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Sooty-wing
Butterfly.--Black on both sides of the wings, with a faint marginal series and a conspicuous submarginal series of light spots on the primaries in the male sex on the upper side, and, in addition to these, in the female sex, a faint marginal series on the secondaries. On the under side only the upper spots of the submarginal series of the primaries reappear. Expanse, .80-1.15 inch.
Early Stages.--The caterpillar feeds on "lamb's-quarter" (Chenopodium album) and the Amarantaceae. It forms a case for itself by folding the leaf along the midrib and stitching the edges together with a few threads of silk. It lies concealed during the day and feeds at night. A minute account of all its peculiarities is given by Scudder in "The Butterflies of New England," vol. ii, p. 1519.
The insect ranges over the whole of temperate North America.