"Atoms of color thou hast called to life (We name them butterflies) float lazily On clover swings, their drop of honey made By thee, dear queen, already for their need."
_Butterfly._--Small butterflies, with the upper side of the wings some shade of coppery-red or orange, frequently glossed with purple. On the under side the wings are marked with a multitude of small spots and lines. The neuration of the wing is delineated in the figure herewith given, and needs no further description.
_Egg._--The eggs are hemispherical, flattened on the base, the upper surface deeply pitted with polygonal or somewhat circular depressions.
[Illustration FIG. 135.--Neuration of _Chrysophanus thoë_, enlarged. Typical of the genus.]
_Caterpillar._--The caterpillars, so far as known, are decidedly slug-shaped, thickest in the middle, tapering forward and backward, and having a very small head.
_Chrysalis._--The chrysalids are small, rounded at either end, and held in place by a girdle of silk a little forward of the middle.
This genus is found in the temperate regions of both the New and the Old World, and also in South Africa.
(1) =Chrysophanus arota=, Boisduval, Plate XXIX, Fig. 1, ♂; Fig. 2, ♀ (Arota).
_Butterfly._--The plate gives a good idea of the upper side of the wings in both sexes. On the under side the fore wings are pale gray in the male and pale red in the female, with the outer margin lavender. The spots of the upper side reappear on the disk. The hind wings on the under side are purplish-gray on the inner two thirds and paler gray on the outer third, with many black spots on the disk, margined with white. Expanse, 1.10-1.25 inch.
_Early Stages._--These have been partially described by Dyar in the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xxiii, p. 204. The caterpillar feeds on the wild gooseberry (_Ribes_).
(2) =Chrysophanus virginiensis=, Edwards, Plate XXVIII, Fig. 23, ♂; Fig. 24, ♀ (The Nevada Copper).
_Butterfly._--Allied to the preceding species, but easily distinguished by the submarginal white bands of crescent-shaped spots on the under side. These are particularly distinct on the hind wings. Expanse, 1.25-1.30 inch.
_Virginiensis_, so named because the first specimens came from Virginia City, ranges in California, Nevada, and Colorado.