JULY 20: The Meadow Fritillary Family
“I must tell you this evening,” commenced daddy, “a story about the meadow fritillary family.”
“Oh, gracious, daddy!” exclaimed Jack. “Now really!”
“Well,” said Evelyn, “at least I understand it has something to do with a meadow, but it may be a flower, fruit, animal or bird for all I know.”
“None of those,” said daddy laughing. “Guess again.”
“Well, it might be the name of a big rock,” said Jack.
“Wrong,” said daddy. Both the children laughed and started to think of some other creatures and objects which might be in a meadow.
“Of course,” said Evelyn, “there are the meadow larks, but they are birds, and daddy said these fritillaries aren’t birds.” Evelyn had a very hard time calling them by their name and Jack said admiringly: “Well, Evelyn, I wouldn’t dare try that!”
“There are meadow crickets,” said Evelyn.
“Now, we’re coming a little bit closer,” said daddy.
“Oh, do tell us,” urged Jack.
“The meadow fritillaries,” said daddy, “are butterflies!”
“Gracious,” said Evelyn, “that’s a pretty hard name for a little butterfly to carry.”
“They have cousins named the Silver-Spot Fritillary family and the Gulf Fritillary family, but it is of the meadow ones I am going to tell you, and I think it would be easier for us to speak of them as the Meadow family and leave out their long last name.
“Mother Meadow had become a butterfly in June and after four weeks had gone by she laid her little eggs, and in another week there were little caterpillars. After that Mother Meadow knew there would be butterflies; and it would take a month for them to become chrysalides and another week for them to become full-fledged butterflies. So Mother Meadow was much excited.
“And after a time there would be more butterflies and she would be a grandmother, and still more and she would be a great-grandmother. All that would happen in a summer. And there would be still others but they wouldn’t become full-grown until another spring came around. They would stop feeding and sleep throughout the winter as many butterflies will do.
“The latest children of the Meadow Fritillary family in September feed upon the leaves of violets which they think are particularly delicious.
“When it gets cold ahead of time in the autumn the little half-grown butterflies go right to sleep and don’t bother about food, but when the next spring comes they make up for it and eat twice as much.
“Mother Meadow lives in the lowland meadows and near swamps. She loves a home near the spots where blue and white and purple violets grow, for she knows her children love the sweet leaves.
“The Meadow family also takes honey from mint and other plants that grow near the swamps.
“‘Our cousins,’ said Mother Meadow to her brood one day, ‘are very much like us except for the row of silver spots which line their wings. That is why they are called the Silver-Bordered Fritillary family. But we are nice brown speckled butterflies and are as happy as our handsome cousins.’
“‘Have we any more cousins?’ asked the Meadow children butterflies.
“‘Oh, yes,’ said Mother Meadow, ‘there are the Silver-Spot Fritillaries, the Great Spangled Fritillaries and the Regal Fritillaries as well as different kinds of the silver variety. But we are just as happy and contented as any of them, even if we are rather plain and dull and brown for butterflies.
“‘And, my children, you rested on violet leaves when you were little eggs. Some of you rested on the stems of the violet plants, but most of you were right on the beautiful green leaves.
“‘So though we’re rather simple little butterflies, we mothers gave you beds fit for princesses.’
“‘Ah, we’re happy,’ said the little butterflies, as they flew about in the warm summer sunshine.”