some books under Colias or Zerene; in nature you will find it from Pennsylvania (very rarely) and southern Wisconsin to the Gulf States. Its larva feeds on false indigio {Amorpha) and (?) clover. Catopsilia eubule: Nearly every year strong-flying individuals of this southern species get even further north than Long Island; it has a wing expanse of 2.5 inches; 137 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, the male is plain yellov/ above, and the female has a row of dark brown spots along the outer margin of the front wings and a somewhat similar spot in the center of these wings. The larva feeds on Cassia and other legumes. The Little Sulphur may be recognized Teriaslisa ^^^ ^^^^^ ^£ p^^^^ XXXV; the female is paler on the upper side than the male and the black border of the hind wing is much broken or nearly ab- sent. The larva feeds on Cassia and there are three broods, but we are not sure how our northern winters are passed. My guess w^ould be that they are passed in the South, after the fashion of Anosia plexippus. In this connection it should be said that "clouds" of the autumn brood of adults have been noted as landing on Bermuda from the northw^est, having covered six hundred miles of ocean. Albinic individuals are sometimes found. Terias nicippe is much like lisa but somewhat larger; the front wings of both sexes are tinged with orange and the hind wings, especially of the female, have short, but rather broad, cross-spots of iron-rust color. The larval food and (?) life history are the same as lisa. In the Gulf States there are three rather common species (elathea^ delia, and jiicunda) w^hich cannot be differentiated in a few words; they may be known collectively by being something like lisa but with a conspicuous dark band along the hind margin of the front wings, upper surface. This generalization, however, includes Nathalis iole, which occurs from southern Indiana to Colorado and northern Mexico. Its small size (wing expanse of not over 1.25 inches) helps one to ''spot" it. The Sulphurs and Whites are classed together as the Pierin^. The Swallow-tails {Papilio) and the western genus Parnassius make up the subfamily Papilioninae. This is the Giant Swallow-tail. The :.apilio adult shown on Plate I is smaller and somewhat duller than the average. The form of all of the stages showm is typical of Papilios. In the South it is called Orange Dog because its larva feeQ» 138 Plate XXXV CoHqs philodice TcriQS ll5Q Meqanostomo coBsonia 139 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. on citrus leaves, and some authors use tkoas as its specific name, but this should be applied to a more southern species. The horns on the larva are fleshly affairs, which may be withdrawn or extruded through a slit in the thorax; not onl}^ is their sudden appearing supposed to frighten the larva's enemies but these horns exhale an odor which, in some species, is quite disagreeable — in other words, the young of the beautiful creatures are insect skunks. The meaning of the color on the right side of the adult, as shown in Plate I, is explained on p. 115. The wings are more largely yellow below than above. The home of this species is the North American subtropics, but it seems to be working northward (where the larva feeds on prickly ash and Ptelea) and has been taken in Canada. There are from two to four annual broods, depending upon location. Papilio One of the rules about scientific names is glaucus and that the first name used for a species, if var. turnus accompanied by a description, shall be the name. Xow Linnaeus evidently intended to call the yellow Tiger Swallow-tail turnus, but, in his description, he first referred to the dark form of the female (Plate XXXVI), which is rare in the North but common in the South, as glaucus; therefore glaucus is the name of the species, but you may call it turnus. The larva feeds on orchard and other trees, especially wild cherry, but is never injurious. It has the luxurious habit of spinning a web on top of a leaf, drawing it so tightly that it has a spring couch upon which to rest when not feeding. There is a pair of eye-like spots on the thorax, and, when the true head is drawn under so that these appear to be on the head, the thoracic "horns" are shot out, and the front part of the body is swayed back an6 forth, even you might hesitate to disturb its siesta. The Spice-bush Swallow-tail is sometimes ^^?^^^^ called the Green-clouded Swallow-tail be- cause of the color of the upper surface of the hind wings; the female does not have the green so pro- nounced but has hazy blue spots along thr '^'ou'^'s outer 14.0 Plate XXXVI rroilus poiyxenes philenor THE SWALLOW=TAILS. margin (Plate XXXVI shows the male); below, the front margin, at least, of the green cloud is replaced by a row of orange spots. The larva feeds chiefly on sassafras and spice-bush {Benzoin); it makes a series of succcessively larger shelters for its resting times by folding a leaf at the midrib, fastening the fold by silk threads placed near the crease instead of at the edges. It keeps these shelters scrupulously clean, eating its cast skin, when it molts, except that it throws out the inedible cast ''skull." A sometimes-used scientific name, asterias, Papilio -g ^igQ ^Yie common name. Plate XXXVI shows the female; the male is not so dark, his blue spots are not so pronounced, but his yellow spots on the inner row are much larger. The larva is wasteful; it eats our parsley and carrots, instead of sticking to umbelliferous weeds, and does not eat its cast skins as do its near relatives; otherwise it is a beautiful creature which, like many of its relatives, changes the color and cut of its dress at every molt, and which will stick out its orange horns if you but threaten to poke it. The species is found throughout the Atlantic States and the Mississippi Valley; w^hat have been considered races of it extend this distribution to most parts of North America and south to Cuba and Peru. Plate XXXVI shows the male Pipe- vine Papiho Swallow-tail; the female has a row of philenor ... ... ^ distinct spots on each fore wmg, correspond- ing to those on the hind wings. The inner margins of the male's hind wings are folded over and contain scales which give off a faint odor, presumably for the sake of pleasing the female. It should be said that many m.ale Lepidoptera have similar scent-scales, placed in various parts of the wings, body, and legs. The larva of philenor feeds on the Dutchman's-pipe {Aristolochia) and differs from most of its relatives by having, even' when mature, fleshy spines on several of the front and rear segments. Instead of depositing her eggs singly, the female lays them in little bunches; and the larv^, when young, feed side by side at the edge of a leaf. 141 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, Papilio palamedes (wing-expanse, 4 to 4K inches) suggests a giant polyxenes in which the inner row of yellow spots on the upper surface of the hind wings is a continuous band and there are three yellow spots near the front between two rows on the fore wings. Its normal range is from Virginia and Alissouri to Florida and Texas, its larva feeding on JMagnolia and Lauraceai. Papilio marcellus (formerly called ajax) suggests turnuSy but has tails twice as long, is white instead of yellow, has more black on the upper surface and, in addi- tion, a red spot or two near the middle of the inner (hind) margin of the hind wings. It is found almost every w^here that its larval food (papaw) occurs in the eastern half of the United States. We have other species of Papilio y especially in our West and Southwest; some having no tails (e. g. polydamas, which also carries perfume, of Florida), some two tails (e. g. daunus of the western mountains), and the rare pilumnus of Arizona having three tails. Hesperiid^ I fear that Plate XXXVII will be exasperating to those attempting to start an acquaintance with this interesting but most difficult family. Flowever, there has been but little call for information concerning them, and there are so many species that a great number must neces- sarily be omitted. There are at least fift}^ species in New Jersey — other regions are also well, many better, supplied, about 2000 species having been described. The adults arc, for the most part, small and fly with rapid starts and stops, as is indicated by their nickname. Skippers. When resting, many of them (especially the Pamphilinae) hold the front wings at an angle different from that of the hind pair. Both sexes have six feet; their eyes are overhung with curving "lashes" and the antennas of many species are hooked at the tip. The larvag are smooth and usually have a head, some- what rough and hairy, which looks too big and seems to be supported by a too slender neck. The appearance of many suggests moth larvae, and nearly all of the species THE SKIPPERS, bhiw a further resemblance to moths in that they spin a sort of cocoon within which they pupate. This cocoon is never very thick or complete and is merely a further development of a habit of the younger larva:; still, it is more of a cocoon than some moths make. The habit, just referred to, consists of folding leaves or fastening several together with silk so that the lar\^ae m.ay have a retreat when resting or molting. All species keep these nests quite clean and some have interesting little tricks about their homes. Scudder notes that Thanaos iceluSy which folds over part of a leaf, fastens it at first with long strands of silk so that there is an ''abundance of space for air, or, indeed, the entrance of nearly any enemy"; but, when the time comes for one of the several changes of clothes, the larva brings the edges of the leaf tightly together and fastens them securely. Alany species make a new nest, out of a different leaf, at each molt, and the same keen observer noted that Thanaos lucilius, "when it leaves a nest to form a larger one always first bites off the strands which have kept the old flap in place. '^ Reference has already been made to the fact that many male Lepidoptera are addicted to the use of perfume. Among the Hesperiidae, the males of the subfamily Hesperiin^ tend to have the scent-scales (androconia) in a tiny fold along the front margin of the fore wings; in the subfamily Pamphilinae these scales are near the middle of the upper surface of the fore wings in a conspicuous patch, which the Comstocks described as looking "to the naked eye like a scorched oblique streak or brand." The following notes concerning a few species (together with Plate XXXVII) v/ill help start you off, if you wish to go, but one difticulty is that a given sex often resembles the same sex of a different species m^ore closely than it does the opposite sex of its own species; furthermore, the same sex often has one or more varieties. Hesperiinae Epargyreus tityrus. The light marks are yellowish except for the large silver spot on hind wing. Larva on locust (Robinia), etc. 143 FIE:LD BOOK OF INSECTS, Eudamus proteus. About the size of £. tityi us but eac'h hind wing has a long tail; greenish on hind wings, especially of males. American tropics to (rarely) New York. Larva on Legumes. Achlarus lycidas suggests tityrus but has no tails; it has no silver spot beneath, but a white smear along outer margin of hind wings. Larva on tick-trefoil {Desmodium). Thorybes hatliyllus. Adults have white faces. Larva on bush-clover (Lespedeza) and other Legumes. T. pylades is much like hathyllus but the spots are smaller and the face is brown. Larval food the same. Hesperia tessellata. Appears to be a white butterfly strongly marked with black. Larva on Sida. Thanaos juvenalis: general color blackish brown with black mottlings and w^hite, semitransparent dots; larva on oaks and Legumes. T. hrizo is about the size of juvenalis; it lacks the white dots, has two distinct rows of arrow-head, black marks on each front wing, and has more gray scales. Larva on oaks and probably Legum.es. T. luciliusAs about half the size of these; ic nas minute but distinct white dots on the front wings. Larv'a on colum- bine {Aquilegia). PJiolisora catullus is much like T. lucilius bat is blacker, the white dots are more scattered, and it lacks the mottlings of Thanaos. Larva on lamb's quarters (Chenopodium) and Amarantace^.. Pamphilinas In this subfamily, however the sexes may differ above, they are much alike below. Except w^here stated, the light areas, on the species mentioned here, are yellowish. Ancyloxypha numitor. Larva on marsh grasses. Erynnis sassacus. Larva on grasses. Catia druryi egeremet. The light areas are greenish yellow. Larva on grasses. New England to Wisconsin and our southern border. Polites coras and Ilylephila phylcBus. Larvae on grasses. Tliymelicus mystic is much like E. sassacus but the ** brand" on the male is more like that of H. phylcBus; lower side of the hind wings is more distinctly banded or 144 Plate XXXVII Epargij'reus .tityrus Thurybes . bathijllu5 larva t.r^^'^^ and ThanQOs juvenalis I HesperiQ ,, ^ Ancyloxyphanumitor -^^ \{ HylephiiQ phyloeus pocohontQs fl Polites coras Alrytone hobomoK CatiQdruryi egeremenl 10 ^45 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, spotted than in sassacus. It is often caught with this species but is abundant later in the season. Atrytone hobomok. The variety pocahoiitas is always female; the light markings are cream-color. Larva on grasses. Megathyminae Megatliymus is a genus in which the adults are stout bodied and have a wing expanse of about three inches. Their larvae bore in the pith of Yucca. This genus has been variously placed and at one time was considered to belong with the moths. HETEROCERA See p. 115 for some of the distinctive characteristics of Moths. Sphingid.^ These trim creatures are, for the most part, called Hawk Aloths from their strong flight, but some are called Humming-bird Moths. Although strong of flight, the wings, especially the hind ones, are small in comparison with the body, which is usually stout and tapered at the hind end. The larvae are hairless, except when very young, and usually have a horn (absolutely harmless) at the hind end of the body; in some species, especially when the larvse are full-grown, this horn is reduced to a tubercle and in some it is entirely absent. The name of the family and its English translation, "Sphinx," comes from the more or less sphinx-like attitude of the larvs when at rest with their front segments elevated and the head drawn in. Pupation takes place in or on the ground and some pupae have a "handle" which is really a sheath for their long tongue. As far as I know, all the adults feed and, with a few exceptions, all are crepuscular. When at rest, their long tongues are tightly curled up under their head like a watch spring. There are many species, but they are difficult to characterize in few words and I must regretfully refer the reader to more special books, such as Holland's Moth Book, for the identification of the majority. 