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Psyche 1:13-14, 1874.

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PSYCHE.
GICAL
ORGAN OF THE CAMBRIDGE ENTOMOLOi
EDITED BY B. PICKMAN MANN.
CLUB.
-
Vol. I.] Cambridge, Mass., August, 1874. [No. 4. Early springButterflies at the White Mountains. DURING four sunny days (June 2 - 5) spent in the Glen this spring, in a search for butterflies, the following species were noticed.
The wild cherries were just blossoming.
Basilarchia Disippe.
Two or three larvae were seen on
poplar, of just the same size as others of the next species near them.
Basilarchia A~themis. The caterpillars were found not un- common upon the black birch ; one upon poplar, on the same twig with Disippe.
All had left their hibernacula, which pre- cisely resemble those of the preceding species, and had moulted at least once ; the first moult almost invariably takes place on their emerging from winter quarters, as proved by the pelliele left upon the tip of the leaf forming the hibernaculum. A& search for the caterpillar was the principal object of my visit, I must have examined nearly five thousand plants of black birch ; the result proves that the eggs are laid almost exclusively upon horizontally extended branches of small plants not more than two or three feet high, skirting the road-side, so that the cater- pillars must almost invariably be buried in snow the winter through.
The caterpillars are generally lighter colored than those of the preceding species. but resemble them wonderfully. The first caterpillar changed to chrysalis the night of June 7th, and emerged the morning of the 18th.
Polygonia Faunus. The butterfly was very abundant, the males far exceeding the female
in number; the latter were
apparently not yet prepared to deposit their eggs. Polygonia grc~cilis.
This butterfly was rather common, and
what is strange, many more females than males were taken ; they could not be induced to lay eggs under muslin during my Psirhe 1 Oil-Wpre.1903). hfp //psyche aitclub org/1/1.0013 htd



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short visit, and died just after the journey home. One left be- hind in a muslin bag, on willow, was found a week afterward, by Mr. Whitney, to have died without depositing. Polygonia Progne. A single female was taken ; it has never before been found in this region.
Nymphalis J-albwn. One or two specimens only were seen on the 4th, apparently just out of winter quarters ; they appear later, I believe, than other hibernating Prefect!, and these were seen on the sunny side of a barn, which had probably served as their winter refuge.
Papilio Antiopa.
Half a dozen specimens were seen.
Aglais Milberti. A single female was taken. 8. If. Scudder.
ENTOMOLOGICAL EXCURSION TO WAVERLEY. - On the 7th of May the members of the Club, to the number of half a dozen, made an excur. sion to the vicinity of Waverley. The day proved unfavorable, as there was a raw wind which kept the insects out of sight, and very little was accomplished.
Of Coleoptera very few specimens were taken, and those of common spe- cies, the most noteworthy being a specimen of Badister notatus, a species which is rare in this vicinity, and Diccelus elongatus, common about Waver- ley, though rare elsewhere in the vicinity of Boston. Of Lepidoptera Mr. Morrison obtained a perfect specimen of Anticlea rasiliata Guen., a species not common in this vicinity. Caterpillars of Basilarchia Disippe were obtained on three species of wil- lows, either eating the catkins for want of leaves, or still concealed in their hibernacula. The observations of the party showed that they hibernate both In the second and third stages, and that each makes a winter abode of just the size of its body, into which it crawls head foren~ost, and which it must vacate in the spring by a retreating movement. The caterpillar moults very soon after re-appearing, and one was found nearly half grown upon a twig still bearing only catkins. JS. P. Austin. VERNACULAR NAMES FOR BUTTERFLIES. - EDITOR PSYCHE : I very much approve of Mr. Scudder's list of vernacular names for our butterflies. Permit me to stand sponsor in your columns for the following : Calephelis borealis. - The large Metal-mark. Calephelis pumila. - The small Metal-mark. Feniseca Tarquinius. - The Wanderer. Aug. 3. Grote.



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