234 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [December, 



as he called them, down by the "Blue Bridge" which crosses 

 Ridley Creek, equidistant betweeen Media and Elwyn Station, 

 Delaware County, Pa. From his description I felt sure they 

 must be the larvae of some moth. I was soon on the spot, and 

 found that his "thousands" were no exaggeration of the actual 

 fact. Never in my life have I been permitted to see so many 

 larvae of a large insect, except in one instance, and those were 

 of the sphinx Deilephila lineata Fabr. , which were present by 

 the thousands upon the purslain in a large corn field in Illinois, 

 which had not been thoroughly cultivated. 



I wish some of my entomological friends might have been 

 with me on this present occasion to see the sight. Caterpillars 

 everywhere, in every condition of molt ; caterpillars on the 

 trunks of trees ; crawling over the dusty road ; on the herbage 

 of whatever description, endeavoring to perfect their growth, so 

 as to go into the pupal state, while other larvae, which had 

 attained jtheir maturity, were seeking places where they might 

 enter the ground to undergo their change. This is a southern 

 species, and, as I have by me no book of reference as I write, I 

 cannot tell its exact habitat, but I should say from Florida north- 

 ward to Washington city, perhaps Baltimore, and westward to 

 Kansas, would be its natural limits. I have recently learned 

 that some larvae of this moth were seen last year ; how much 

 farther back its entrance into Pennsylvania can be traced I can- 

 not say, neither can I speak, at this writing, of its life history 

 from the egg to the imago, but I should judge some six weeks 

 must intervene. There are evidently several broods of this 

 insect, and the larvae were seen on the trees sometime after frost 

 had set in. 



The scattering of these larvae, as above described, was due to 

 the complete denudation of the trees, so they were obliged to 

 seek food-plant elsewhere. Strange to say the trees, especially 

 those near the creek, clothed themselves again with beautiful 



o 



fresh foliage. The stripping off of leaves from the trees was 

 noticed at points several miles distant from this locality, but the 

 most complete defoliation was observed in this immediate 

 vicinity. 



Through the kindness of my friend, Mr. Homer Hoopes, of 

 Media, I am able to send you a photograph of one of these 

 trees taken by him, showing how completely it has been 



