216 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [xxxii, '21 



in sterile water, and transferred to fresh agar to avoid contamination. 



The larvae hatched in several days and fed on or near the surface of 

 the agar and, owing to its transparency, could be observed in each 

 instar. Puparia were formed on the walls of the test tubes or petri 

 dishes, but best results were obtained by transferring the full grown 

 larvae to shallow containers of earth and allowing them to pupate there. 

 Bacterial contamination of the media or the presence of large amounts 

 of water of condensation proved fatal to the larvae and necessitated 

 frequent transferring to fresh agar. JOHN R. EYRE, Pa. State College 

 Exper. Sta., Girard, Pennsylvania. 



Life History of Pyrameis caryae in California (Lep., Rhop.). 



Pyrameis caryae is a very common butterfly in our State of Califor- 

 nia, especially in San Francisco and vicinity. It flies abundantly from 

 July to the end of November. I took one P. caryae var. muclleri Letch- 

 er, on January 1st, 1918, and another February 27th, 1919. I captured 

 some every month except March, April and May. My reason for writ- 

 ing these few lines about its life history is because during the past 

 three years I have captured four P. caryae var. muelleri in my garden, 

 and in 1920 I came to the conclusion that I would employ some of my 

 time in studying carefully their movements in my own garden and try 

 to find out whether there might be some P. caryae var. muclleri amongst 

 them. As soon as' the caterpillars reached almost their full size, I 

 removed and placed them in breeding cages, so as to obtain the best 

 result, but, to my great disappointment, out of such a large number as 

 forty-three caterpillars not one P. caryae var. muclleri appeared ; all 

 those that emerged from the chrysalids (except a few that were parasi- 

 tized) were typical P. caryae. 



One adult female carries from 75 to 85 eggs. The eggs are deposited 

 upon the leaf of the food-plant, mallow (Malva borcalis), upon which 

 the caterpillars, after they are hatched, are destined to live, and the 

 female reveals wonderful instinct in selecting plants which are appro- 

 priate to the development of the larvae. No more than five or six eggs 

 are deposited singly upon the same leaf and always on the upper side 

 of it. The eggs resemble the shape of a bird's egg, broken in at the top, 

 and are pale green when first deposited, later changing to a darker color 

 just before hatching. As soon as the young caterpillar emerges from 

 its egg it commences to build its web ; I suppose, to be protected against 

 bad weather and also against some injurious insects, especially the ants 

 and the spiders, which are very destructive to the young larvae. It 

 takes eighteen to twenty days for a caterpillar to grow to its full size, 

 namely, \ l /2 inches when crawling. Sometimes the caterpillar, after 

 having eaten almost the whole leaf before arriving at its natural size, 

 moves away from it and goes to a fresh one, but never does it construct 

 a new web. Generally a full-grown caterpillar, after having been under 

 its web for eighteen to twenty days, leaves its leaf to find a suitable 



