234 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 



instance the author is in error in determining the larvae as belong- 

 ing to this species. 



In the Proceedings of the California Acadamy of Science, June 

 7th, 1875, Hy. Edwards gave a detailed account of the larva of 

 Califoniica, citing the food plant as Ceanothus; according to this 

 account the larva is jet black, strongly spined (a characteristic of 

 all Vanessa larvae) with five branched spines on each segment, the 

 middle spine being bright-yellow at the base; at the bases of the 

 spines are bright, steel-blue tubercles and between them numerous 

 circular, whitish-yellow dots, giving the appearance of a yellow 

 dorsal line. It is a well-known fact that the larvae of the various 

 Vanessa species are restricted to one or two food plants and it 

 would be a most extraordinary proceeding if a Vanessid larva, 

 normally restricted to Ceanothus as a food plant, should suddenly 

 be found devastating alfalfa and garden truck. 



Taking the various reports in order, we note from that of Mr. 

 T. V. Hall of Lakeview, Oregon, that the "worm" which had des- 

 troyed the alfalfa crop was brownish colour, with sleek appearing 

 surface. This description could hardly, even by the most ignorant, 

 be drawn up from the jet black, heavily spined Vanessid larva; it 

 could, however, easily apply to any one of the "cut-worm" species. 



The next letter, from Mr. A. J. Swift of the the same locality, 

 reports the occurrance of vast swarms of californica a month after 

 the crops had been ravaged by a "worm" varying from bright green 

 to nearly black, according to its food supply. There is nothing, 

 except the imagination of the writer and the appearance of the 

 butterfly at a later date than the larvee, to connect the two. The 

 swarms of the butterfly, which doubtless was californica, may be 

 accounted for either as due to imaginary instincts or to the fact 

 that the larvae had actually bred in numbers on Ceanothns in the 

 high valleys, a feature which would naturally not be observed by 

 farmers, who are principally interested in their crops. 



In the report from Mr. J.J. Monroe of Willow Ranch, Cali- 

 fornia, we note one feature that would absolutely preclude the 

 determination of the destructive larvae as californica, i. e., the fact 

 that they burrowed in the ground during the day, feeding by night. 

 This is characteristic of "cut-worms" but unknown in Vanessid 