146 HUMMING-BIRD SPHINX MOTHS, . The adults of this genus of Humming-bira Moths, which is also called Hcemorrhagia and which belongs to the subfamily Macroglossinas, ' have wings from which part of the scales rub off so easily that they are almost never seen and those portions of the wings are, therefore, described as trans- parent. These adults have the unmothlike habit of flying freely in the bright sunlight and, when hovering at flowers, they closely resemble humming-birds. Plate XXXVIII shows the typical (summer) form of the northern race of thy she. The spring form, cimhiciformis, differs, among other ways, in having the outer margin of the trans- parent areas an even line. There are also two seasonal forms of the southern race. Hemaris dijfmis is smaller than thysbe and has the dark areas on the abdomen black instead of reddish. When flying, it suggests a bumble- bee. The thorax of Hemaris gracilis is greener, in life, than thysbe and has a pair of reddish, longitudinal lines on the under side of its thorax. All three are eastern species, gracilis being confined to the Atlantic States and usually not as common as the others. Their larvae feed on relatives of the honeysuckle, such as snowberry (Symphoricarpos) and Viburnum. They usually pupate in fallen leaves and generally make a poor sort of a cocoon. The pupas do not have free tongue-cases. Chcerocampinae Amphion nessus flies about twilight, and earlier, in May and June. It has a wing-expanse of two inches, or more, but its body is only about an inch long; its general color consists of various shades of brown ; there is a narrow, yellowish- white band across the abdomen; the hind wings have reddish centers and yellowish- white front margins; the outer edge of each front wing has two marked indenta- tions. The larva feeds on grape, Virginia creeper, and other plants; it has a short, rough tail-horn, a brown body-color with black and yellow dottings, and the third and fourth segments somewhat enlarged. It pupates in fallen leaves, usually spinning a few threads. 147 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. Sphecodina ahhotii has a wa\^^ outer margin of the front wings similar to that of nessus but, among other differ- ences, the basal half or two-thirds of the hind wings is yellow. It flies, as a rule, just after sunset. The larvae, which feed on grape and Virginia creeper, have two color forms, green and brown; they have an eye-like tubercle instead of an anal horn. Even more than most of their relatives, they thrash their tails about. Eliot and Soule say: "We have seen orioles try to pick up an ahhotii larva on our woodbine, and dart away with a scream when it lifted its snake-like anal end with the tubercle shining like an eye. The caterpillars make a squeaking noise; how they make it we do not know." Other Sphingid larvae make a similar noise. The tongue-case is not free. The adults of this com.mon Striped Sphinx Hneat?'^^ (Plate XXXVIII) may be found flying at, apparently, any hour of the day or night from July to November. Celerio is sometimes used for the generic name. ''When full-grown the caterpillars are three inches long and vary greatly in coloring and mark- ings. There seem to be two styles of dress ; one is yellowish green with a series of connected spots along each side of the back, each spot being colored crimson, yellowy and black; the other dress is black, with a yellow line down the mnddle of the back, and yellow spots of various sizes along the sides. These two styles may be varied in many ways" (Dickerson). There is a distinct anal horn. Although it is sometimes called the Purslane Sphinx, the larvs feed on a great variety of plants including apple, grape, Virginia creeper, and currant. It is sometimes injurious to cultivated plants but it has never hurt "pursley" enough to suit me. Sometimes they make a loose, open cocoon at the surface of the ground, but usually they go just below the surface and spin no threads. The tongue- case is not free. Deilephila intermedia is much like lineata except that it has only two pairs of dark marks on its abdomen and the veins of the front wings are not marked with whitish. It is not usually common but it ranges from Canada to 148 Plate XXXVIII Deilephila nealQ Hemans thysbe ^ Ampelophagus myron t Pholus pandorus THE HOQ SPHINX. ^Mexico, and a nearly related species is found in the Eastern Hemisphere. The larva feeds on grape, Epilohiuniy and other plants. This (Plate XXXVIII) may be but a form °,"^ of satellitia. It flies at dusk, and later, pandorus from June to November. The larv^a, which feeds on grape and Virginia creeper, is green, when young, and has a long horn, which often curls over its back; but the full-grown larvae are tailless and usualty brown. The pupa, with adhering tongue-case, is usually formed (Underground. It is a widely distributed species with several local races. PJiolus achemon has a brown general color, the basal three-fourths of the hind wings are pink, and the dark markings on the hind margin of each front wing are re- duced to a rectangular spot near the middle and a smaller, triangular spot near the outer end. Larval and pupal habits like those of pandorus. For some reason, or none, this species Ampelophagus -^ ^^^^^^ -^ Sphinx. Plate XXXVIII myron shows a larva bearing on its back the co- coons of an Ichneumonid whose larvae had been feeding on the tissues of the moth's larvae. Such cocoons may be found on many kinds of caterpillars but this species is much afflicted by the parasites. The principal food plants of myron are grape and Virginia creeper. A cocoon is made among fallen leaves. A, pliolus is much like myron but the front wings are brownish. Its larva feeds on Virbunum and Azalea, There are two annual broods. A . versicolor differs from myro7t in having a white median- dorsal line and, on the thorax, a pair of white side lines, white markings on the green front wings and a broad, whitish hind-margin of the hind wings. The larvae feed on Hydrangea, Decodon, and buttonball (Cephalanthus) , 149 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. Sphinginae A name commonly used for this genus is Phlegethontius p^^t^parce; caralina (Plate XXXIX) was Carolina and ,, - , - , . „ celeus called sexta because of tne six orange-yellow spots on each side of the adult's abdomen, and celeus was called qumque-maculatus because it has five such spots. The general color of the adult Carolina is grayish brown; celeus is much lighter and, among other differences, the dark lines corresponding to the two outer ones on the hind wings of Carolina are fused to form a band and the three inner lines are distinctly zigzagged. The mature larva of