Part 38 The Butterfly Book - 🍇GrapeNovel.com

Part 38

"He had an old bait-net of thin, rotten stuff That a minner could bite his way through; But he never went fishin'--at least, in the way That fishermen gen'ally do; But he carried that bait-net wherever he went; The handle was j'inted in two.

"And the bottles and boxes that chap fetched along!

Why, a doctor would never want more; If they held pills and physic, he'd got full enough To fit out a medicine-store.

And he'd got heaps of pins, dreffle lengthy and slim, Allers droppin' about on the floor.

"Well, true as I live, that old feller just spent His hull days in loafin' about And pickin' up hoppers and roaches and flies-- Not to use for his bait to ketch trout, But to kill and stick pins in and squint at and all.

He was crazy 's a coot, th' ain't no doubt.

"He'd see a poor miller a-flyin' along,-- The commonest, every-day kind,-- And he'd waddle on arter it, fat as he was, And foller up softly behind, Till he'd flop that-air bait-net right over its head, And I'd laugh till nigh out of my mind.

"Why, he'd lay on the ground for an hour at a stretch And scratch in the dirt like a hen; He'd sc.r.a.pe all the bark off the bushes and trees, And turn the stones over; and then He'd peek under logs, or he'd pry into holes.

I'm glad there ain't no more sech men.

"My wife see a box in his bedroom, one day, Jest swarmin' with live caterpillars; He fed 'em on leaves off of all kinds of trees-- The ellums and birches and willers; And he'd got piles of boxes, chock-full to the top With crickets and bees and moth-millers.

"I asked him, one time, what his business might be.

Of course, I fust made some apology.

He tried to explain, but such awful big words!

Sorto' forren, outlandish, and collegey.

'S near's I can tell, 'stead of enterin' a trade, He was tryin' to jest enter _mology_.

"And Hannah, my wife, says she's heerd o' sech things; She guesses his brain warn't so meller.

There's a thing they call Nat'ral Histerry, she says, And, whatever the folks there may tell her, Till it's settled she's wrong she'll jest hold that-air man Was a Nat'ral Histerrical feller."

ANNIE TRUMBULL SLOSSON.

MIMICRY

Protective mimicry as it occurs in animals may be the simulation in form or color, or both, of natural objects, or it may be the simulation of the form and color of another animal, which for some reason enjoys immunity from the attacks of species which ordinarily prey upon its kind. Of course this mimicry is unconscious and is the result of a slow process of development which has, no doubt, gone on for ages.

Remarkable instances of mimicry, in which things are simulated, are found in the insect world. The "walking-sticks," as they are called, creatures which resemble the twigs of trees; the "leaf-insects," in which the foliage of plants is apparently reproduced in animate forms; the "leaf-b.u.t.terfly" of India, in which the form and the color and even the venation of leaves are reproduced, are ill.u.s.trations of mimicry which are familiar to all who have given any attention to the subject.

Repulsive objects are frequently mimicked. A spider has been lately described from the Indo-Malayan region, which, as it rests upon the leaves, exactly resembles a patch of bird-lime. The resemblance is so exact as to deceive the most sagacious, and the discovery of the creature was due to the fact that the naturalist who happened to see it observed, to his surprise, that what he was positive was a ma.s.s of ordure was actually in motion. A similar case of mimicry is observable among some of the small acontiid moths of North America. One of these is pure white, with the tips of the fore wings dark greenish-brown. It sits on the upper side of leaves, with its fore wings folded over, or rolled about the hind wings, and in this att.i.tude it so nearly approximates in appearance the ordure of a sparrow as to have often deceived me when collecting.

FAMILY III. LYCaeNIDae

(THE BLUES, THE COPPERS, THE HAIR-STREAKS)

SUBFAMILY LYCaeNINae

"Mark, while he moves amid the sunny beam, O'er his soft wings the varying l.u.s.ters gleam.

Launched into air, on purple plumes he soars, Gay nature's face with wanton glance explores; Proud of his varying beauties, wings his way, And spoils the fairest flowers, himself more fair than they."

_Quoted as from Haworth by Scudder._

_b.u.t.terfly._--Small, in both s.e.xes having all feet adapted to walking.

There is exceeding diversity of form in the various genera composing this family. Many of the genera are characterized by the brilliant blue on the upper side of the wings; in other genera shades of coppery-red predominate. The hair-streaks frequently have the hind wings adorned with one or more slender, elongated tails. In Africa and in Asia there are numerous genera which strongly mimic protected insects belonging to the Acraeinae.

_Egg._--The eggs are for the most part flattened or turban-shaped, curiously and beautifully adorned with ridges, minute eminences, and reticulations. Some of them under the microscope strongly resemble the sh.e.l.ls of "sea-biscuits" with the rays removed (see p. 4, Fig. 7).

_Caterpillar._--The caterpillars are for the most part slug-shaped, flattened. They are vegetable feeders, save the larvae of two or three genera, which are aphidivorous, feeding upon mealy bugs or plant-lice.

_Chrysalis._--The chrysalids are short, compressed, attached at the a.n.a.l extremity, with a girdle or cincture about the middle, closely fastened to the surface upon which pupation takes place.

Genus EUMaeUS, Hubner

_b.u.t.terfly._--Medium size or small; dark in color, with the under side and the borders of the upper sides beautifully adorned with spots having a metallic l.u.s.ter. The palpi are divergent, longer in the female than in the male. The antennae are stout, rather short, with a gradually thickened club. The eyes are naked. The veins on the fore wing are stout. The accompanying cut gives a clear idea of the neuration.

_Early Stages._--Nothing is known of these.

Three species are reckoned as belonging to the genus, two of them being found sparingly in the extreme southern limits of our fauna.

(1) =Eumaeus atala=, Poey, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 22, ?, _under side_ (Atala).

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 128.--Neuration of the genus _Eumaeus_.]

_b.u.t.terfly._--Easily distinguished by the figure in the plate from all other species except its congener _E. minyas_, Hubner, which can be readily separated from it by its larger size. Expanse, 1.65-1.75 inch.

_Early Stages._--These await description.

_Atala_ is found in Florida and Cuba. _Minyas_ occurs in southwestern Texas, and thence southward to Brazil.

Genus THECLA, Fabricius

(The Hair-streaks)

"These be the pretty genii of the flow'rs, Daintily fed with honey and pure dew."

HOOD.

_b.u.t.terfly._--Small or medium-sized; on the upper side often colored brilliantly with iridescent blue or green, sometimes dark brown or reddish; on the under side marked with lines and spots variously disposed, sometimes obscure in color, very frequently most brilliantly colored.

Various subdivisions based upon the neuration of the wings have been made in the genus in recent years, and these subdivisions are ent.i.tled to be accepted by those who are engaged in a comparative study of the species belonging to this great group. Inasmuch, however, as most American writers have heretofore cla.s.sified all of these insects under the genus _Thecla_, the author has decided not to deviate from familiar usage, and will therefore not attempt to effect a subdivision according to the views of recent writers, which he nevertheless approves as scientifically accurate.

_Egg._--Considerable diversity exists in the form of the eggs of the various species included under this genus as treated in this book, but all of them may be said to be turban-shaped, more or less depressed at the upper extremity, with their surfaces beautifully adorned with minute projections arranged in geometric patterns.

[Ill.u.s.tration FIG. 129.--Neuration of _Thecla edwardsi_. (After Scudder.) Typical neuration of the genus.]

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