216 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



It is akogelher probable that the feeding habits at this time are such that 

 the presence of the caterpillar on a plant is not indicated by any obvious 

 mark. My knowledge of such habits is, in consequence, more or less 

 speculative, and based upon what I have learned from watching the larvie 

 bred in captivity and upon analogy with the related species. 



When the caterpillar finds itself upon Vacci?iium it ascends to the 

 corolla, and eats therein an irregular hole just above the calyx. Through 

 this it crawls well into the flower and feeds indiscriminately upon the 

 style, stamens and maturing ovary. Its resemblance to the lower part of 

 a stamen is striking, and when at rest on one of these it is practically 

 invisible. I once sought for twenty minutes for one which I knew was 

 somewhere in a cluster of three flowers, and eventually discovered it head 

 down on a stamen. By the time the protecting and concealing corolla 

 has fallen the larva has turned green, like the young fruit into which it 

 bores in a manner similar to that of Henrici, as described by W, H. 

 Edwards. From this time it feeds openly, probably mostly at night, 

 concealing itself during the day beneath a leaf or among the berries. 

 Larvse in advanced stages may be sought with some success on rainy or 

 cloudy days on plants, the fruit of which has been attacked in the manner 

 characteristic of fruit-eating Lyct^nidce, although many such evidences will 

 be discovered for every caterpillar found. In three years I have found 

 two ; Mr. Harry Cook has also secured two in the same length of time. 



I have found it impossible to raise this species on Kalmia in the 

 laboratory. The young larvaj can eat only tender tissues, and Kabnia 

 dries out very quickly. Nor have I ever been able to discover a cater- 

 pillar on this plant. Therefore, I know nothing of the feeding habits 

 when it is selected as the food plant. Certainly some variation in colora- 

 tion is to be looked for in individuals which have fed from birth on 

 Kalmia, if it is the petals which are eaten, for the brilliant green of 

 those taken from Vaccinitan would render them conspicuous amidst the 

 rosy flowers of the laurel. Curiously enough, the " Vaccinium larvae " 

 refuse to eat Kabnia. 



I have been unable to detect more than two moults in this species, 

 aJ! hough it would seem reasonable to expect a third, as if'iis, Heiwici and 

 niphon moult three times. It scarcely seems possible that v/ith the 

 })iec.iu'>ions taken I should have twice failed to note one of the moults, 



