The eggs, so far as we have knowledge of them, are subspherical, somewhat higher than broad, generally ribbed along the sides, particularly near the apex, and rounded at the base, which is generally broader than the apex.
The caterpillars at the time of emergence from the egg have the head considerably larger than the remainder of the body; but when they have reached maturity they are cylindrical, tapering a little from the middle to either end. They are bifurcated at the anal extremity, a character which enables them to be distinguished at a glance from the larvæ of all other American butterflies except those of the genus _Chlorippe_. They are mostly pale green or light brown in color, ornamented with stripes along the sides. They feed upon grasses and sedges, lying in concealment during the daytime, and emerging at dusk to take their nourishment.
The chrysalids are rather stout in form, but little angulated, and without any marked prominences or projections. They are green or brown in color. Most of them are pendant, but a few forms pupate at the roots of grasses or under stones lying upon the ground.
The butterflies of this subfamily have been arranged, so far as they are represented in the faunal region of which this book treats, in nine genera, which include about sixty species. It is quite possible that a number of species still remain to be discovered and described, though it is also true that some of the so-called species are likely to prove in the end little more than local races or varieties.
"The wild bee and the butterfly Are bright and happy things to see, Living beneath a summer sky."
_Butterfly._--Characterized by the stout but not greatly swollen costal vein of the fore wing, by the rather short costal vein of the hind wing, which terminates before quite reaching the outer angle, by the great length of the lower discocellular vein of the fore wing, and by the prolongation of the outer margin of the hind wing at the end of the third median nervule. The outer margin of the fore wing is either rounded or slightly excavated. The palpi are long and narrow, thickly clothed with hairs below; the antennæ are moderately long, gradually thickening toward the tip, without a well-marked club; the fore legs in both sexes greatly atrophied.