278 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



desired results were gained under what seemed reasonable to consider 

 normal conditions. Nocturnal insects are of course less likely to be 

 noticed in the act of oviposilion, so it was with a great deal of 

 satisfaction that a female riiiiia was observed thus engaged and too busy 

 with the work in hand to mind an eavesdropper. With a nervous haste 

 quite out of keeping with the lethargy previously displayed, she is now all 

 animation. One is reminded of the prying movements of an ichneumon 

 while searching out a host, or the wasps when gathering spiders for their 

 mud houses. With antennae in constant motion, all cracks and crevices 

 that the plant stock afford are explored and such as furnish an apparently 

 proper shelter may receive an ovum thrust well in out of harm's way. 

 What seems to the onlooker as a needless amount of exploring is done, 

 and one is struck with the important part the antennae play in this. In 

 the cases observed, oviposition did not occur after the third night, and the 

 number of eggs were rather under the amount expected, never exceeding 

 a hundred, although accuracy as to an exact count was quite out of the 

 question. Having finished this function an exhaustion follows, in which 

 the moth has hard work to keep an equilibrium, often falling to the 

 ground and remaining with legs in air, feebly moving. Impelled 

 by what we call instinct, she has now fulfilled her mission, and there 

 remains the final tragedy which is close at hand. The average life of the 

 imagoes of this group may be reckoned at from ten to fifteen days, 

 the weather conditions, of course, figuring importantly, though it is likely 

 the males often exceed this. The egg is less than spherical, flattened at 

 the vertex so that the diameter here is less than the lateral measurement, 

 which is rTHT of a millimeter. It is ribbed very closely with rows of fine 

 granulations, radiating from the vertex, which is indicated by a slight 

 depression. Colour is pale, shading somewhat yellowish. They are 

 deposited singly or in pairs. Examination of these ova in the early 

 winter revealed the fact that all had hatched, thus adding another instance 

 where the unexpected had happened. From the late date, we may 

 presume hibernation occurs before the first moult, but as the wire cloth 

 of the insectary offered no hindrance to such small fry, any statements 

 here are mere guesswork. 



Mature larvfe are very cylindrical ; the longitudinal stripes, though 

 faint, are traceable and unbroken ; in this respect, as well as entire general 

 appearance, it resembles cataphrada very strongly. The thoracic 

 segments show very light, the rest of the body has the brownish body 



