THE MARCHING OF THE LARVA OF THE MAIA MOTH. 26 1 



were trying to scent the leader. He soon discontinued this and 

 resumed his natural position again, appearing, however, for some 

 time, very restless. While this had been going on, the rest of 

 the caterpillars had crowded up to the front one ; they appeared 

 for some time very restless, but finally settled in a close bunch, 

 in which position they all remained : one here and one there 

 would often become restless for a few minutes, but end by set- 

 tling again in its former position in the bunch. I now marked 

 the original leader (he had been kept away from the others all 

 of this time) by putting a little white paint on his back and then 

 picking him up on a small piece of paper dropped him back at 

 the edge of the group. The leader, in the meantime, had been 

 walking around evidently seeking the other caterpillars, and 

 when he returned to the bunch, began to walk restlessly around 

 near its edge. In a few minutes he started off away from the others 

 and these began to follow him, moving in a regular procession. 



Different masses of the eggs were now brought into my room, 

 a few each week, and when the caterpillars hatched, a few ex- 

 periments were carried on to see if the removal of the leader 

 always affected the followers in the same way, and if a new cater- 

 pillar would not assume the leadership and be followed by the 

 rest. The results I have thought it best to write out briefly and 

 not to arrange them in a tabulated form. The first set contains 

 those in which the old leader, upon being returned to the bunch, 

 resumed command, and the second lot, those experiments in 

 which a new caterpillar became the leader. There then follow 

 a few experiments differing from those contained in the first two 

 lots. When the number of caterpillars forming the line was 

 counted, this is given ; but in some cases, however, the number 

 which formed the line was not noted. 



In nearly every instance the removal of the leader brought 

 about at first the same result. When I removed him I would 

 draw a line on the paper marking a place where his head was 

 before removal. When the second caterpillar in the line reached 

 this point, he always stopped, rarely crossing the line, and when 

 the bunch was formed, it was always back of the line. 



I. Sixty-four in line. 8: 1 5, leader removed ; 8:30, all bunched ; 

 8:31, leader returned; 8:35, all restless; 9:00, leader started, 

 and at 9:08, all were in line and moving. 



