Vol. XXvii] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. Jl 



found by Wheeler while sweeping the low vegetation in the 

 prairies of Wisconsin and Illinois, and on one or two occasions 

 he found in his net a few pink larvae and nymphs. It was 

 these young katy-dids that gave him the clew as to the heredity 

 of pink coloration, for the young insects were colored like 

 the adults, and they occurred in the same sweepings with many 

 specimens of the common green form of Amblycorypha ob- 

 longifolia. Under these circumstances the only interpretation 

 that could be drawn was that the pink katy-did is pink through- 

 out life; the pinkness is therefore congenital or germinal in 

 character, and not the result of environmental conditions. Fol- 

 lowing upon this supposition it was assumed that the pink form 

 of katy-did was a mutant. 



In addition to the normal green form of Amblycorypha 

 there are known to be pink, brown or tan, and yellow forms 

 of katy-did, though in the case of the latter only one specimen 

 appears to have been reported. 



Wheeler seems to agree with Scudder and Shull in suppos- 

 ing that the pink and probably the brown individuals also 

 represent sports or mutants. The various phases of color 

 above noted with the exception of the green have been regarded 

 as analogous to those of albino animals and certain white 

 flowering plants. 



In considering the subject of "Color Sports Among Insects/' 

 Grossbeck 1 seems to regard the pink coloration of various 

 insects as indicating sports or mutants, and he does not regard 

 the color as the result of environment. 



On the other hand Knab 2 draws attention to pink and green 

 caterpillars of the same species as being analogous to green 

 and pink coloration of katy-dids, drawing therefrom the con- 

 clusion that in all probability the difference in pigmentation 

 is due to absorbtion of the coloring matter of the leaves of 

 food plants on which the insects feed. 



In regard to the latter theory as to the cause of pink color- 

 ing, the evidence which I have acquired from my breeding 



Science N. S. xxvi, pp. 639-640, 1907. 

 2 Science N. S. xxvi, pp. 595-59?, I97- 



