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ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



most beautiful dark-blue color. In pupating they form a long 

 loose cocoon of yellow silk, which is concealed somewhere 

 about the Opuntia clump, usually under a prostrate pad. 



There are two broods during the year. Moths issue in June 

 or July, and again in October. The eggs from this last generation 

 hatch in the fall, and the young winter as larvae, less than one- 

 third grown, in the wounds which they have made in the succu 

 lent pulp. They continue to feed during warm weather, and 

 are not killed by severe frost, surviving even when the juices 

 with which they are surrounded are congealed to solid ice for 

 more than twenty-four hours. The moth is nocturnal. During 

 the day it hides among the detritus of the Opuntia clump. In 

 this situation its neutral coloration is highly protective, and the 

 difficulty of detecting it among the dry and twisted fragments of 

 the plant is rendered still greater by the peculiar position it 

 assumes when resting. With its wings closed and bent sharply 

 downwards, while the abdomen is curved upwards between the 

 slanting wings, if discovered at all, it is more likely to be taken 

 for a dead than a living insect. 



FIG. 7. Melitara prodenialis ; a, larva, in profile; b, head and prothorax, dorsal view; 

 c, one of the segments, dorsal view; d, anal segment from above: e, cocoon ; f, pupa ; g , 

 moth all natural size. 



The accompanying cut representing the moth with its larva, 

 pupa, and cocoon was drawn by Miss L. Sullivan, under the 

 supervision of Prof. C. V. Riley, from material collected by 

 myself at Crescent City, Fla., in 1882. 



Mr. Howard asked if the top egg, i. e., the one laid last, is 

 the first to hatch, as is the case with the eggs of Grafta commci 



