[Illustration FIG. 120.--Neuration of the genus _Neominois_, enlarged.]
_Egg._--The egg is somewhat barrel-shaped, broader at the base than at the top, with the summit rounded. The sides are ornamented with fourteen or fifteen vertical raised ridges, which are quite broad, and sometimes fork or run into each other. On the sides these ridges seem to be regularly excised at their bases, and between them on the surface are many horizontal raised cross-lines, giving the depressed surface the appearance of being filled with shallow cells.
_Caterpillar._--The mature caterpillar has the head globular, the body cylindrical, gradually tapering backward, and provided with two very short conical anal horns.
_Chrysalis._--The chrysalis is formed under the surface of the earth; it is rounded, somewhat carinate, or keel-shaped, where the wing-cases unite on the ventral side. The head is rounded, the thorax strongly arched, the dorsal side of the abdomen very convex. On either side of the head are small clusters of fine processes shaped somewhat like an Indian club, the thickened part studded with little spur-like projections. These can only be seen under the microscope.
But two species of the genus are known within our faunal limits.
(1) =Neominois ridingsi=, Edwards, Plate XXV, Fig. 15, ♂ (Ridings' Satyr).
_Butterfly._--The upper side is well depicted in the plate. The under side is paler than the upper side, and the basal and median areas of both wings are profusely mottled with narrow pale-brown striæ, the secondaries crossed by a darker mesial band, the outer margin of which is sharply indented. Expanse, 1.50 inch.
_Early Stages._--These have been beautifully ascertained, described, and figured by Edwards in the third volume of "The Butterflies of North America." The egg, larva, and chrysalis agree with the generic description already given, which is based upon the researches of Edwards.
It is found in the Mountain States of the Pacific coast.
(2) =Neominois dionysius=, Scudder, Plate XXV, Fig. 16, ♂ (Scudder's Satyr).
_Butterfly._--Distinguished from the preceding species by the larger and paler submarginal markings on the upper side of the wings and the pale color of the basal tract in both wings. On the under side the median band of the secondaries is narrower and more irregularly curved than in _ridingsi_, with the dentations of the outer margin more sharply produced. Expanse, 1.90 inch.