THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST, 229 



PREPARATORY STAGES OF CATOCALA STRETCHII, BEHR. 



PA' G. H. FRENCH, CARBONDALE, ILL. 



Egg. — Diameter, .04 inch, about .03 of an inch high ; roundish 

 conoidal, base broad but rounded, striated from base to micropyle, 

 thirty-two striae on the broadest part, sixteen of which reach the micropyle 

 but a few are emitted just as they reach the circle ; with very shallow 

 cross strife. Colour of micropyle whitish, a broad zone below this of 

 purplish-red, next a narrow whitish zone about half the width of the red 

 zone, then another red zone below the whitish, the last a little less than 

 half the height of the egg. Duration of this period 157 days. 



Young larva. — Length, .22 inch; cylindrical, slender, head flattened, 

 the first and second pairs of prolegs atrophid. Colour after feeding, pale 

 green, the head pale reddish-brown, three narrow, faint, dark lines on 

 each side that are apparently purplish-brown, a spot or patch of the same 

 on the centre of each joint ventrally ; piliferous spots very small ; hairs 

 short, dark. Before eating the colour is dull smoky with a greenish 

 tinge. Duration of this period four days. 



After first moult. — Length, .30 inch ; shape as before. Pale whitish- 

 green, each side with three pale reddish-purple stripes, separated by 

 stripes of the ground colour, a broken stripe of the purple along the 

 lateral folds ; head brown ; piliferous spots as before ; also the ventral 

 spots. Duration of this period five days. 



After second moult. — Length, .40 inch. Colour in stripes ; the dorsal 

 pale and with two pale stripes on each side, the lower substigmatal ; the 

 pale stripes having a pale outer part with darker centres, the dark 

 slightly ellipsoidal on each joint ; the dark stripes with dark edges and 

 sHghtly paler centres but the contrast not so great as in the pale stripes. 

 The dark part is pale red of a slight purplish-brown shade, the light part 

 slightly creamy white with also a tinge of yellowish in the incissures of 

 the joints. The dark centres of the pale stripes not quite so dark as the 

 dark part of the dark stripes. Over joints 9, 10 and 11 the dorsal stripe 

 is more distinctly white with little of the dark centre, the sides of the 

 posterior part of joint 9 and the anterior part of joint 10 obliquely black 

 shaded; also a little of this on joints 10 and 11 ; slight traces of this 

 between joints 5 and 6, 6 and 7, and 7 and 8, seen more in intensifying 

 the dark colours at these points. Piliferous spots inconspicuous, hairs 

 jet black ; no trace of lateral fringe ; venter with dark spots on all the 

 joints except thoracic. Head obscurely striped with the body colours. 