celeus may be distinguished from that of Carolina by the fact that the lower ends of the light markings on the side of the abdomen curve backward below the spiracles (breathing holes). In the South the pupae are sometimes called ''hornblowers" because the free tongue-case suggests a wind instrument. The larvae are called Tobacco Worms or Tomato Worms, according to the crop on which they are found. The^^- also eat the leaves of potato and other Solanaceae. Smerinthinse The Modest Sphinx is not usually com- Pachysphinx xnon but, when seen, always attracts atten- modesta . „, , ^ ^ . ~ . tion. ihe shaded portions ot the wmgs (Plate XXXIX) are brown, tinged, on the hind wings, with pink ; the dark spot near the angle of each hind wing is purplish black. A western form, occidentalism has whitish front wings and largely pink hind wings. The larvae feed on poplars and w^illows, pupating in the ground. Some authors place this species in the Oriental genus Marumha. Holland explains the scientific name of Sphinx ^ ^^^ Twin-spot Sphinx as follows: ''This ^mtnatus^ beautiful hawk moth was originally named and described in error by Drury as coming from the Island of Jamaica. He also was so unfortunate as to have had for his type an aberrant specimen in which the ocellus of the hind wing had but one blue spot. Such 150 Plate XXXIX Phlegethonlius caro pQchusphinx rfiodestQ Sphinx qeminatus IS! FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, specimens now and then occur, and have been obtained by breeding from the normal form, to which Say gave the name geminahis. Specimens also sometimes occur in which there are three blue spots in the ocellus, and ]\Ir. Grote gave to this aberrant form the name tripartitusy The ground-color of the wings is light gray but the eye- spots (Plate XXXIX) are set in a pink area; the thorax and front wings are marked with rich brown. The larvae are bluish green with yellowish white lines and granules; the horn is usually blue but sometimes greenish or even pink. They feed on willows, poplars, birches, and wild cherry. The tongue-case of the pupa is not free. Adults fly from Alay to August. Sphinx cerisyi has a wing-expanse of about four inches and the single ocellus on each hind wing consists of a dark spot surrounded by, first, a light ring and, then, a dark one. Its larva feeds on willow. Adults of Calasymholus (also called Paonis) have, on each hind wing, a light dot surrounded by a dark ring. The size and outline of the wings of C. myops are almost exactly those of S, geminatus but the general color of the front wings is brown and the eye-spots of the hind wings are set in a yellow area. Larvae on wild and cultivated cherry. C. astylus is about like myops in size and general color but the outline of the wings is more even and the front wings have a white streak parallel to their outer margins. Larv^ on huckleberry and dangleberry. C. exccEcatiis is somewhat larger than geminatus and it has a similar pinkish area on the hind wings but the general color is browner and the outer margins of the front wings are saw-toothed, six or eight teeth to each. Larvae on Rosaceae and a large number of other trees. Sphingid larvae are so easily recognized as being Sphin- gids that the following additional notes may be helpful but it should be said that larvae often eat other sorts of leaves also. Larvae of Theretra (Chcerocampa) tersa feed on Bouvardia and button wood. Dilophonota ellOy on Euphor- hia. Plilegetliontius {Protoparce) rustica on Chionanthus and Jasminium; P, cingulata, on morning-glory and I.S2 THE GIANT SILK=WORM MOTHS. sweet-potato. Hyloiciis (Sphinx) kalmicBj on laurel, lilac ^ ash, and Chionanthus; H. drupiferarum, on plum and wild cherry; H, gordius, on huckleberry, bayberry, and birch; H. luscitiosa^ on willow; H. chersis, on lilac and ash; H, eremitus, on pepper, wild bergamot, and Salvia; H. pic- beiuSy on trumpet vine and Passiflora. Dolha hylceus larvse are said to complete their growth in twenty days on black alder and sweet fern. Chlcenogramma jasminearum, on ash. Lar\^ae of Ceratomia amyntor have four short thoracic horns in addition to the anal one and feed chiefly on elm; the black and yellow larvae of C. catalpcE feed on Catalpa. Lapara homhycoides and conifer arum, on pines^ Cressonia juglandis, on hickory, walnut, ironwood, and wild cherry. Saturniid.^ These Giant Silk-worm Moths are the amateur's delight because of their large size, beautiful colors, and often conspicuous cocoons. The antennae of the males are feathered to their tips and are always larger than those of the female; the mouth-parts of the adults are poorly developed and apparently functionless but the huge larvae are certainly hearty feeders and, fortunately, have many enemies; whoever tries to raise Satumid adults from wild cocoons is almost sure to get more parasites than moths. The Asiatic Ailanthus Silk-moth (Plate Philosamia -^-^^ ^^^ brought to America about 1861, cynthia . . . presumably in the hope that silk from its cocoon might be used commercially. That hope has not yet been realized and the larv^ occasionally occur in large enough numbers to be injurious to ailanthus trees — their original and favorite leaf, although they also feed upon wild cherry, linden, sycamore, lilac, and other plants. The full-grown larva is green with black dots; the tubercles are pale to quite blue except that those of the lowest (substigmatal) row are banded with black; the head, legs, props, and anal shield are yellow except for blue markings on the last two; spiracles (or "stigmata," the row of breathing holes along the sides) are black with a FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. white dot at each end. The larvae eat their cast skins. The cocoon is spun on a leaf which has first been fastened to the branch with silk, the pupa hibernating. Hanging cocoons like this are hard for birds to peck. The adults may be recognized by the white tufts on their abdomen. Distributed locally (especially near cities) along the Atlantic Coast. Rotlischildia^ with two species, orizaha and jorulla, in Arizona, may be recognized by the triangular shape of the translucent spots of the fore and hind wings. The Saturnids are indeed fortunate Samia moths; they have largely escaped success- cecropia . . . ful "English" christenings. Although this species (Plate XLI) was nam.ed cecropia by Linnaeus long ago and has been a common and popular moth in this coun- try ever since moths were at all popular, Cecropia is still its common name. I hope my children's children will call it Cecropia even though it has been recently nicknamed something else by a lady who writes very good fiction but who has done immeasurable harm to unalloyed love of nature by encouraging the commercial viewpoint. People forget that the Limberlost stories are fiction, and my mail has been filled with letters from people, ranging all the way from an eight-year-old boy, who wanted to sell a bat- tered Luna so that he could get a pony, to invalids, who wished to find a market for the moths which came to their bedside lamps so that the}^ might buy medicine. Permit me to say that he who goes to Nature with money in his eyes will not only be blind to her truths, her glories, and the real benefits which she offers to those who love her, but he will be disappointed as to his financial returns. The ''market" value of even our rare insects is so small that, unless you have the requisite knowledge and can give your entire time to collecting, classifying the spoils, and finding the particular markets for the particular sorts, you will not usually be paid for shoe-leather. But to return to more pleasant things: Cecropia's head, body, and bases of the fore wings are a rich red except for the white bands; the general wing-color is dusky reddish brown; 154 Plate XL I PhilosQmiQ Cynthia 155 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. the crescents on the wings vary from white (especially on the hind wings) to reddish and are bordered with red and black ; outside the prominent white band there is a reddish band (in S. gloveri of the West this band is broader and purplish gray although inside of the white band the wings are red); the outer border of both pairs of wings is light clay-brown. 