when they issue from its body through a multitude of minute holes and spin their cocoons of yellowish silk in little heaps on each side of the now shrivelled skin of their victim which then falls lifeless to the ground.

Only three species are found in North America. They are P. oleracea, protodice, and casta. The two first of these occur in Canada, and the third which is very closely allied to oleracea, but differs in being less strongly marked, and in having no tinge of yellow on the underside, is described by Kirby in his "Northern Zoology" as inhabiting the Hudson's Bay territories. P. cleomes of Boisduval is an aporia.

Species 1.-PIERIS OLERACEA, THE GREY-VEINED WHITE.

Pontia oleracea (Harris), Emmons, Agri. N. Y. Ins., p. 204. All the wings above pure white, the base and tips slightly dusky, the nervures blackish brown, and strongly marked; underside also white, slightly tinged with yellowish green, the nervures on the posterior pair edged with dusky scales; antennæ with the club black, tipped with brownish white, the rest brown palest on the underside, and faintly annulated with white; palpi white, thorax and abdomen black, clothed with whitish hairs; legs black; expansion of the wings 2 inches.

Dr. Harris, who first named this species, states that the female lays her yellowish eggs upon the leaves of cabbages, radishes or turnips about the first of June; that they are hatched in about a week, and that the caterpillars attain their full size in three weeks; they measure an inch and a half in length, and are of a pale green colour, and feed indiscriminately upon every part of the leaf. They remain about eleven days in the pupa state.

This species is not mentioned by Boisduval. It appears in May, and continues up to September. It is common in the Northern States, Upper Canada, and the Eastern Townships. It also occurs about Montreal, St. Hilaire, and Quebec, but does not appear to be very numerous at either of these places, and we do not remember to have noticed it at Sorel.

Species 2-PIERIS PROTODICE.

Plate vi., fig. 3, male; 4, female; 5, female underside. Pieris Protodice, Boisduval and Leconte, Ico., &c., des Lépidopterès, &c., de l'Amer. Sept. t. 1, p. 45, pl. xvii, fig. 1, 2, 3. The anterior wings are white with a large, black, trapezoid spot placed in the middle before the margin, and an oblique, spotted

black band, most defined at the anal angle. They have besides, along the margin near the tip, four or five triangular black spots placed upon the nervures. The posterior wings entirely white with sometimes a small group of blackish atoms near the costa. Underside of the anterior wings nearly the same as the upper but the black spots rather paler. The posterior wings slightly tinged with yellow and with a blackish spot upon the edge of the discoidal cell. They are also marked by a marginal mark formed of blackish atoms hardly distinguishable from the ground colour. Antennæ black, tipped with white; abdomen greenish black.

The female is distinguished from the male, which we have just described, by the following characters: the black on the anterior wings above, is more intense, and underneath, they are a little tinged with green at the tips; the posterior wings on the upper side are white a little tinged with greyish, and the hind margin blackish, and marked with five or six white trapezoid spots; their underside has the nervures greenish brown, and a marginal band of the same colour.

Boisduval says this pretty species is rather rare. It appears in the spring, and about the end of June, round New York. It is also found in Connecticut, and we have strong reasons to believe it occurs in the neighbourhood of Montreal. Having now described all the Canadian species of the first family of Diurnal Lépidoptera we reach the second the Heliconiidæ, which, however, is represented in this country by a single species only.

They thus

This family may be easily distinguished from the preceding, by having the anterior part of legs very small or rudimentary in both sexes, and folded up, not being fitted for walking. appear to have but four legs and are termed tetrapods (four-footed.) The joints of the anterior tarsi are very indistinct, and very slightly dentated at the extremity. In some genera, however, the first part of legs, though small, has nearly the same structure as the others. The tarsal ungues or claws of the hind legs are simple, large, and very strong. The antennæ are long, and placed close together at the base, and in general have the club very gradually formed and elongated; in some species they are almost filiform, whilst in a few others the club is rather abruptly clubbed. The palpi are wide apart, slender, cylindrical, rather short, and densely clothed with hair-like scales; the terminal joint gene

rally very small. The abdomen is elongated. The wings large, in some triangular, in others oblong and narrowed. The caterpillars are cylindric and elongated; they are very variously ornamented, some being glabrous, with several long fleshy prolongations, others are covered with slender spines and tufts of hairs, others again are entirely smooth, and some are clothed with long white hairs. The chrysalides are suspended by the tail, and never supported by a band in the middle. This very numerous family contains some of the most beautiful and remarkable amongst the Diurnal Lepidoptera. Some of the species, especially of the typical genus Heliconia, having the wings so scantily covered with minute scales, that these organs are completely transparent. This genus, (Heliconia,) is very extensive, but is exclusively confined to the new world, where its metropolis is in the West Indian Islands, and South America. One species is, however, met with in Georgia and Florida, and is common in Mexico.

The Heliconiidæ may be conveniently divided into two subfamilies, viz., Danaidi and Heliconiidi, the former of which is alone represented in Canada.

