_Butterfly_, ♂.--On the upper side it closely resembles the winter form _marcia_ of _Phyciodes tharos_, Drury; but the black markings are more evenly distributed. The under side is a pale yellowish-fulvous, and the black markings are slight.
♀.--The female is like the male, but paler. Expanse, ♂, 1.15 inch; ♀, 1.25 inch.
_Early Stages._--The chrysalis has been described by Edwards in the "Canadian Entomologist," vol. xi, p. 129. This is all we know of the early life of the insect.
(4) =Phyciodes phaon=, Edwards, Plate XVII, Fig. 22, ♂; Fig. 23. ♀, _under side_ (Phaon).
_Butterfly_, ♂.--The ground-color of the male is paler on the upper side than in _Phyciodes tharos_, and the black markings are much heavier. The median band on the fore wings is yellowish. The wings on the under side are yellow, shaded with fulvous on the primaries, on which the dark markings are heavy.
♀.--Like the male. Expanse, ♂, .90 inch; ♀, 1.25 inch.
This insect inhabits the Gulf States, and has been occasionally taken in Kansas.
(5) =Phyciodes tharos=, Drury, Plate XVIII, Fig. 1, ♂; Fig. 2, ♀; var. =marcia=, Edwards, Plate XVIII, Fig. 3, ♂; Fig. 4, ♀; Plate V, Figs. 20-22, _chrysalis_ (The Pearl Crescent).
_Butterfly._--This very common and well-known little insect scarcely needs to be described. The upper side is bright fulvous, with heavy black borders; all the other dark markings are slight. The wings on the under side are paler, with the dark markings of the upper side showing through, and there are additional markings of brown on the hind wings. Expanse, ♂, 1.25 inch; ♀, 1.65 inch.
_Early Stages._--The early stages of this insect have been worked out with the most extreme care by Mr. Edwards, and the reader who is curious to know about them should consult "The Butterflies of North America." Dr. Scudder also has minutely and laboriously described the early stages in "The Butterflies of New England." The egg is light greenish-yellow. The caterpillar, which feeds upon various species of aster and allied _Compositæ_, is dark brown after the third moult, its back dotted with yellow, adorned with short, black, bristly spines, which are yellow at the base. The chrysalis is grayish-white, mottled with dark spots and lines.