5. Columbia occurs in northern United States (west to Wisconsin) and in Canada; it has a wing expanse of only about four inches and no red margin to the w^hite cross band. S, rubra of Utah and Wyomnng westward is about the size of Columbia but the general wing color is rather uniformly light red; it lacks, as does also gloveri, the round dark areas near the hind angles of the fore wings. The larva of cecropia is about four inches long ; green with bluish tints, especially along the back, two rows of blue tubercles along each side, two rows of yellow ones along the back, and two pairs of red ones on the thorax. The large cocoons, which when cut open have distinctly the appearance on one cocoon inside another, are fastened to a branch, or other support, but not to leaves. Some cocoons are much larger and puffier than others, probably because the larvae which made them were better fed. This species ranges from the Atlantic to the Great Plains. I am sorry that such an authority as Callosamia Holland should have called this species promethea ^^^^^^ ^^^^^ ^^^ Spice-bush Silk-moth when "Promethea" was already in common usage; further- more he says, truly, that "The insects subsist in the larval stage upon a great variety of deciduous shrubs and trees, showing a special predilection for Lauracece, Liriodendron, Liquidambar, and wild-cherry" (spice-bush and sassafras belong to the family Lauraceae). The mature larva is from two to three inches long; head, yellowish-green; body, "frosted " bluish-green; six rows of small black tuber- cles; two pairs of red tubercles on the thorax; one yellow tubercle on the eleventh segment; the legs and the anal shield yellow. The cocoon is much like that of cynthia but tends to be darker and slimmer and is not so likely to have silk strands over the leaf. The general color of the 156 Plate XLI Samifl cecroplQ 157 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, male's wings is such a dark maroon that it is sometimes practically black and all but the marginal markings are obscured; the female is much lighter colored. Both sexes of C. angulifera have a fat, V-shaped, white mark, something like that on the hind wings of the female promethea, on the front wings, and the female has it on the hind wings also. Its larva feeds chiefly on the tulip-tree (Linodendron) . The cocoon is WTapped in leaves like Promethea 's but with the difference that usually no *' stem " fastening it to the twig is made so that the cocoon falls to the ground when the tree sheds its leaves. It is an Atlantic Coast species which is usually not common even in the Aliddle States, its principal home. The Saturnid moths thus far mentioned belong to the subfamily Attacins. We now take up the Saturniinae. Actias luna ^^^ Luna Aloth (Plate XLIII) is rather generally considered to be our most beautiful insect but its lovely green fades rapidly to a light gray. It is rather common and, once seen, is rarely forgotten. The larv^a feeds on walnut, hickory, sweet-gum {Liquid' amhar)y persimmon, and other trees; when mature, it is about three inches long; it varies somewhat in its colors, especially those of the tubercles; and suggests the larva of polyphemus but may be distinguished from it by the yellow lateral line and the absence of the seven oblique side-stripes; when about to pupate, the back usually changes from yellowish green to pinkish. The cocoon is very thin and rattles when pressed or when the pupa moves; it is usually made betVv'een leaves on the ground. In some sections it is at least double-brooded, ^he early-spring adults usually have purple outer margins on the wings ; later individuals lack these. Larvae of Polyphemus (Plate XLIV) are sent in to the American Museum every season so that they must be frequently seen by the "laity" even though they are the color of leaves. They feed on oak, birch, and a great variety of other trees, and somewhat resemble those of luna. More 158 Plate XLII CQllosamiQ promethea . X59 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. than their relatives, polyphemus larvae have the habit of elevating the front part of their bodies and pulling in their heads to assume a ''terrifying attitude"; clicking their jaws probably adds to the effect. Many books say that the cocoon falls to the ground in the autumn (there is but one annual generation) but this is by no means always the case. The cocoon, which is more solid than Luna's, contains a long, unbroken, easily unreeled thread of silk which would be commercially valuable if labor were cheaper. The wings are ochre, usually pinkish, and each has a transparent spot, those on the hind wings being bordered inwardly by blue and set in a black ring. . . The larvae of the lo Uoth (Plate XLV) Automens lo should be handled carefully since their spines are sharp and are connected with glands which secrete an irritating fluid. They feed on a great vari- ety" of plants, including corn, and, when young, "fol- low the leader, ' ' spinning a silken path for the guidance of those which are behind. The larva is easily recognized, especially on account of the red (upper) and white (lower) longitudinal stripes on the sides of the abdomen. The thin, semitransparent, brown cocoon is spun among leaves on the ground. There are several other species which may be recognized as Automeris from their general resem- blance to io; another generic name is Hyperchiria, Ceratocampid^ The adults have mouth parts but probably do nor feed. Pupation occurs in the ground, no cocoons being formed. Perhaps we should call this family Citheronid^. The black and yellow (or orange) larvae of Anisota senatoria (Plate XLVIII) feed on oak, often in large colonies. The adult female has a yellow body and brownish-yellow wings, largely free from dark dots and with a tendency toward violet at the mar- gins of the front wings. The male is reddish brown and the central halves of the front wings are slightly translu- cent. The larva of A . virginiensis, on oak, is dark greenish, i6o Plate XLIII i mi/ Actios luna'" Plate XLIV I TeleQ polyphemus i6i FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. with two purplish red stripes and three rows of black spines on each