coloration. Look for it in open areas around. marshes, fields and roadsides. The spring azure and the silvery blue are similar in size to the coppers; the upper surfaces of their wings are brilliant blue.

The Nymphalidae are a large group of medium to large sized butterflies. They are fast, strong fliers whose front legs are reduced in size and useless for walking. The painted lady is the thistle butterfly, although, its larvae will feed on other composites. It is so widespread that it has another common name, the cosmopolite. It is medium sized, orange-brown and brownish-black above, with four small eyespots on the underside of the hind wing. Also, very common and widely distributed is the red admiral; its caterpillars feed on nettles. The butterfly disports itself in sunny places. Fritillaries are smaller to medium sized brownish butterflies with numerous intricate black markings on the upper side of the wings and silvery spots on the undersides. They are powerful fliers in marshy meadows, open spaces and along roadsides. The butterflies are eager visitors to flowers; the larvae feed on violets and goldenrods. Our common species include the great spangled, the silver bordered, the Atlantis and a number of lesser fritillaries, including the beautiful Baltimore, an intensely local butterfly which never strays more than a hundred metres from its host plant in swampy areas. Anglewings are small to medium—sized and have wings whose irregular outlines would suggest that they had been inexpertly trimmed with scissors. The colour on the upper wing surface is brownish and black markings, while the underwings are darker, resembling a dead leaf. Nettles and elms provide food for larvae; the butterflies are attracted to sap. Specific anglewings include the question mark, or violet tip and the comma, BNMU or hop merchant, both are so named because of peculiar silvery marks on the underwing. If anglewings are denizens of forest or orchard, the Viceroy is a butterfly of open spaces, meadows and roadsides. Its flight pattern includes a period of flapping followed by gliding on horizontal wings. Many people know this reddish-brown, black striped butterfly as a mimic of the distasteful monarch butterfly. Monarchs are rare to PEI; they do not belong to the same family as the Viceroy. The white admiral or banded purple is dark purple to black, with a broad white band across the wings. It will be found in July in or near open hardwood stands, flying up and down a glade or road, or perching high in a tree. The mourning cloak, by contrast, is the first out in the spring and the last to go in at autumn. It is brownish-black with yellowish wing margins; the host plants include elm, rose, willow and poplar.

The Satyridae are the meadow browns, the wood nymphs and the satyrs, all favourites of outdoor people because they haunt open woods and grassy glades, alight with summer sun. They, too, are medium-sized butterflies, the background colour of whose wings is grey or brown, frequently decorated with eyespots which may be placed within a yellowish band. They are erratic, dancing flyers. The eyed brown, or common grass nymph,

Mourningcloak Butterfly, Yellow Edge

5