THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 325 



THE LIFE-HISTORY OF ARCTIA VIRGUNCULA, KIRBY. 



EY ARTHUR GIBSON, DIVISION OF ENTOMOLOGY, CENTRAL EXPERIMENTAL 



FARM, OTTAWA. 



On the 22nd June, 1901, I received from Mr. A. Kwiat, of Chicago, 

 a batch of eggs of Arctia virgiincula, Kirby. These eggs were laid on 

 the iSth June and hatched on the 25th and 26th. The following notes 

 on the early stages of the species were taken. A brief description of the 

 mature larva was published by Mr. Coquillett, in the first number of 

 Papilio, in 1881. 



Egg. — o 8 mm. in diameter, semi-ovoid, about as high as wide, 

 shiny, creamy white at first; before hatching, a shiny lead colour. Under 

 a lens the egg has a reticulated appearance and is slightly concave at 

 base. 



Stage I. — Length, 2 mm. Head 0.4 to 0.4.5 mm - wide, rounded, rather 

 deeply depressed at apex, upper inside portion of cheeks black, shiny ; 

 clypeus and lower part of face brownish, ocelli black, mouth-parts 

 blackish; hairs on face, some long and some short, pale and black. On 

 each segment of body is a transverse row of shiny black tubercles. 

 Tubercle i very small, ii and iii large, iv and v smaller than ii and iii ; 

 ii, iii, iv and v are surrounded with a wide blotch of reddish-brown. 

 The colour of the skin at first is a dirty cream; after feeding, the-larvae 

 are pale greenish. The reddish blotches surrounding the tubercles give 

 the larvae a reddish appearance, and the skin in the centre of dorsum 

 against the reddish blotches appears as a dorsal stripe. The hairs from 

 the tubercles are long and slender, those on dorsum being black, while 

 those from lateral and lower tubercles are pale. Thoracic shield black, 

 bearing small black tubercles. Thoracic feet and prolegs semi-translucent, 

 slightly darker exteriorly than ventral surface. 



On the 28th June all the larvre were swollen, and by the morning 

 of the 29th had passed the first moult 



Stage II — Length, 4.2 mm. Head, 0.55 to 0.6 mm. wide, shiny, 

 shaped as before; upper portion of cheeks blackish, lower portion and 

 clypeus brown, mouth-parts reddish brown, hairs on face long and slender, 

 mostly black on upper portion, pale on lower ; some heads have more 



