The caterpillar feeds upon various species of willow. It is a Northern form, being found in Pennsylvania upon the summits of the Alleghanies, and thence north to Labrador on the east and Alaska on the west. It is always a rather scarce insect.
(2) =Vanessa californica=, Boisduval, Plate XX, Fig. 11, ♂ (The California Tortoise-shell).
_Butterfly._--On the upper side deep fulvous, mottled with yellow, spotted and bordered with black. On the under side dark brown; pale on the outer half of the primaries, the entire surface marked with dark lines and fine striæ. Expanse, 2.00-2.25 inches.
_Early Stages._--The larva and chrysalis have been described by Henry Edwards in the "Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences," vol. v, p. 171. The caterpillar feeds upon _Ceanothus thyrsiflorus_.
This insect is a close ally of the European _V. xanthomelas_. It ranges from Colorado to California and as far north as Oregon.
+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | EXPLANATION OF PLATE XX | | | | 1. _Grapta satyrus_, Edwards, ♀. | | 2. _Grapta satyrus_, Edwards, ♀, | | _under side_. | | 3. _Grapta progne_, Cramer, ♂. | | 4. _Grapta progne_, Cramer, ♂, | | _under side_. | | 5. _Grapta zephyrus_, Edwards, ♂. | | 6. _Grapta zephyrus_, Edwards, ♂, | | _under side_. | | 7. _Junonia coenia_, Hübner, ♀. | | 8. _Junonia lavinia_, Cramer, ♂. | | 9. _Junonia genoveva_, Cramer, ♂. | | 10. _Vanessa milberti_, Godart, ♂. | | 11. _Vanessa californica_, Boisduval, | | ♂. | | 12. _Pyrameis caryæ_, Hübner, ♂. | | 13. _Anartia jatrophæ_, Linnæus, ♂. | | | | [Illustration PLATE XX.] | +--------------------------------------------------------------+
(3) =Vanessa milberti=, Godart, Plate XX, Fig. 10, ♂; Plate III, Fig. 36, _larva_; Plate IV, Figs. 43, 49, 50, _chrysalis_ (Milbert's Tortoise-shell).
_Butterfly._--Easily distinguished by the broad yellow submarginal band on both wings, shaded outwardly by red. It is nearly related to the European _V. urticæ_. Expanse, 1.75 inch.
The life-history has been worked out and described by numerous writers. The caterpillars feed upon the nettle (_Urtica_).
This pretty little fly ranges from the mountains of West Virginia northward to Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, thence westward to the Pacific.