side; it is covered with whit^ granules and has a pair of long, black "lashes" on the second segment. The adult female is much like the female senatoria but is more thinly scaled and with a definite violet band along the outer margin of each front wing. The male (Plate XLVIII) is like the male senatoria but darker and the central areas of the front wings are transparent, with definite boundaries. The larva of A. stigma, on oak, chestnut, and hazel, is brown, dotted with white; it has a very narrow, dusky, mid-dorsal line and a wider one on each side along the spiracles; body spines longer than in the other species. The adult female is much like the femiale senatoria but with about half an inch greater wing expanse, is more heavily scaled, and with a tendency to have the front wings, at least, thickly dotted with black. The male is much like its own female, but smaller and with a tendency to violet along the outer margins of the front wings ; the wings have no translucent areas. The chrysalids are all much alike. The Rosy Alaple-moth (Plate XLV) is Dryocampa sometimes, probably correctly, put in the rubicunda . • . t^ i t 1 ^ genus Amsota. its larva leeds on maple. The pupa is somewhat shiny; and the adult, though vari- able in color, may be known by being a fluffy combination of rose color and pale-yellow, often tinged with pink. It is most abundant in the Aliddle West but it is occasionally injurious from ]\Iississippi to New York. Names applied to the adult and larva Citheronia respectively, Royal Walnut-moth and Hick> rG2f3.1lS ory Horned Devil, tell two of the food plants of this species (Plate XLVI) ; there are a variety of others, including butternut, ash, persimmon, sweet gum, and sumac. The horns of the mature larva are reddish, tipped with black, and are perfectly harmless. Perhaps the best short description of the adults is by Kellogg: *'a rich brown ground-color on body and hind wings, with the fore wings slaty gray with yellow blotches, and veins broadly marked out in red-brown." 162 Plate XLV s^ cocoon Automeris io UrvQ a, JnjocQmpQ rubicund Plate XLVI Citheronio regolls i5^ FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. The Pine-devil {Cither onia sepulchralis) , which is said to range along the coast from Maine to Florida but which has never been reported from New Jersey, for example, is somewhat smaller than regalis and has uniformly brown wmgs. The hairy larvae of the Imperial Moth i^^idaHs ^^^^^^ XLVII) vary from green to very dark brow^n; their horns are proportionate! 3^ larger in the younger stages. The female is rich canary- yellow marked with pinkish purple ; the male has the same colors but the purple is darker and covers most of the fore wing. Food plants: a great variety of trees including hickory, oak, elm, maple, spruce, pine, junipers, and hemlock. Another generic name is Eacles. Amatid^ These largely southern moths are day-flyers and some of them much resemble Hymenoptera. The proboscis is dsually, but not always, \7ell developed so that they may feed. The family has also been called Syntomidae. The cocoons are of felted hair. Lycomorpha pliolus (Plate XLVIII) may be recognized by the black and yellow markings. Its larva is said to feed on lichens. The adult is common on flowers and is found throughout the United States. Scepsis fulvicollis (Plate XLVIII) : the wings are brown, except for the transparent central part of the hind wings; the abdomen is metallic blue-black; and there is a yellow collar. The larvae feed on grasses, and the adults frequent golden-rod flowers. Cienucha virginica: the adult, which has brown wings, metallic bluish-black body, and orange head, is found at the flowers of blackberries. Spiraea, and other plants in the Appalachian region. The larva feeds on grasses. s 164. Plate XLVII (AmMl^i fife BQsilonQ impericlis 165 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, LlTHOSIID^ The larvae of this family are hairy, somewhat after the fashion of the Arctiidas. Cocoons, of silk and larval hairs, are made b}^ some species but others are said to have naked pupae. The adults have thread-like antennae and, usually, well-developed mouth parts; they are popularly called Footman Moths. Hypoprepia fticosa (Plate XLVIII) has three lead- colored stripes on the fore wings, the ground color being yellow and red. H, miniata is very much like it but the dark markings are darker, and the light portions are bright scarlet. The larvae of both feed on lichens. Arctiid^e Topsell, in his History of Serpents (1608), said the larvae of these moths were called Palmer-worms, by reason of their wandering and roguish life, although by reason of their roughness and ruggedness some call them Beare- wormes (modem: Woolly Bears). Keats referred to the adults when he wrote: "All diamonded with panes of quaint device, Innumerable of stains, and splendid dyes, As are the Tiger Moth's deep damask wings.** There are more than 2000 species. The larvae are hairy, usually very much so. The cocoons are made of silk and larval hairs. The adults of some genera have aborted mouth parts ; others have well-developed probosces. The color and markings of the Beautiful Utet^heisa Utetheisa (Plate XLIX) vary greatly but there is nothing in its range (Quebec to Mexico and Antilles) which closely resembles it, except the southern U, ornatrix which has "washed-out" front wings. Although the adult sometimes comes to lights, it is easily flushed, in the daytime, by w^alking through the meadows in which its food plants grow. The larva is recorded as feeding on cherry, elm, and other plants, but I have found it only on and in the green seed-pods of Crotalaria (Rattle- box) and doubt if it feeds on anything but Legumes 166 Plate XLVIII AnisolQ senatoriQ A.vlrginiensis LycomorphQ pholus Scepsis f ulvlcollis HypoprepiQ fucosu 167 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, _^ , Nature seems to make the Haploas, and Haploa , , . . , 1- > other Arctids, by guess, they are so variable. Plate XLIX shows one of the more constant species, H. cly?nene. Species of this genus tend to have a dark band, more or less complete, running from the hind margin of each front wing to near its apex; these wings are often margined with dark color also but in some forms the}^ are immaculate. The larvae are classed as ''general feeders" but more careful study will doubtless discover decided preferences. Plate XLIX shows the female; the male stigmene j^^^^ yellow hind wings. The spotting varies greatly in both sexes, and there are a number of local races. The namic. Salt-marsh Caterpillar, is mis- leading; as a matter of fact, the species is found throughout North America, the larva being a general feeder. The unsightly nests, made in late summer, Hyphantria ^£ ^^^ p^|^ Web-worm are frequently con- cunea - ^ . . . . r n^ i fused with the sprmg tents oi Maiacosoma americana. The nest of ciinea has' a lighter texture and covers all the leaves upon which the colony of larvae are feeding; it occurs on more than a hundred different kinds of trees, apple and ash being among the favorites. The figures on Plate L indicate the great variability which exists in the markings of both larvae and adults. The pupa, slightly protected by a loose cocoon, hibernates in crevices of bark, loose soil, etc. The eggs are laid in fiat masses on the under side of leaves. The larva of this species (Plate XLIX) Isia Isabella j^^^ caused much comment: Kellogg calls it ''the woolliest woolly bear," and notes that "hedge- hog" is a popular name; Holland connects the phrase ''to caterpillar," in the sense of quickly yielding tr unpleasant circumstances, with this species because, whep- CiiSturbed, the larva curls up and lies motionless (a trick of the hedgehog, also); while Comstock recalls the "Hurrying along like a caterpillar in the fall" when speak- ing of the larva's apparent haste to find a snug place in i68 Plate XLIX HoploQ clymen UtelheisQ belia ^ « ft Is'iQ Isabel I Q % .» 