IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) ^.^' «^^ :*A A* ^4^ % % 1.0 I.I 12.8 |U m mmm22 ;^ ^ 12.0 — A" 6" 1^ IJ& y^ Mu ■1.6 ^- '-l: \*- '^ o Fhotograpdiic Sciences Qaporalion ■^ v •S5 <^ 23 WIST MAIN SltlET WfBSTIt.N.Y. 145M (71«) •72-4503 4^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVl/ICIViH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques II Technical and Bibliographic Notaa/Notas tachniquaa at bibiiographiquaa Tha Inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat original copy availabia for filming. Faaturaa of thia copy which may ba bibliographically uniqua, which may altar any of tha Imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may algnificantly changa tha uauai mathod of filming, ara chacicad balo%v. D D D D D Coiourad covara/ Couvartura da coulaur I I Covara damagad/ Couvartura andommagte Covara raatorad and/or iaminatad/ Couvartura raataurte at/ou palllculia Covar titia miaaing/ La titra da couvartura manqua Coiourad maps/ Cartaa gAogrnphlquaa an coulaur Coiourad ink (i.a. othar than biua or black)/ Encra da coulaur (I.a. autra qua biaua ou noira) F~1 Coiourad pSataa and/or iiiuatrationa/ Pianchaa at/ou Iiiuatrationa en coulaur Bound with othar matarial/ RalM avac d'autraa documanta Tight binding may cauaa ahadowa or diatortlon along intarior margin/ La re llura aarrte paut cauaar da I'ombra ou da la distortion la long da la marga int^riaura Blank iaavaa addad during raatoration may appear vithin tha text. Whenever poaaible, theae have been omitted from filming/ II aa peut que certalnea pagea blanchea aJoutAea lore d'une reatauration apparalaaant dana la taxte, mala, loraque cela Atait poaaible, cea pagea n'ont paa At* filmAaa. Additional commanta:/ Commentalrea aupplAmantairaa: L'Institut a microfilm* la meiiieur exemplaire qu'il iui a *t6 poaaible de ae procurer. Lea dAtaila da cat exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniquea du point de vue bibiiographiqua, qui pauvent modifier une image reproduite. ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dana la mAthoda normala de filmaga aont indiqute ci-daaaoua. I I Coloured oagea/ D Pagea de coukur Pagea damaged/ Pagea endommagtea Pagea raatorad and/oi Pagea reataur^ea at/ou pailiculAea Pagea diacolourad, atainad or foxe« Pagea dteolor^aa, tachattea ou piquAea Pagea detached/ Pagea dAtachAea Shnwthroughy Transparence Quality of prir Quality InAgala de I'impreaaion Includea supplementary matarli Comprend du material auppMmantaira Only edition available/ Seule Mition diaponlble |~n Pagea damaged/ |~n Pagea raatorad and/or laminated/ r~T| Pagea diacolourad, atainad or foxed/ rTTj Pagea detached/ rTTI Shnwthrough/ I I Quality of print variea/ I I Includea supplementary material/ I — I Only edition available/ Pagea wholly or partially obacurad by errata slips, tissuaa, etc., have been refiimed to ensure the best possible image/ Lea pagea totalement ou partialiement obacurciaa par un feulllat d'errata, una pelure, etc., ont AtA filmiea k nouveau de fapon A obtanir la melileure Image poaaible. Thia Item la filmed at tha reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document eat film* au taux da rMuctlon IndlquA ci-daaaoua 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X y 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X re lAtails M du nodifiar •r une llmags M The copy filmsd hero has boon roproducod thanks to tha goiiarosity of: National Library of Canada Tha imagas appearing hara ara tha bast ouaiity possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in Icaeping with the filming contract specifications. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the bacl( covar v signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbols V signifie "FIN". Les cartes, planches, tab!eau:(, etc., peuvent Atre filmte A des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un sou' ciichA, il est fiimi A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de heut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la niAthode. •rrata to palure, in A D 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 Section IV., 1884. [ 233 ] Trans. Roy. Soo. Canada. XII. — Notes on the Occurrence of Certain Butter/lies jn Canada. By W. Saunders, London, Ontario. (Road jray 21, 1884.) ImiJortant changes have evidently taken phice in the recent past attecting the geo- graphical distribution of some of the butterflies now regarded as Canadian, and similar changes are also