THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 143 



diagrammatic. In no instance did I find the raised reticulation and the 

 bosses so regular either in outline or arrangement as there depicted. I 

 have therefore represented in Plate i the micropyle (fig. i) and a part of 

 the surface sculpture (fig. 2) from the region of greatest diameter. These 

 figures are reproduced from camera lucida drawings, and exhibit typical 

 characters. 



Period of incubation. — A number of eggs were secured, vvith the 

 exact time of oviposition, and in each case the birth of the caterpillar was 

 determined to within an hour or two, except when it occurred during the 

 night. The avtrage duration of this stage was found to be 4 days 2 hours. 

 Two hatched after only 3 days, and several were delayed to 5 days 4 hours. 



The larval stages. — In freeing itself from the eggshell the caterpillar 

 eats only enough to permit it to escape. It bites a hole through the edge 

 of the concave top, usually destroying the micropyle. Of all the empty 

 shells examined, only two were found with this structure intact and suit- 

 able for drawing. The newly-born larva seeks the petals* of the flower 

 on which it finds itself and bores a hole through them just large enough 

 to accommodate its body. Through this it crawls into the heart of the 

 blossom and feeds upon the stamens, pistil and carina. It is a fact worthy 

 of note that the alee and vexilliini are not eaten, and, with the exception of 

 the minute hole by which, as a baby, the caterpillar entered, the flower 

 seems uninjured. Without doubt, this habit serves as a measure of pro- 

 tection against their ever-watchful enemies. Fig. 3 shows a flower of the 

 lupine (x 2.25) and tlie small hole by which I detected the presence of 

 many of the larv?e collected or marked for study. Around the hole the 

 tissue dies, and is discoloured for a very little distance. Fig. 4 is the 

 same, with one wing removed to show the riddled keel. 



The first moult evidently takes place within the flower ; whether the 

 others do is doubtful. As long as the petals last the caterpillar lives 

 within their purple shadow,! probably moving to a new home whenever 

 the immediate supply of food has been exhausted. When this happens, 

 the petals are not punctured, but access to the inside of the flower is 

 gained between them. There is thus no indication of the presence of a 



*The larvae from two eg-gs found on leaves attacked the parenchyma of the 

 upper surface. These were not collected, but, with others, were left for obser- 

 vation in the field. Owe of them was discovered by a small black spider, which 

 carried it off before my eyes. Tne other disappeared the day after hatching, may 

 have been killed, or sought the flowers. 



tit may be merely a coincidence, but I have never found a larva on the 

 variety albajiora. 