1 • » * ♦ Esliqmene QcroeQ ■ Dl QGi-ioi Li virqiniCQ Luchoetias egle WOOLLY BEARS, ^ NoctuQ "^--MyM WC-il'fgrum _„.„^ . .^. clandesliriQ ^^^,i^}| AutographQ lll^"^^ simplex « . Whrasslcoe 173 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, New Jersey alone, I can do no more than give samples. Acronycta americana (Plate LI) is one of our largest species; the light-gra}' front wings expanding nearly 2.5 inches; the hind wings are brownish. With sufficient imagination, you can see, near the hind, outer angle of the front wings of americana and some other species, the "dagger" which is responsible for the common name of the genus. A?nenca7ia's larva is one of the hairiest of Xoctuid larvae; with its dense, pale-yellow^ hairs it resembles an Arctiid but the hairs are scattered over the body instead of being grouped on tubercles as is the rule among the Arctii- dae ; there is a pair of long, black hair-pencils on the first abdominal segment, another pair on the third, and a single such pencil on the eighth abdominal segment; in addition, there are hairs, longer than the general covering, along the sides and at each end. It feeds on maple (its favorite), elm, oak, and other forest trees. Larvae of this genus often rest near the base of a leaf with the front end of the body curved back so that they are somewhat fish-hook- shaped. When disturbed, Acronycta larv^as are given to curling up and dropping off of their food plant. They pupate in loose cocoons, which are placed on rough bark or under ground-debris. Acronycta hastulifera, according to its specific name, "bears a spear" instead of a dagger. Its larv^ are often abundant on alder and have been recorded on m.aple; they suggest those of americana but their color varies from pale to deep chocolate-brown. Eliot and Soule, whose Caterpillars and their Moths is not only a model of careful work but also shows what pleasure and profit ladies may get from a "crawlery," point out that these larv'ce "are subject to fungoid diseases which kill many of them, and their stiff bodies may be found on branches of the alders, apparently unharmed, but they break at a touch and are filled with fungoid growth." As a matter of fact, fungi and bacteria vie with insect parasites as enemies of caterpillars in general. The lar^^a of Acronycta hamamelis^ as its specific nam.e signifies, feeds on witch-hazel but it is also found on various forest trees. This lar\^a differs from its two rela- tives, just mentioned, in being almost hairless; it varies 174 THE ARMY=WOR/VlS. from light yellow to reddish brown and has a double row ot white spots on its back; these, its food plants, and its fish-hook resting position will usually identify it. _ This large genus contains two common, wide-spread, destructive cut-worms which are sometimes put in the genus Xylophasia: devastatrix and arctica (Plate LI). The larvae attack garden and field crops; the adults have dark brown front and light hind wings. The larvae of Hadena turhulenta are sometimes noticed on green briar {Smilax) because of their gregarious habits. The Fall Army-worm (Plate LI) appears Laphygma later than the true Army- worm (Leucania frugiperda . x i i i i • umpuncta) and the larvae are not so choice about their food for they eat almost any crop, scattering more than do the Army-worms. The pitch-black stripe along each side and the four black spots on the back of each segment distinguish this "worm" from Leucania, The naked pupae hibernate about half an inch below ground. Adults emerge in the spring and the female covers her egg-clusters, placed on grass, with hairs from her own body. There are two or three generations a year but the larvae which appear in late summer are the most destruc- tive. The adult has a "general yellowish, ash-gray color, with the second pair of wings almost transparent, but with a purplish reflection." In the West there is a related species, L. extgua (Plate LI), which is called the Beet Army Worm because of its ravages among the sugar-beets. The Army- worm (Plate LII), which is Leucania given the generic name Heliophila by some umpuncta . . . • r ^ authors, is interesting for several reasons; for one, it is a conspicuous example of a species which occasionally gets ahead of its insect parasites and other ills, increasing its numbers to such an extent that its larvae eat all the available food, chiefly grasses, in a given place and are forced to move en masse. However, fate is not to be permanently outdone and soon there comes a time when the species is relatively rare; and then again the 175 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS, pendulum swings — Nature is "balanced" but not very steady. This dull-brown moth gets its specific name from the ''one point" of white on each front wing. It appears early in the season (June in the North), and yellowish eggs are laid in rows at the bases of grass leaves, each female depositing, all told, about seven hundred. The larvas are nearly, or quite, two inches long when full- grown; they are grayish-black with three longitudinal yellow stripes on the back, the m.edian one being the narrowest, and a wide greenish-yellow stripe on each side. They feed at night, hiding by day at the grass roots, and about mid-summer pupate, without a cocoon, just under the surface of the ground. Adults emerge about two weeks later but their offspring are not usually numerous enough to be very destructive. The next brood of adults either hibernate or they lay eggs the same season and the larvae hatching from these eggs hibernate. The number of annual generations in the South is sometimes as high as six. Army-worms with white eggs on them should not be killed, as these are the eggs of some parasite, usually of a Tachinid fly. There are numerous other species in the genus, the Wheat-head Army- worm, Leucania alhilinea (Plate LIT) being sometimes troublesome to farmers. Larvae of this genus, which has also been Papaipema ^^^led Hydmcia, bore in the stallcs of plants. Papaipema nitela (Plate LII) is the best known, for its larvae are sometimes abundant in garden plants, such as potatoes, tomatoes, and corn, especially if rag- weeds, dock, and other wild plants, the natural food of the species, are allowed to grow near the garden. Eggs are laid in the fall but do not hatch until May. The larvae then start tunnelling and if they confined themselves to one plant, not much injury would be done. However, they frequently leave the first plant and migrate some distance; it is then that our garden plants fall victims. Infested plants wilt above the place w^here the larva is working, but sometimes the larvae get under the husks of green com and remain unnoticed until an attempt is made to use the corn. However, see Heliothis. Pupation takes place in the larva's tunnel; no cocoon is made but^ 176 Plate LII ucQniQ unipuncTQ LeucQniQ QlbilineQ Xylina V antennata. 