occurring at the present time. It is well known that som*^ butti^rflies occur in considerable abiindance ev«'ry year in many localities, while others, usually rare, occasionally become plentiful. Some are restricted within certain limited areas, others, though extremely rare, are found at widely distant points, while others again, once rare and formerly found only in the most southern portions of our country, are now much more common and have been taken in some of the more northern sections of Ontario and Quebec. Seeing that th<'se gradual changes in the location of species are occurring, it is imi)ortant that all who are interested in this department of biological study should record any observations they may have the opportunity of making, so as to aid in preparing the way for a fuller knowledge of the geographical distribution of our species, and of the causes which affect such distribution. Pajnlio cresphontes, formerly known as P. Tliaas, is a notable instance of a butterfly once extremely rare in our Province, and found only in its most southern county, having with- in fifteen or twenty years disseminated itself throughout the greater part of Ontario. I well remember the great interest with which collectors looked upon the first Canadian specimens of this butterfly. They were! taken more thuu twenty years ago in the neigh- bourhood of Amherstburgh and were regarded as great r.arities. This insect was first described by Cramer, and was figured by Boisduval and LeConte in their work on the Butterflies of North America, published in 18.33, where it is referred to as a common insect in the Southern States, feeding in the larval condition on the orange and lemon trees. It is still abundant in the South, and is regarder" as a noxious insect on account of the injury it does to the foliage of trees of the Citrus family ; the larva is known there under the common name of " the orange dog." The species composing the Rue family, Rutacece, to which the genus Citrus belongs, all have their leaves dotted with pellucid glands containing pungent or bitter aromatic volatile oils. The genera are very unlike each other. "We have in this country, besides the orange and lemon, the northern and southern prickly ash, Xnntlu>xylum Americanum and Carolinianum ; the hop-tree or wafer-ash, Plelea trifoliata ; and two introduced plants, the garden Rue, Ruta graveolens, and Didamntis fraxinella, the latter being cultivated in gardens as an ornamental herbaceous plant. Wandering from its home among the orange groves, this butterfly is enabled to recognise the allied genera in this fivmily as suitable Sdc. IV., 1884. 30. . 234 W. SAUNDERS ON TUB OCCUBRRNCK OF food for its larvae, and in the West lays its eifgs on the prickly ash or on the hop tree, or with equal readiness selects the her])aceous dictamnus, and occasionally the heavy-odored garden Rue. Doubtless these ditierent plants are distinm'uished l)y their odor. It is difficult to imagine in what other way an insect could be attracted to a plant brought from some dis- tant shore, of which none of its ancestors have had any knowledge. That insects possess the power of distinguishing and appreciating odors is evident. The carrion beetle traces out the decomposing substance wherever it may be placed on the surface, and butterflies, moths, and other insects swarm around sweet exudations or deposits. It may be asked how is it that the permanent migration of this insect northward has been so long delayed, and what circumstances have brought about the result. There was :io lack of food plants, for the shrubs it now feeds on have been growing here for thousands of years ; neither is there any marked change in the climate. The question as yet remains unansw«!red. In one respect the instinct of this butterlly ai)pears to be at fault. If seems to be unable to appreciate the ditrer<>ncci in climate between the south and the north, nnd continues to deposit eggs iintil quite late in the season, too late to admit of the larvtv uiaturiug before winter. Last year I found some egus and n«'wly hatched larvie as latti as September 2nd. Most of the larvae hatched at this period did not attain mvicli more than half their growth before severe frost rendered them torpid, when they ln'came the prey of a species of Hemiptera which pierced them and sucked them almost dry. Several specimens which were a few days older escaped attack and grew with unusual rapidity, attaining sufficient growth to