Home › The Meadow-Browns › The Gemmed Brown (Neonympha gemma Ne-o-nympha)

The Gemmed Brown (Neonympha gemma Ne-o-nympha)

Neonympha gemma (Ne-o-nympha gem'ma) PLATE XXXI, FIG. 6, 9 The upper surface of the wings is a moderately dark mouse brown, with two darker shades beyond cell R + M of the hind wings and with indistinct blackish spots near the outer margin of the hind wings. The lower surface is gray brown; the fore wings are crossed by three fine transverse threads ; on the middle of the outer surface of the hind wings there is a large oval patch composed of white and reddish-brown scales; in the outer edge of the patch are four rounded cinnamonbrown spots, heavily flecked with white scales. Expanse of wings one and one-fourth to one and three-eighths inches. CATERPILLAR.-Color of body green or brown marked with darker lengthwise stripes.

The tubercles on the head and last segment of the abdomen are long.

Food-plant. Grass.

Some butterflies, like some people, are more remarkable for what they are not than for what they are. This is true of the gemmed brown when seen from above; for it is just a little plain, mouse-brown butterfly, and that is all.

But on the lower side of the hind wings we find where this little Quaker keeps the gems that give it its name; near the margin are four small sepia-brown spots with shining centers set in ivory, bordered outside with pearl that shimmers and gleams with a luster almost metallic. The thrill of surprise one feels in discovering this exquisite decoration on such a dull insect is one of the experiences that renders the work of the butterfly lover never monotonous.

The gemmed brown is a Southern species ranging from Mexico to Virginia. It is doublebrooded; the caterpillars of the spring brood are green, while those of the fall brood are brown in color. That these colors are adapted for protection during the respective seasons in which they occur is obvious. But we still wonderingly question, "How does this caterpillar know when to be green and when to be brown?"