177 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. just before it pupates, the larva bores a hole in the stalk so that the adult may easily escape. Adults emerge about August, there being but one annual generation. Sanderson, in his Insect Pests of Farm, ''^ G armiger ^ ^°^ ^^ Garden, and Orchard, and others use the specific name ohsoleta for this species (Plate LII). Holland remarks: ''This insect, which is known to English entomologists as the 'Scarce Bordered Straw,' is unfortunately not scarce in the United States, and, being of a singularly gluttonous habit in the larval stage, has become the object of execration to farm.ers and horticulturists." It has been called the Corn Ear- worm. Tomato Fruit- worm. Tobacco Bud-w^orm, and Cotton Boll- worm, in reference to some of its various food habits. The color and markings of the adults are variable, some being yellowish white, with nearly no markings, while others are dull green. The larvae are also variable: light green, reddish brown, or almost black; spotted, striped, or plain. Pupation occurs at the bottom of an underground cell which is like a half-U, the upper end being near the surface of the ground but not at the point where the larva entered; there is no cocoon. There are two annual genera- tions in the North but there may be five or six along the Gulf. In the North, winter is usually passed as a pupa. When feeding on young corn, the larvae eat the leaves but later they feed on the tender ears and sometimes do as much as $50,000,000 damage a year in this way. When feeding on tomatoes, they prefer the green or just ripening fruit. When feeding on tobacco, they are called the False Bud-worm to distinguish them from the True Bud-worm {Chloridea virescens); as such they eat not only the flower- stalks and seed-pods but also the precious leaves. Not finally but for the sake of stopping somewhere, the}^ do about $20,000,000 damage, annuall}^, to cotton by boring into the bolls. In the North, winter plowing kills many of the pupa3, and, in the South, cotton may be protected by sowing trap-crops of corn, but every w^here the best plan with this, as with other insect pests, is to send an S. O. S. to your State Entomologist or to the United States Department of Agriculture for special information and 178 CATOCALA: UNDER=WINQS. help. It is for this, among other things, that you pay your taxes. This genus (Plate LI) is variously split Autographa ^^^ several. For example, the Celery Looper, Autographa simplex of Holland's book, will be found under Plusia in some books. Except for this hint (and it applies with equal force in the case of other genera) to those who might be confused when more than one book is used, it need not concern us further since the only species we can mention in any detail was, no later than yesterday, still in the Autographa pigeon-hole. If you find a brown Noctuid-looking moth with a wing, expanse of i.o to 1.5 inches and with one, or more, not strictly circular, silver spots near the middle of each front wing, it is a fairly safe bet that it is either Autographa or closely related to it. Some of the species fly by day. The larvae are called loopers or semi-loopers because they walk somewhat like measuring-worms (Geometridae) on account of not having any prop-legs on the third and fourth abdominal segments. Autographa brassicce is a close second to Pieris rapcB w^hen it comes to injuring cabbage, cauliflovv-er, and the like. The larva is colored much like the ordinary cabbage w^orm but has longitudinal white lines when young, and it loops. The cocoon is a thin transparent affair attached to the leaf on which the larva was feeding. There are two or more generations annually, winter probably being passed in the pupal state. This is a good place to say that mxany of the Noctuid moths have a tuft of scales on the thorax which does not show well when viewed from above. The genus Catocala shares the amateurs' Catocala " love " with the Saturniidse and the Sphingi- dae. Many of its species are pretty; they are interesting because they have bright colors on the hind wings, which are covered, when at rest, by the "protectively colored" front wings and are usually displayed only at night when they cannot be seen — at least, by our eyes. Plate LI 1 1 shows an exhibit in the American Museum illustrating the fact that, however conspicuous when flying in day- 179 FIELD BOOK OF INSECTS. time, Catocalinas are concealed in plain sight when resting. I will not swear that I ever saw a live relicta so neatly placed on just the right spot of just the right tree, a birch, but it surely does require sharp eyes to see a resting Catocala or, for that matter, almost any moth when it is naturally resting. The adults of Catocala are sometimes called Under-wings because of the conspicuousness of these organs. He or she who ''sugars" for moths will probably find varieties of those illustrated here, as well as totally different species, for they are fond of sweets and are sometimes numicrous. The larvae tend to be plump in the middle, tapering toward both ends. They pupate in flimsy cocoons, w^iich are usuall}^ placed under debris on the ground. Winter is usually, at least, passed in the egg state. Mrs. Stratton-Porter, in lamenting her lack of knowledge concerning the life-history of these moths, takes another whack at some of us : ** Professional lepidopterists dismiss them with few words. One would-be authority disposes of the species with half a dozen lines. You can find at least a hundred Catocala reproduced from museum speci- mens and their habitat given, in the Holland Moth Book^ but I fail to learn what I most desire to know^: what these moths feed on; how late they live; how their eggs appear; where they are deposited; which is their cat- erpillar; what does it eat; and where and how does it pupate. . . . This will tend to bear out my contention that scientific works are not the help they should be to the Nature Lover." Lord bless you, Mrs. Porter! If Dr. Holland had put in all that (He couldn't have done it.) for each of the thousands of species his books help you and others to identif}^, he not only would have deprived you of the pleasure of finding out these things for youiself but most of the ''others," at any rate, would not have been able to own the resulting tomes. It so happens that I have seen Mr. Beutenmiiller's uncompleted monograph of Catocala; it tells most of the things known about American Catocala, less than you ask, and there are over six hundred pages of manuscript. Perhaps it will be noticed that I am saying little about eggs; I have to draw a line somewhere, and people have not often asked me about eggs. I hope 1 80 Plate LIIl ^^^^ CqIocqIq relictQ C vidua CcarQ C. ultronJQ CATOCALA: UNDER=WINGS, ./ have told, in this little book, something about all the <