174 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



beetle larva resembling that of a Brachys, one of the Carabidse one-half 

 an inch long, one of a small bee, and one of a wasp, the names of which 

 have been given me by Mr. W. H. Patton, but to which I cannot just 

 now refer. Mr. Patton also informs me that the ants found in the thorns 

 and mentioned in the former papers (loc. cit.) do not belong to the species 

 and genera there suggested. I mention these species as being on the food 

 of the Mordella larva. 



But in the pith of the Veronia and Ambrosia I have found only the 

 Laverna larva, that of the Mordella, that of one of the larger moths and 

 which I have not succeeded in rearing, and some small Dipterous larvae. 

 It may be that the Hymenopterous larvae found in the thorns will yet be 

 found in Veronia and Ambrosia ; but if not, then of course the Mordella, 

 if it feeds upon them at all, is not confined to them. This latter larva 

 excited my attention by its singular structure and mode of locomotion. 

 Its maxillae are much like its legs, and are used as legs ; the body is 

 arched so that the feet are brought to bear on the lower surface, and the 

 dorsal tubercles (or as I have elsewhere called them, the dorsal prolegs) 

 are brought to bear upon the upper surface, and all are used as organs of 

 locomotion, and the larva is unable to crawl when in any other position. 



Dr. Packard, in the Guide, says of Mordella that '' the larvse are said 

 to live in the pith of plants, and are long, sub-cylindrical, and the sides 

 of the rings are furnished with tleshy tubercles." In this species the 

 tubercles are on the back. Westwood (Introduction, vol. i, p. 293) 

 figures and describes (after Schilling) a form of Mordella larva certainly 

 quite different from that of this species. It is called the larva of M. 

 piisilla and is said to feed in the pith of Artemesia. He also mentions a 

 larva found in the pith of Hoarhound as that of M. ptisilla, whilst the 

 larvae of the genus Ripipho7-us are parasitic upon other insects. This 

 larva most probably feeds upon the pith, but possibly it may feed upon 

 some of the other larvae, Lepidopterous or Hymenopterous, which it 

 meets sometimes in the pith. Not being a Coleopterist, I do not know 

 what is known by them as to the habits of the Mordellidae now, and per- 

 haps the facts above given may be new to some of them. 



I do not know the duration of the larval state in this species. The 

 larva may be found in the stems in fall and winter and spring, and passes 

 into the pupa state in April and May, remaining in that state for two 

 weeks or more. 