admit of their entering on the chrysalis stat«', in which condition this insect passes the winter. A similar fault is also observed in the common cabbage butter- fly, Pieris rapae, a comparatively recent importation from the milder climate of England, which continues to deposit eggs on the cabbage until cold weather puts an end to its powers. Another of our large and handsome species is Papilio philenor, a butterfly which is extremely rare in Canada, so much so that in the (>ourse of more than twenty-five years' experience I have not met with a single example. Two or three specimens were taken in the neighbourhood of Woodstock, Ont., many years ago, and a most remarkable occurrence of this insect in great abundance in West Flamborough, Ont., in 1858, is recorded by the Rev. C. J. S. Bethune, in the " Canadian Naturalist and Geologist " for August of that year. He says, " these butterflies appeared in countless numbers about the lilac trees as long as they continued in blossom and then suddenly disappeared. They lasted from the Yth to the 18th of June, bu!: very few appearing after that date." He also states that they were numerous at that time about Toronto. There is no record of any similar occurrence of this insect during the twenty-five years which have since passed. It is not an uncommon butterfly in Ohio, and this flock may have come across Lake Erie, but it is most unusual to find any butterfly so plentiful during the first brood, as to admit of flocks like this travelling so far from their usual breeding grounds. The larva of philenor feeds on differ- ent species of Aristolochia, none of which I believe are native to Ontario. Aristolochia sipho, known as Dutchman's Pipe, is cultivated as an ornamental climber in some gardens, but whether there were any growing at that time in the vicinity of Flamborough is not known. Had its natural food-plants been abundant, the sudden appearance of such a host would probably have resulted in the species becoming a common one throughout western Ontario. CERTAIN BUTTERFI-IKS IN CANADA. 238 On June 29th, 1882, while collecting at Point Poke, I was astonished at capturing in fair condition a specimen of Terias Mexicana, an insect, as far ok known, hitherto unre- corded anywhere in this western region. Mr. "W. H. Edwards, iu his catalogue of the Butterflies of America North of Mexico, gives as localities for this species, " Texas to Arizona, California, occasionally in Kansas and Nebraska." It is scarcely possible that the specimen taken by me daring a two day's sojourn in that locality was the only one existing there : it is altogether likely thore were others, and that the butterfly has estab- lished itself in that district. This seems to be another example of a southern butterfly migrating northwards, and it is quite possible that within a few years it may cover a much more extended area, and perhaps become as common as the once rare Papitic cm- phonies. Three specimens of another butterfly, new to our Canadian lists, were taken at the same time and in the same locality ; those were Tlieda smilacis, Boisduval, or T. aubumiana, Harris, a species recorded as occurring in the Atlantic States, the Mississippi valley, and in Texas. twenty-throe years ago, on May 24th, while collecting in a swamp in the out- skirts of London, I captured two specimens of a handsome little Thocla, which proved to be a new species, and was named by Mr. W. H. Edwards of West Virginia, Tlieda lata. For eight or ten years following I regularly visited that locality about the same date, but never saw another specimen. That swamp has long since disappeared, and its site is now thickly covered with dwellings. The next year a single example of the same species was captured near the city of Quebec. Although nearly a quarter of a century has since passed away, and the number of observers iu the meantime has greatly increased, we have no knowledge of any other specimens of this Thecla having been taken in Canada, but during this interval the insect has been captured in West Virginia, and in one locality in Maine. The flight of a Thecla, being short and jerky, seems to be incompatible with the idea of the insect travelling any great distance, and, if this species had always been as rare as it now is, it could scarcely have distributed itself over such an immense area. Doubtless we have here an example of a butterfly once common, but which, from some unexplained cause, has become almost extinct.