6 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



NOTES ON ALARIA FLORIDA, Guen. 



BY W. SAUNDEES, LONDON, ONT. 



la July of last year there bloomed in my garden a fine plant of that 

 variety of evening primrose known as " Lamarckiana" (^GEaothera La- 

 marckiana). I had been advised by an Entomological friend to procure this 

 flower with the view of attracting moths at night, and found it to succeed 

 admirably. Its lovely yellow petals expand suddenly about seven o'clock 

 every evening, and diffuse a fragrance all around very attractive to Sphingidae 

 and other nocturnal moths. The flowers expand about three inches and are 

 very beautiful; they remain expanded until sometime after sunrise the follow- 

 ing morning, when they close to open no more. The plant flowers abundantly, 

 fresh ones appearing every evening. 



I was surprised at the number of specimens of Alaria Florida which were 

 attracted — a charming little moth with the greater part of its fore wings 

 covered with brilliant rosy red. It had always been a rarity with me before, 

 indeed for several years I think I bad not met with it at all; but now, night 

 after night I found them hovering around these flowers, and on several 

 occasions found three or four specimens the morning following buried amidst 

 the closing netals. 



O AT 



After a few days I saw no more, but soon observed a smooth green cater- 

 pillar feeding on my favorite plant. Not content with eating the leaves only, 

 these marauders had a special preference for the flower buds, eating away 

 into their tender substance and utterly destroying them. It did not occur to 

 me at the time that this might be the larva of A. Florida, but so it afterward 

 proved. After killing most of them, several were reserved and fed for some 

 time on the leaves of the plant, after which they changed to pale brown 

 chrysalides. The following is a description of the full grown larva : 



Described July 25th — Length 1-10 inches; cylindrical. 



Head rather small, slightly bilobed, pale yellowish green ; mandibles tipped 

 with dark brown. 



Body above pale green semi-transparent ; a dorsal line of a darker green, 

 due to the transparency of skin showing the internal organs; a lateral line of 

 the same shade of color, but fainter; second segment with a patch of pale 

 dull red on each side ; entire upper surface downy, with very short pale 

 brown and whitish hairs scarcely visible without a magnifyer; spiracles pale 

 brown. 



Uuder surface similar to upper, a little darker shade of green prevailing 

 on anterior segments ; feet and prolegs green, the latter faintly tipped with 

 brown. • 



