THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 129 



and pinches the chrysalis so as to kill it. In thistle the pupa is more 

 exposed from having the stalk broken off above, and suffers from the 

 attack of those species of ants that are always ascending plants in search 

 of aphides. 



One will frequently find in thistle, under conditions similar to those 

 produced by cataphracta, a weevil, whose workings will require no little 

 experience to distinguish from the caterpillar's by a first glance at the 

 plant. 



Mature larva: Length, 1.510 1.7 inches. Bodily anatomy and 

 marking almost identical with fiite/a, but is much lighter in colour and 

 more mottled. Is very active when disturbed in its burrow, and can go 

 backward as rapidly as forward. 



Begins to pupate Aug. 19; to emerge, Sept. 17. Pupa similar to 

 fiitela, but as a rule somewhat larger. 



Hydrcecia purpuri/ascia, G. & R. 



Mr. Slingerland's article in Canadian Entomologist, Vol. XXIX., 

 161, relative to finding this species boring in cultivated Columbine, sug- 

 gested to me that the wild variety might be a more natural food plant. 

 An investigation showed my theory to be correct. But it is the root in 

 this instance that is attacked, the plant stalk not offering a sufficient 

 substance. The roots are surprisingly large and tuberous where the plant 

 grows in favourable locations. The larvse consume the inner part of the 

 root completely, leaving only the outer skin tissue, which resembles the 

 wrapper of a small cigar when they get through with it. These empty 

 root skins are the only evidence one has to work upon in locating the 

 pupa, as the plant shows no outward sign, and to find this evidence it is 

 necessary to dig. That is all there is to it — one must dig. It is useless to 

 mind soiled hands and frequent disappointments ; if proof against poison 

 ivy, it is a large factor in one's favour. Having once located a larva, 

 the surrounding leaf mould must be examined carefully, as they seldom 

 pupate in their burrows, and if the search has been thorough you may 

 find a pupa or you may not. The latter often in the majority. It 

 frequently happens there have been visitors before. Ground moles are 

 early callers after the caterpillar has transformed, and fragments of the 

 pupa shell where they have tunnelled under a plant tell how the spoils 

 always fall to the lot of the earliest bird. Fortunately for the collector, 

 Columbine grows in all sorts of seams and clefts of rocks, and it is here, 

 where the plants are inaccessible to the mole, that one may search with 



