208 



THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



The Ihsects which meet their death in this fluid are numerous and of 

 all orders. Ants are the principal victims, and the acidulous properties 

 which their decomposing bodies give to the liquid doubtless render it all 

 the more potent as a solvent. Scarcely any other Hymenoptera are found 

 in the rotting mass, and it is an interesting fact that Dr. Mellichamp 

 never found the little nectar-loving bee or other Mellifera about the 

 plants. On one occasion only have I found in the pitcher the recogniz- 

 able remains of a Bonihiis, and on one occasion only has he found the 

 honey-bee captured. Species belonging to all the other orders are 

 captured, and among the larger species that I have most commonly met 

 with, which, from the toughness of their chitinous integument, resist 

 disorganization and remain recognizable, may be mentioned Asaphes 

 meninonhis and Euryoinia JiidanchoUca among Coleoptera, Pcnfatoma 

 hcgens and OrsilocJius variabilis^ var. coniplicatus among Heteroptera ; while- 

 katydids, locusts, crickets, cockroaches, flies, moths, and even butterflies, 

 and some Arachidna and Myriapoda, in a more or less irrecognizable 

 condition, frequently help to swell the unsavory mass. 



But while these insects are decoyed and macerated in order, as we 

 may naturally infer, to help support the destroyer, there are, nevertheless, 

 two species which are proof against its siren influences and which, in 

 turn, oblige it either directly or indirectly to support them. 



The first is Xanthoptcra seuiicrocca Guen., a little glossy moth, which- 



may be popularly called the Sarracenia moth. It is strikingly marked 



Fig-. •i:k with gray-black and straw-yellow, the colors 



being sharply separated across the shoulders 

 and the middle of the front wings. This 

 little moth walks with perfect impunity over 

 the inner surface of the pitcher, which proves 

 so treacherous to so many other insects. It 

 is frequently found in pairs within the 

 pitchers soon after these open, in the early 

 part of the season or about the end of 

 April. The female lays her eggs singly, near 

 the mouth of the pitcher, and the young 



Xan'thopteka skmicrocka.— f/, e-'-'r, , ^ , r i ^ i • 



enlari^red, the iiatunil size indicated at larva, irOUl the moment 01 hatchmg, SpmS 



side; b,c, larva, back and side views ; - . ,. r -n i 



d, chrysalis ; c, moth, normal form, for itSClf a Carpct 01 Silk, and VCrv SOOn 



with winns expanded ; /, pale variety , , ,, .i i j • ^i. • 



with win-s closed. " closes up the mouth by drawing the rims 



together and covering them with a delicate, gossamer-like web, which 

 effectuallv debars all small outside intruders. It then frets the leaf 



