no. i. BOMBYCINE MOTHS OF NORTH AMERICA— PACKARD. 207 



aries whiter than in the other Boulder forms, but not so white as in the Albuquerque one. 

 Boulder. July, 1912 (O. Wangelin). 



Other variations occur in the Eastern States. Dr. Holland states: "I have one or two 

 fine melanic specimens, hi which the wings are almost wholly black on the upper side. Albino 

 specimens are also occasionally found." Strecker (litt. to Dr. Packard, 1900) noted that a 

 male he raised from a cocoon sent by O. T. Baron from Mendocino, Cal., was quite typical 

 polyphemus.} 



Life history. 



According to Mr. E. B. Reed, this insect "frequently attacks maples, and from the enormous 

 size of the caterpillar and its voracious appetite a great deal of damage is often done." (Report 

 Ontario Ent. Soc. for 1872, p. 39.) Mrs. Dimmock has contributed the following historical 

 account of this insect to Psyche, IV, 277: * 



Harris (Rept. Ins. Injur. Veg., 1841, p. 278-279) describes larva, cocoon, and imago; later (Treatise on Ins. Injur. 

 Veg., 1862, p. 384-386) he adds a figure of the imago, and (Entom. Corresp., 1869, p. 294, pi. 4, fig. 17) a figure of the 

 larva. Morris (Synop. Lepid. N. A., 1862, p. 226-227) describes larva and imago, and (op. cit., p. 209) describes the egg, 

 which he mistook for that of Smerinthus excaecatas. Trouvelot (Amer. Nat., 1867, v. i, p. 30-38, 85-94, 145-149, pi. 5-6) 

 gives an extended account of this species which he tried to rear, on a considerable scale, for its silk ; he describes the egg, 

 larva, pupa, and cocoon, ana figures the larva, pupa, cocoon, and male and female imagos, as well as Ophion macrurum, 

 a parasite of the larva; he says there are at least six varieties of the imagos. Packard (Guide Study Ins., 1869, p. 297, pi. 

 6-7) repeats Trouvelot's figures. Riley [?] (Amer. Entom., March, 1869, v. i, p. 121-122) figures the imago and describes 

 the larva and imago. Riley (4th Ann. Rept. State Entom. Mo., 1872, p. 125-129) describes egg, larva, cocoon, pupa, 

 and imago, and figures larva, pupa, cocoon, and male and female imagos; contrary to Trouvelot, who stated that there 

 are six larval stages, Riley gives the number of molts as four, making five larval stages. Lintner (Entom. Contrib. [No.l], 

 1872, p. 6) gives a note on the coloration of the eggs, and (op. cit., No. 3, 1874, p. 152) describes the eggs. Gentry (Can. 

 Entom., May, 1874, v. 6, p. 86) describes the normal form and a variety of the larva. Grote (Can. Entom., Sept., 1S78, 

 v. 10, p. 176) states that this species is double-brooded in the South; Trouvelot (I. c.) was unable to raise two broods to 

 maturity in Massachusetts, and Brodie (Papilio, April, 1882, v. 2, p. 60) writes that " in long and warm seasons about 50 

 per cent are double-brooded, but this is against the increase of the species, as cold weather usually sets in before the 

 larvae are fully matured." Packard (Bull. 7, U. S. Entom. Coram., 1881, p. 48) figures the larva. Saunders (Can. Entom., 

 March, 1882, v. 14, p. 41^15) figures and describes the larva, pupa, cocoon, and male and female imagos; he further 

 figures Ophion macrurmn, a parasite of the larva. Brodie (Papilio, May, 1882, v. 2, p. 83) states that normally this insect 

 comes from its cocoon at about 11 a. m. Wailly (Bull. Soc. Acclim. France, May, 1882, s. 3, v. 9, p. 265) gives some 

 notes upon the larva and imago. A compilation of the food-plants results as follows: Quercus, TJlmas, Tm'a [Harris, 1841 

 and 1862]; Tilia americana and Rosa [Harris, 1869]; Acer, Salic, Populus, Corylus, Betula, Vaccinium [Trouvelot] 

 Carya, Juglans nigra, J. cdnerea, Cratsegus (Amer. Entom., 1869, v. 1, p. 121); Quercus virens, [Chambers (Amer. 

 Entom., March, 1870, v. 2, p. 156)]; apple, quince, plum, Prunus virginiana, Platanus, Gleditschia [Riley]; Betula lento. 

 [Young (Can. Entom., Oct., 1880, v. 12, p. 212)]; Hamamelis virginiea [Kyle (op. cit., p. 213)]; Castanea vesca. Fagus 

 [Wailly (Journ. Soc. Arts, 31 March, 1882, v. 30, p. 528)]; Tilia europa-a, Cratxgus coccinea, C. tomentosa, C. crus-galli, 

 Amelanchier canadensis, Ribes cynosbati, Quercus alba, Q. macrocarpa, Q. rubra, Corylus americana, C. rostrata, Fagus 

 ferruginea, Carpinus americana, Ostrya virginiea, Carya tomentosa, C. amara, C. alba, Betula lenta, B. excelsa, B. alba, 

 B. papyracea, Alnus incana, A. serrulata, Salix alba, S. humilis, Populus grandidentata, P. tremuloides [Brodie (Papilio, 

 April, 1882, v. 2, p. 58-59)]. Chestnut, as a food-plant, is only mentioned by Wailly, who reared the larvae in England, 

 but they are often found in eastern Massachusetts, on Castanea vesca. 



[The following life history of T. polyphemus was originally published by Packard in Proc. 

 Amer. Acad., 1893:] 



The larvae, usually feeding on the oak, have been found on the chestnut, and in Maine on the beech. 



Egg. — Regularly oval-cylindrical, each end alike; flattened at each pole; surface chalky white, with a very broad, 

 conspicuous dark-brown band. Under a lens, the surface of the shell is seen to be finely pitted or granulated ; under a 

 half-inch objective, the surface is seen to be covered with round shallow depressions bordered with a well-marked rim; 

 these orbicular areas do not touch each other, there being quite wide spaces between them ; they are arranged obliquely. 

 Length of egg 2.6 mm., breadth 2.2 mm. 



Larva. — Stage I. Hatched June 12. (Described when 20-24 hours old.) 



The brood hatches all at once, or nearly so. Length 5 to 6 mm. 



The head is large and full, rounded as usual in the family; as wide as or slightly wider than the body, i. e., the pro- 

 thoracic segment, not taking into account the lateral tubercles. It is deep bright brick-red; the labrum, antennae, and 

 jaws yellowish. The body gradually tapers backward from the head. 



1 [Abbot and Smith, Nat. Hist. Lcp. Ins. Georgia, vol. 1 (179"), p. 93, figure T. polyphemus as feeding on Quercus lobulata Solander, MSS., 

 the tree now known as Q. stellata.] 



