Read Ebook: The Butterfly Book A Popular Guide to a Knowledge of the Butterflies of North America by Holland W J William Jacob

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"The simplest method of inflating the skins of larvae after the contents have been withdrawn is to insert a straw or grass stem of appropriate thickness into the opening through which the contents have been removed, and then by the breath to inflate the specimen, while holding over the chimney of an Argand lamp, the flame of which must be regulated so as not to scorch or singe it. Care must be taken in the act of inflating not to unduly distend the larval skin, thus producing a distortion, and also to dry it thoroughly. Unless the latter precaution is observed a subsequent shrinking and disfigurement will take place. The process of inflating in the manner just described is somewhat laborious, and while some of the finest specimens which the writer has ever seen were prepared in this primitive manner, various expedients for lessening the labor involved have been devised, some of which are to be highly commended."

"A less commendable method of preserving larvae is to place them in alcohol. The larvae should be tied up in sacks of light gauze netting, and a label of tough paper, with the date and locality of capture, and the name, if known, written with a lead-pencil, should be attached to each such little sack. Do not use ink on labels to be immersed, but a hard lead-pencil. Alcoholic specimens are liable to become shriveled and discolored, and are not nearly as valuable as well-inflated and dried skins."

"When the skins have been inflated they may be mounted readily by being placed upon wires wrapped with green silk, or upon annealed aluminium wire. The wires are bent and twisted together for a short distance and then made to diverge. The diverging ends are pressed together, a little shellac is placed upon their tips, and they are then inserted into the opening at the anal extremity of the larval skin. Upon the release of pressure they spread apart, and after the shellac has dried the skin is firmly held by them. They may then be attached to pins by simply twisting the free end of the wire about the pin, or they may be placed upon artificial imitations of the leaves and twigs of their appropriate food-plants."

THE PRESERVATION AND ARRANGEMENT OF COLLECTIONS

The secret of preserving collections of lepidoptera in beautiful condition is to exclude light, moisture, and insect pests. Light ultimately bleaches many species, moisture leads to mould and mildew, and insect pests devour the specimens. The main thing is therefore to have the receptacles in which the specimens are placed dark and as nearly as possible hermetically sealed and kept in a dry place. In order to accomplish this, various devices have been resorted to.

Some persons prefer to have the bottoms as well as the tops of the drawers in their cabinets made of glass. In such cases the specimens are pinned upon narrow strips of wood covered with cork, securely fastened across the inside of the drawers. This arrangement enables the under side of specimens to be examined and compared with as much freedom as the upper side, and without removing them from the drawers; but the strips are liable at times to become loosened, and when this happens great havoc is wrought among the specimens if the drawer is moved carelessly. Besides, there is more danger of breakage.

Another way of providing a cheap and very sightly lining for the bottom of an insect-box is illustrated in Fig. 70. A frame of wood like a slate-frame is provided, and on both sides paper is stretched. To stretch the paper it ought to be soaked in water before pasting to the frame; then when it dries it is as tight and smooth as a drum-head.

The beginner who has not a long purse will do well to preserve his collections in boxes such as have been described. They can be obtained quite cheaply and are most excellent. Cabinets are more or less of a luxury for the amateur, and are only a necessity in the case of great collections which are constantly being consulted. The boxes may be arranged upon shelves. Some of the largest and best collections in the world are preserved in boxes, notably those of the United States National Museum.

IMMORTALITY

A butterfly basked on a baby's grave, Where a lily had chanced to grow: "Why art thou here with thy gaudy dye, When she of the blue and sparkling eye Must sleep in the churchyard low?"

Then it lightly soared thro' the sunny air, And spoke from its shining track: "I was a worm till I won my wings, And she, whom thou mourn'st, like a seraph sings; Would'st thou call the blest one back?"

SIGOURNEY.

THE CLASSIFICATION OF BUTTERFLIES

"Winged flowers, or flying gems."

MOORE.

