191.1 ] The Ottawa Naturalist. 71 



OCCURRENCE OF THE COTTON MOTH IN ONTARIO 



IN 1912. 



By Arthur Gibsox. 



The first record I have of the occurrence of the Cotton 

 Moth (Alabama argillacea Hubn.) in Canada, in 1912. is its 

 abundance at Woodstock, Out., where the moths appeared on 

 the evening of October 9th, or morning of the 10th. Mr. James 

 Dunlop, who reported the flight, stated that he first saw T them 

 on an electric light pole near the Canadian Pacific Railway 

 Station, soon after 8 a.m. Many specimens were on the pole 

 and on the ground nearby. Visits were then made to other 

 electric light poles in the vicinity. An immense number of the 

 moths were seen on and near the second pole. "The pole was 

 on one side of the sidewalk and on the other side under some 

 trees among the grass, the moths were covering everything. 

 They could have been literally shovelled up. There was a large 

 flock of hens that had also discovered them, but they did not 

 seem to make the least impression in their numbers. Next 

 morning very few w T ere to be seen, just an odd one here and 

 there." 



In the Canadian Entomologist, April, 1913, a short note 

 was published, chiefly to accompany an illustration made from 

 a photograph of a flight taken at London, Ont., by Mr. J. F. 

 Calvert. With the photograph, Mr. Calvert sent the following 

 note: "Late Thursday night, or early Friday morning (October 

 lOth-llth), there appeared in London, great numbers of the 

 Cotton Moth. They were most noticeable around the Canadian 

 Pacific Railway Station, the Grand Trunk Railway Station, the 

 Grand Trunk Railway Round House, and at a few other points 

 where powerful arc -lights w'ere located. In some places there 

 were heaps several inches deep under these lights. By the 

 following Sunday (October 13th) very few were to be seen." 



At Dunnville, Ont., a flight was observed in the morning of 

 October 11th. Mr. J. C. Payne, who reported the occurrence, 

 stated that the moths "covered, thickly, the windows and store 

 fronts, and lay on the ground like autumn leaves. There was 

 a rain storm during the night (lOth-llth), and the moths were 

 here in the morning, after the rain." 



On the evening of October 12th, I saw numbers of the moths 

 in New York City, particularly in store windows and in 

 restaurants. 



At Ottawa few specimens were seen, and only during one 

 evening, viz., October 15th, when seven were observed. 



