250 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



On 9th October I left home for a few days, but before doing so placed 

 the pupae in the cellar, as I did not expect the imagos to emerge till 

 spring ; but on examining the cage on 22nd October, after my return, I 

 found that two or three had emerged in a crippled condition. I thought 

 this might be caused by the dryness pf the house, so tried to moisten the 

 air by putting a wet sponge in the cage and in other ways, but they still 

 continued to emerge crippled, and some only partially emerged. 



On the 29th October I found one which had emerged, but the right 

 wing cover was still adhering to the wing. I removed it with difficulty, 

 many of the scales coming off with it, but none of the wings developed 

 at all. 



Mr. Winn suggested that perhaps the trouble arose from the absence 

 of the cocoon, slight as it is, and I therefore tried the experiment of 

 placing the pupae in empty cocoons of Halesidota caryce. This seemed 

 to improve matters, and I succeeded in getting a few perfect specimens. 

 One perfect female emerged and was left in the cage with two males for 

 two days, in the hope of securing another lot of eggs, a large box of 

 plantain having been brought into the house for feeding purposes. I was 

 unable to watch these specimens, but as I did not suppose that a virgin 

 female could pass two days with two males without being impregnated, 

 I put the males in a cyanide bottle and the female in a pill box. A supply 

 of eggs was secured, but they proved to be sterile. 



About a dozen of the pupae enveloped in the Halesidota cocoons, 

 showing no sign of disclosing the imagos, were later placed again in the 

 cellar in the hope and expectation of their maturing in the spring, but all 

 were found to be dead on the return of that season. The larvae fed 

 readily on plantain, but were at all times very slugglish. Unlike most 

 larvae with which I have had anything to do, the faces were not cast in 

 moulting in the usual manner, but remained attached to the skin. 



In one case which was watched, the skin split along the side of the 

 fore-part of the body. The larva rested for a time, and gathered strength 

 for a further effort. The skin split further along and the larva again 

 rested. Another effort, and the head was withdrawn, and then the cater- 

 pillar struggled out of the old skin. Immediately after the casting of the 

 old skin the head and warts are honey-yellow, the latter with black points, 

 and the skin is translucent, but dark in colour. The bristles are rather 

 matted together, the tufts on top usually crossing each other, the under 



