Home › The Pierids › The Falcate Orange-Tip

The Falcate Orange-Tip

Synchloe genutia (Syn'chlo-e ge-nu'ti-a) PLATE XV, FIG. I, 2 In this species the apex of the fore wings is hooked, reminding one of the hook-tip moths. In the males there is a large apical orange-patch.

CATERPILLAR.-Length, four-fifths inch; head with papillæ on top; body slender and downy; color bluish green with a lighter stripe down the back and along each side. When examined closely it may be seen that the body-color is made up of fine stripes of various hues.

Food-plants. Rock-cress, bitter cress, shepherd's-purse, Sisymbrium, and other Cruciferæ which are slender in form. This rare little butterfly taught the junior author the meaning of falcate, that word having escaped her vocabulary until she made the acquaintance of this orange-tip. Never was a more charming definition than these graceful front wings with their brilliant curved tips. It seems to be the female of this species, as with the birds, that has the æsthetic taste to choose glowing colors in the raiment of her spouse; while he, "not noticing dress," is content that her white wings shall lack the orange-tips which make his beautiful. On the lower side of her wings as well as his is an intricate pattern wrought out in greenish yellow-brown and white. The species is found throughout the southeast United States not including Florida. It has been taken as far north as New Haven, Conn.