Jan., '09] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 13 



neighborhood of Vinton ; but, unlike the other two, are wary 

 and difficult to approach, taking wing at the slightest noise. 

 More often, perhaps, than otherwise, the moth sits, head up, 

 and ready to take wing. It may be said to be the rule that 

 Catocalae rest with the head down ; however parta seems to 

 rest often with the head up and relicta always, but not in read- 

 iness of flight in the case of the latter, as it may be easily ap- 

 proached and even touched with the finger, so secure does it 

 seem in its color protection on the light bark of aspen or its re- 

 semblance to a splash of paint or bird ordure, on willow or 

 basswood. 



The Junior Author's experience with the larvae of piatrix 

 was like that of the Senior Author, all died. It seems that 

 this is a very delicate species as a larva, and it is a little 

 strange that imagoes are so plentiful, yet if one moth should 

 come from every fifty or even one hundred eggs laid, there 

 would be an abundance of piatri.v in the woods, since a single 

 female lays from eight to nine hundred eggs 



The larvae of part a from Vinton, fed through to pupation 

 at Louisiana, produced chrysalis early in June, at least not be- 

 yond the middle, and gave imagoes from the ist to the I3th 

 of July, making the pupal period about three weeks, the usual 

 length of chrysalis life in the genus. 



On the 1 8th of July the first larva of Catocaln amatri.r was 

 formed on willow at Vinton, and on the 2/th a much larger 

 one on poplar, measuring three and three-fourths inches. 

 A matrix larva varies in ground color from light to dark gray. 

 The middorsal dumbbell spots, light, inclosed by a dark-gray 

 band. The lateral band below this is light gray. The spiracu- 

 lar band, dark gray and a series of long prostrate V's with the 

 open end toward the head. Below, the body is light. The 

 true and prolegs, light gray with minute dark dots which cover 

 the whole body. The head is very light gray with a lateral 

 black dash extending to the back, but not to the center of the 

 back edge. Head small and with slight elevations or knobs 

 above, as in cara. The top of the 5th abdominal segment, 

 darker either side of a slight central hump as in cara. 



