Dec., '07] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 417 



their appearance in the spring. A full month before the ap- 

 pearance of the moths of this species, however, the moths of 

 l'..v\ra scmicrocca Gn. suddenly appear in numbers in the 

 leaves of the pitcher plants, both flava and minor. At this 

 time (the middle of April), many of the flava leaves are well 

 developed, but minor is much more backward and offers scant 

 accommodation to the moths, which, for about two weeks, are 

 very abundant, sometimes as many as four occupying a single 

 leaf of flava. These moths evidently emerge from over- 

 wintered pupge, as the flower-buds and limited number of 

 leaves available up to this time show no trace of larvae feed- 

 ing; unlike ridingsii, they are even more abundant in the 

 burned-over tracts than in those sections which have escaped 

 the flames, for in the burned portion the new leaves which 

 give shelter to the moths are more numerous. A peculiar 

 habit of the larvse, it will be seen later, is probably responsible 

 for their ability to survive the fires so destructive to ridingsii. 

 The moths of scmicrocea and ridingsii are extremely averse 

 to leaving their shelters ; the leaves may be gathered and car- 

 ried about almost indefinitely without disturbing them, and 

 at any attempt to dislodge them, they back further down the 

 tube of the leaf and are almost sure to be badly battered and 

 rubbed in the process. This instinct to walk backward when 

 alarmed (they always sit heads up in the leaf), is so per- 

 sistent that when removed from the leaf and placed upon a 

 flat surface, they are more apt to walk backward than for- 

 ward. 



The spring brood of moths has practically disappeared by 

 May 5th. The pale yellow eggs, placed singly and several 

 inches down from the mouth of the pitcher, were frequently 

 noted in the larger leaves of flava, but subsequent observations 

 indicated that practically all of their eggs, or the newly hatched 

 larvae from them, perished, and that the more suitable food 

 plant of this species is minor, preferably the young and im- 

 mature leaves not yet open at the top, though they also seemed 

 to thrive, though less abundantly, in the tender, unopened 

 leaves of flava. 



The young larvae have a very peculiar habit of feeding, which 



