IO4 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [Mar., 'lO 



Further Study of the Catocalae. 

 BY R. R. ROWLEY AND L. BERRY. 



In the late summer and fall of 1908, the senior author re- 

 ceived from various European sources, eggs of Catocala sponsa, 

 dilecta, fnlminca, fra.nni, electa, pacta, pucrpcra, and clocata, 

 and remembering the experiences of the previous spring, kept 

 the eggs on a cold cement floor till the foliage of the food 

 plants had burst the bud coverings and was ready to supply 

 larvae with abundant food. 



The first egg to hatch was of pacta, April 27th. Sponsa was 

 next on May 2d, then fnlminca on May 5th, fra.vini on the 

 6th, nupta on the 8th, electa on the 13th, on the same day di- 

 lecta, and lastly puerpera and elocata on the 23d. 



The growth of these larvae was very satisfactory except in 

 the last two, the author scoring a signal failure on these as far 

 as securing chrysalids was concerned, still there was some sat- 

 isfaction in the fact that the larvae lived almost to maturity. 



There was a worse disappointment in the dilecta which 

 readily matured and pupated and then perished without giving 

 a single imago. 



Especially gratifying were the beautiful series of sponsa, 

 fulniinea, fraxini, electa and pacta moths. Pacta, fitlininca, 

 and fraxini seemed to be unusually hardy as caterpillars and 

 were a source of much interest to the author. 



The imago of pacta is a beautiful little creature with pink 

 hind wings and pink abdomen, while the larva of fnlminea is a 

 strange departure from the typical "Cato-worm'', in the posses- 

 sion of long dorsal tubercles. 



The caterpillar of puerpera is almost white and it was not a 

 matter of much surprise to learn that the front wings of the 

 moth are very light. The first imagoes of fnlminca were on 

 June 21 st and the first pacta on the 22d. The first sponsa on 

 the 24th. 



However, it is the intention of the authors, in this article, to 

 record their observations on such American species of Catocala 

 as they "were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to study 

 during the spring and summer of 1909. 