At the base of all truly scientific knowledge lies the principle of order. There have been some who have gone so far as to say that science is merely the orderly arrangement of facts. While such a definition is defective, it is nevertheless true that no real knowledge of any branch of science is attained until its relationship to other branches of human knowledge is learned, and until a classification of the facts of which it treats has been made. When a science treats of things, it is necessary that these things should become the subject of investigation, until at last their relation to one another, and the whole class of things to which they belong, has been discovered. Men who devote themselves to the discovery of the relation of things and to their orderly classification are known as systematists.

The great leader in this work was the immortal Linnaeus, the "Father of Natural History," as he has been called. Upon the foundation laid by him in his work entitled "Systema Naturae," or "The System of Nature," all who have followed after him have labored, and the result has been the rise of the great modern sciences of botany and zo?logy, which treat respectively of the vegetable and animal kingdoms.

That branch of zo?logy which treats of insects is known as entomology.

HETEROMETABOLA

For the most part undergoing only a partial metamorphosis in the development from the egg to the imago.

ORDERS

METABOLA

Undergoing for the most part a complete metamorphosis from egg, through larva and pupa, to imago.

ORDERS

The NYMPHALIDAE, the "Brush-footed Butterflies."

The LEMONIIDAE, the "Metal-marks."

The LYCAENIDAE, the "Gossamer-winged Butterflies."

The PAPILIONIDAE, the "Swallowtails" and their allies.

The HESPERIIDAE, or the "Skippers."

To one or the other of these five families all the butterflies, numbering about six hundred and fifty species, which are found from the Rio Grande of Texas to the arctic circle, can be referred.

BOOKS ABOUT NORTH AMERICAN BUTTERFLIES

The first work which was devoted exclusively to an account of the lepidoptera of North America was published in England by Sir James Edward Smith, who was a botanist, and who gave to the world in two volumes some of the plates which had been drawn by John Abbot, an Englishman who lived for a number of years in Georgia. The work appeared in two folio volumes, bearing the date 1797. It is entitled "The Natural History of the Rarer Lepidopterous Insects of Georgia." It contains one hundred and four plates, in which the insects are represented in their various stages upon their appropriate food-plants. Smith and Abbot's work contains original descriptions of only about half a dozen of the North American butterflies, and figures a number of species which had been already described by earlier authors. It is mainly devoted to the moths. This work is now rare and commands a very high price.

The next important work upon the subject was published by Dr. J.A. Boisduval of Paris, a celebrated entomologist, who was assisted by Major John E. Leconte. The work appeared in the year 1833, and is entitled "Histoire G?n?rale et Monographie des Lepidopt?res et des Chenilles de l'Am?rique Septentrionale." It contains seventy-eight colored plates, each representing butterflies of North America, in many cases giving figures of the larva and the chrysalis as well as of the perfect insect. The plates were based very largely upon drawings made by John Abbot, and represent ninety-three species, while in the text there are only eighty-five species mentioned, some of which are not figured. What has been said of all the preceding works is also true of this: it is very rarely offered for sale, can only be found upon occasion, and commands a high price.

In the year 1841 Dr. Thaddeus William Harris published "A Report on the Insects of Massachusetts which are Injurious to Vegetation." This work, which was originally brought out in pursuance of an order of the legislature of Massachusetts, by the Commissioners of the Zo?logical and Botanical Survey of the State, was republished in 1842, and was followed by a third edition in 1852. The last edition, revised and improved by Charles L. Flint, Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, appeared in 1862. This work contains a number of figures and descriptions of the butterflies of New England, and, while now somewhat obsolete, still contains a great deal of valuable information, and is well worth being rescued by the student from the shelves of the second-hand book-stalls in which it is now and then to be found. For the New England student of entomology it remains to a greater or less extent a classic.

In 1860 the Smithsonian Institution published a "Catalogue of the Described Lepidoptera of North America," a compilation prepared by the Rev. John G. Morris. This work, though very far from complete, contains in a compact form much valuable information, largely extracted from the writings of previous authors. It is not illustrated.

