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The butterfly guide

Chapter 127: Genus MEGATHYMUS Riley
By W. J. Holland
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

A concise field manual for identifying common North American butterflies, presenting 295 colored figures that depict 255 species and varieties alongside succinct descriptions of wing patterns, sizes, ranges, and habits. The text opens with accessible explanations of butterfly anatomy, classification, and life history, then provides practical, field-oriented identification guidance, often illustrating only a single wing side or half when adequate. Emphasis is on clear visual comparison, terminology, and observation tips to assist naturalists and beginners in recognizing and distinguishing species across the United States and Canada.

Subfamily MEGATHYMINÆ
(The Giant Skippers).

These curious insects have been by some writers placed among the Castniidæ, a family of day-flying moths, but as the author stated in 1898 in “The Butterfly Book,” they appear to have much more in common with the Hesperiidæ than the Castniidæ. The proposition to include them in the Hesperiidæ as a subfamily under the name given above has since that time been generally accepted by systematists. There are a number of species belonging to the genus Megathymus, several of which occur within our faunal limits, but we shall content ourselves with figuring only the one, which those readers of this book who live in Missouri and south and west of that state are likely to see.

Genus MEGATHYMUS Riley

PL. CL

(1) Megathymus yuccæ (Boisduval & Leconte), Plate CL, ♀ (The Yucca Skipper).

The caterpillar of this species is a wood-borer, feeding in the pith and on the underground roots of different species of Yucca. The life history has been beautifully worked out by the late Prof. C. V. Riley, who published a full account of his observations in his “Eighth Annual Report of the State Entomologist of Missouri,” pp. 169 et seq., and in the “Transactions of the St. Louis Academy of Science,” Vol. III, pp. 323 et seq. The student will do well to refer to these interesting papers. The figure we give on the plate is that of a female specimen bred by Professor Riley in Missouri and presented by him to the late W. H. Edwards, whose collection is now the property of the writer.