SUB-FAMILY,—DANAIDI.

This contains some very large and handsome species. They are mostly inhabitants of the inter-tropical regions, of the old world where they appear to take the place of the Heliconiidi of the western hemisphere.

Palpi wide apart, and not rising above the top of the head, their second joint is a little longer than the preceding; club of the antennæ very gradually formed; the wings large, with the discoidal cell of the posterior pair closed; thorax strong and thick; abdomen rather long; anterior pair of legs not fitted for walking, their tarsi hardly distinguishable into five joints, but generally consisting of a single piece with several crowded spines at the extremity. The Larvæ are glabrous, cylindric, rather long, provided with two, four, six, eight or ten fleshy prolongations, which are long, flexible, almost filiform, and placed by pairs on the different segments. The pupa are shortened, cylindric, without angulosities, and ornamented with brilliant golden spots.

One of the species which inhabits New Holland, it is said, sometimes appears in such vast numbers as to darken the air by the clouds of them.

It is divided into several genera, only one of which inhabits North America.

GENUS 1. DANAIS, Boisduval, EUPLCEA, Fabricius. Head a little smaller than the thorax; antennæ rather long, with a pretty thick, gradually formed, and slightly curved club; palpi widely separated, with the last joint minute, globular and ending in a point, the second long and thick, the radical one about one-third of its length, and all the joints straight, rather broad, and thickly clothed with hairs; abdomen somewhat thin and nearly as long as the posterior wings; wings large, with the margins a little sinuated, the upper pair triangular, the second pair have in the males towards the anal angle, sometimes a blackish pocket or hollow, and sometimes a very black spot divided by a greyish line in relief, placed at the extremity of the nervure; anterior tarsi slightly articulated, but very indistinct, and scarcely any projecting points in the room of the claws.

All the species have two marginal rows of spots. Some have the ground colour of the wings rufous with the border black, others are black, with the longitudinal lines and scattered spots of a greenish or bluish white, and sometimes of a greenish yellow. The head, prothorax, thorax and breast spotted with white. The Larvæ generally feed on nerium, asclepias, synanchum, and other plants of the same family. The Pupæ are short, smooth and round, and suspended by the tail.

Two species are found in North America, viz: D. archippus and Berenice; the first of these alone occurs in Canada. The true country of this genus is the Indian Archipelago, China, Bengal, &c. It also inhabits Africa, and accidentally the south of Europe. SPECIES 1.-DANAIS ARCHIPPUs. The Storm Fritillary. pl. vi, fig. 1., male, 2, underside.

a.

b.

a, The Caterpillar, b, The Chrysalis.

Danais Archippus, Godart, Enc. Method, ix, p. 184, N. 28, 1821. Boisduval et Leconte, Ico., &c, des Lépridopterès, &c., de

l'Amer, Sept., t. 1, p. 137, pl. 40, fig. 1-4, 1833. Gosse, Canadian Naturalist, p. 262, 1840.

Papilio Archippus, Fabricius, Ent. Syst., 111, 1, p. 49, n. 151, 1794. Smith & Abbott, Lepid, of Georgia, vol. 1, tab. vi, 1798.

Papilio plexippus, Cramer, pl. 206, fig. E. F., 1779.

Danaus plexippus, Emmons, Agri. N. Y., Ins. p. 202, pl. 38, 1854. Papilio megalippe, Hubner, Exot. Saml, 1806.

The four wings are a little sinuated, fulvous above, with a rather brilliant reflection, and the nervures dilated and black. The hind margin is also black, with two rows of white spots, in some individuals a portion of these spots are fulvous. The anterior wings have at the tips a large patch of black upon which are placed three oblong fulvous spots, preceded internally by eight or ten smaller white or yellowish spots, spreading themselves along the middle of the costa, which as well as the inner margin is also black. The underside of the wings is much like the upper, but the spots on the hind margin are larger, and all are white. The ground colour of the posterior wings is a bright nankin yellow, with the nervures very slightly bordered with whitish spots. The notches on the margins of all the wings are bordered with white. Expansion of the wings about 4 inches. The caterpillar is white, transversely banded with black and yellow. It has two pairs of black fleshy prolongations, the first pair is placed on the second segment, and the other, which is much the longest, on the eleventh. It feeds on various species of asclepias, and probably in this country, principally on A. syriaca or milk-weed, the "cotonier" of the French Canadians, so well known for its large pods filled with elastic, silky filaments, and from the young shoots being eaten, in early spring, like asparagus. In July its large clusters of purple blossoms are a great resort for moths of various families, and the beautiful chrysomela Labidomera trimaculata feeds on its milky leaves.

The Chrysalis is of a delicate green, sprinkled anteriorly with golden dots and marked upon the back a little beyond the middle, with a semi-circle of the same colour, bordered underneath by a row of minute black spots, placed very closely together.

This is a common species throughout the middle States and the West Indies. It is more abundant in Upper than Lower Canada,