[Illustration FIG. 129.--Neuration of _Thecla edwardsi_. (After Scudder.) Typical neuration of the genus.]
_Caterpillar._--The caterpillars are slug-shaped, their heads minute, the body abruptly tapering at the anal extremity. They feed upon the tender leaves of the ends of branches, some of them upon the leaves of flowers of various species.
_Chrysalis._--What has been said concerning the chrysalids of the family applies likewise to the chrysalids of this and the succeeding genera. They lie closely appressed to the surface upon which they are formed, and are held in place by an attachment at the anal extremity, as well as by a slight girdle of silk about the middle. In color they are generally some shade of brown.
(1) =Thecla grunus=, Boisduval, Plate XXIX, Fig. 12, ♂ (Boisduval's Hair-streak).
_Butterfly._--The wings are brown on the upper side, lighter on the disk; in some specimens, more frequently of the female sex, bright orange-tawny. On the under side the wings are pale tawny, with transverse marginal and submarginal series of small dark spots on both wings. Two or three of the marginal spots near the anal angle are black, each crowned with a metallic-green crescent. Expanse, 1.10-1.20 inch.
_Early Stages._--These have, in part, been described by Dyar, "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xxv, p. 94. The caterpillar is short, flattened, the segments arched, the body tapering backward, bluish-green, covered with little dark warty prominences bearing tufts of hairs, obscurely striped longitudinally with broken, pale lines, and having a diamond-shaped shield back of the head. The chrysalis is thick and conformed to the generic type of structure. The color is pale green, striped and dotted with pale yellow on the abdomen. The caterpillar feeds in the Yosemite Valley upon the young leaves of the live-oak (_Quercus chrysolepis_).
The insect is found in California and Nevada.
(2) =Thecla crysalus=, Edwards, Plate XXIX, Fig. 11, ♂ (The Colorado Hair-streak).
_Butterfly._--The wings on the upper side are royal purple, broadly margined with black. On the fore wings a broad oblique black band runs from the middle of the costa to the middle of the outer margin. At the inner angles of both wings are conspicuous orange spots. On the under side the wings are fawn, marked with white lines edged with brown. The orange spots reappear on this side, but at the anal angle of the hind wings are transformed to red eye-spots, pupiled with black and margined with metallic green. The hind wings are tailed. Expanse, 1.50 inch.
