May, '08] 



ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 



207 



egg in a flower cluster, although occasionally she will deposit 

 several on the same plant. However, as many as six or seven 

 have been found in a single cluster, but these must have been 

 laid by different females or by the same female at different 

 times. We concur with Prof. Shull in saying that the egg-shell 



is not eaten. He says, "my observations on this point are at 

 variance with the statement commonly made that butterfly 

 larvae devour the shell from which they emerge before be- 

 ginning to feed upon the food plant." 



There are a large number of species, the young larvae of 

 which do not eat the egg shell. In the case of Pyrgus tessellata, 

 eggs of which we have found abundantly on Malva borealis, 

 a small circular hole was the only evidence that the larva had 

 escaped, the empty shell remaining firm and intact. 



The young larvae of ansonides escape by eating away a por- 

 tion of one side of the egg shell. Their first vegetable food 

 consists of the young and tender sepals and petals or very 

 rarely the leaves of their food plant. As they mature and after 

 the flowers have disappeared they feed on the seed pods. In 

 captivity, the mature larvae are inclined to be larvaphagous and 

 will readily devour each other when opportunity offers. There 

 is a striking resemblance between the larva of ansonides and 

 that of several species of Pontia, particularly protodice, "more 

 alike," writes Edwards, "in color, form, and markings than 

 often happens between species of the same genus." There is 

 no pupal resemblance whatsoever. As a rule, the duration of 

 the instars we have found to be fairly regular but may vary 

 considerably according to the condition of the weather. 



