HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



273 



rotting mass, and it is an interesting fact that Dr. 

 Mellichamp never found the little nectar-loving bee 

 or other Mellifera about the plants. On one occa- 

 sion only have I found in the pitcher the recogniza- 

 ble remains of a Bombus, and on one occasion only 

 has he found the honey-bee captured. Species 

 belonging to all the other orders are captured, and 

 among the other species that I have most commonly 



J^O 



Hr 



Fig. 180. Leaves of Venus Fly-trap {Dioneea muscipula). 



met with, which, from the toughness of their chitin- 

 ous integument, resist disorganization and remain 

 recognizable, may be mentioned Asaphes memnonius 

 and Euryomia melancholica among Coleoptera, Fen- 

 tatonia ingeiis and Orsilochis variabilis, var. compli- 

 cafus, among Heteroptera; while kyatids, locusts, 

 crickets, cockroaches, flies, moths, and even butter- 

 flies, and some Arachnida and Myriapoda, in a more 

 or less irrecognizable condition, frequently help to 

 swell the unsavoury mass. 



Fig. \Sl.X(ml!iopfera xemicrncea : a, egg-, enlarged, the natural 

 size indicated at side; i, c, larva, back and side views; 

 d, chrysalis ; e, moth, normal form, with wings expanded ; 

 /, pale variety with wings closed. 



But while these insects are decoyed and macerated 

 in order, as we may naturally infer, to help to sup- 

 port the destroyer, there are, nevertheless, two 

 species which are proof against its siren influences, 

 and which, in turn, oblige it either directly or in- 

 directly to support them. 



The first is Xanthcptera semicroccci, Guen., a little 

 glossy moth, which may properly be called the Sar- 



racenia Moth. It is strikingly marked with grey- 

 bluck and straw-yellow, the colours being sharply 

 separated across the shoulders and the middle of the 

 front wings. This little moth walks with perfect 

 impunity over the inner surface of the pitcher, which 

 proves so treacherous to so many other insects. It 

 is frequently found in pairs within the pitchers soon 

 after these open, in the early part of the season, or 

 about the end of April. The female lays her eggs 

 singly, near the mouth of the pitcher, and the young 

 larva, from the moment of hatching, spins for itself 

 a carpet of silk, and very soon closes up the mouth 

 by drawing the rims together and covering them 

 with a delicate, gossamer-like web, which efl'ectually 

 debars all small outside intruders. It then frets 

 the leaf witliin, commencing under the hood and 

 feeding downward on the cellular tissue, leaving 

 only the epidermis. As it proceeds, the lower part 



Fig. 182. Sarcophagn StirraceniiB : o, larva ; /;, pupa; e, fly, 

 the hair lines showing average natural lengths ; d, en- 

 larged head and first joint of larva, showing curved 

 hooks, lower lip {g), and prothoracic spiracle ; e, end of 

 body of same, showing stigmata (/) and prolegs and 

 vent ; /(, tarsal claws of fly with protecting pads ; i, an- 

 tenna of same. All enlarged. 



of the pitcher above the putrescent insect collection 

 becomes packed with ochreous excrementitious 

 droppings, and by the time the worm has attained 

 its full size the pitcher above these droppings gene- 

 rally collapses. This worm when fully grown is 

 beautifully banded transversely with white and 

 purple or lake-red, which Dr. Mellichamp poetically 

 likens in brightness to the Tyrian dye. It is further- 

 more characterized by rows of tubercles, which are 

 especially prominent on the four larger legless joints. 

 It is a hall'-looper, having but six prolegs, and keeps 

 up, in travelling, a constant restless, waving motion 

 of the head and thoracic joints, recalling paralysis 

 acjitam. The chrysalis is formed in a very slight 

 cocoon, usually just above or within the packed ex- 

 crement. The species, kindly determined by Mr. 

 A. R. Grote, was many years ago figured by Abbott, 

 who found it feeding on Sarracenia variolaris, in 

 Georgia. Guenee's descriptions were made from 

 these figures, for which reason I append a few 

 descriptive notes from the living material. It feeds 

 alike on ^S'. variolaris and S. jlava, and there are 

 two broods each year ; the first brood of larva; found 

 during the early part of May, the second toward 