With the book prepared by Dr. Morris the first period in the development of a literature relating to our subject may be said to close, and the reader will observe that until the end of the sixth decade of this century very little had been attempted in the way of systematically naming, describing, and illustrating the riches of the insect fauna of this continent. Almost all the work, with the exception of that done by Harris, Leconte, and Morris, had been done by European authors.

A work even more elaborate in its design and execution, contained in three volumes, is "The Butterflies of New England," by Dr. Samuel Hubbard Scudder, published in the year 1886. No more superbly illustrated and exhaustive monograph on any scientific subject has ever been published than this, and it must remain a lasting memorial of the colossal industry and vast learning of the author, one of the most eminent scientific men whom America has produced.

While the two great works which have been mentioned have illustrated to the highest degree not only the learning of their authors, but the vast advances which have been made in the art of illustration within the last thirty years, they do not stand alone as representing the activity of students in this field. A number of smaller, but useful, works have appeared from time to time. Among these must be mentioned "The Butterflies of the Eastern United States," by Professor G.H. French. This book, which contains four hundred and two pages and ninety-three figures in the text, was published in Philadelphia in 1886. It is an admirable little work, with the help of which the student may learn much in relation to the subject; but it greatly lacks in illustration, without which all such publications are not attractive or thoroughly useful to the student. In the same year appeared "The Butterflies of New England," by C.J. Maynard, a quarto containing seventy-two pages of text and eight colored plates, the latter very poor. In 1878 Herman Strecker of Reading, Pennsylvania, published a book entitled "Butterflies and Moths of North America," which is further entitled "A Complete Synonymical Catalogue." It gives only the synonymy of some four hundred and seventy species of butterflies, and has never been continued by the author, as was apparently his intention. It makes no mention of the moths, except upon the title-page. For the scientific student it has much value, but is of no value to a beginner. The same author published in parts a work illustrated by fifteen colored plates, entitled "Lepidoptera-Rhopaloceres and Heteroceres--Indigenous and Exotic," which came out from 1872 to 1879, and contains recognizable figures of many North American species.

In 1891 there appeared in Boston, from the pen of C.J. Maynard, a work entitled "A Manual of North American Butterflies." This is illustrated by ten very poorly executed plates and a number of equally poorly executed cuts in the text. The work is unfortunately characterized by a number of serious defects which make its use difficult and unsatisfactory for the correct determination of species and their classification.

In 1893 Dr. Scudder published two books, both of them useful, though brief, one of them entitled "The Life of a Butterfly," the other, "A Brief Guide to the Commoner Butterflies of the Northern United States and Canada." Both of these books were published in New York by Messrs. Henry Holt & Co., and contain valuable information in relation to the subject, being to a certain extent an advance upon another work published in 1881 by the same author and firm, entitled "Butterflies."

There are a number of works upon general entomology, containing chapters upon the diurnal lepidoptera, which may be consulted with profit. Among the best of these are the following: "A Guide to the Study of Insects," by A.S. Packard, Jr., M.D. ; "A Textbook of Entomology," by Alpheus S. Packard, M.D., etc. ; "A Manual for the Study of Insects," by John Henry Comstock .

HUGO'S "FLOWER TO BUTTERFLY"

"Sweet, live with me, and let my love Be an enduring tether; Oh, wanton not from spot to spot, But let us dwell together.

"You've come each morn to sip the sweets With which you found me dripping, Yet never knew it was not dew, But tears, that you were sipping.

"You gambol over honey meads Where siren bees are humming; But mine the fate to watch and wait For my beloved's coming.

"The sunshine that delights you now Shall fade to darkness gloomy; You should not fear if, biding here, You nestled closer to me.

"So rest you, love, and be my love, That my enraptured blooming May fill your sight with tender light, Your wings with sweet perfuming.

"Or, if you will not bide with me Upon this quiet heather, Oh, give me wing, thou beauteous thing, That we may soar together."

EUGENE FIELD.

THE BUTTERFLIES

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