March, 'ool ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 133 



succeed in getting a single piatrix larva through to maturity 

 and but two or three of the cara, despite the attention I gave 

 the caterpillars. 



On the 27th of May a few eggs of C. piatrix that I had kept 

 to note the early stages of the larva hatched, and at one day old 

 the caterpillar was very small, slender, with a yellow colored 

 head and with the front half of the body green and the last half 

 yellow-green. Like all other Catocala larvae, young piatrix is 

 very active and hard to keep from escaping. 



On the 3oth of May the larvae moulted the first time. Color 

 light, yellowish green longitudinal lines faintly visible. 



After the first moult the larva assumes its characteristic 

 markings, and while the mature larvae differ much in the depth 

 of color, they vary none in shape. I had at one time supposed 

 that a larva almost white at maturity, with the longitudinal 

 lines almost obsolete, head red and without the lateral black 

 dash would prove to be some rare species. Unfortunately the 

 larva died when just ready to spin. Other like caterpillars fail- 

 ed to mature, but thanks to Mr. E. A. Dodge, he got a moth 

 from a pupa of this form and it was a plain piatrix. Another 

 variety of larva has a rather narrow dorsal-central longitudinal 

 band of pale red or flesh color, contracted and expanded into 

 elongate links. A dark, mid-dorsal line traverses this band. 

 Bordering this dorsal band on either side is a dark brown con- 

 tracted and expanded band of about the same width as the 

 dorsal band. Below this dorsal lateral band is a much broader 

 flesh colored longitudinal band, and below this a darker band 

 with a longitudinal black line. The prolegs are dark brown 

 on the outside, while the true legs are light flesh color. The 

 whole under surface is pale red or flesh color, with round, black 

 spots. The head is black, except the sides which are pale flesh 

 color. The white larva referred to above had a bright red 

 head without markings. 



Another form has the longitudinal lines intensified and dif- 

 fers much from the dark form with the bands and lines practi- 

 cally obsolete. 



On the 3Oth of May I found at the base of a shell-bark hick- 

 ory tree, under a bit of bark, a large larva of Catocala residua, 



