THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 28l 



PLATYSAMIA COLUMBIA. 



BY J. ALSTON MOFFAT, LONDON, ONT, 



During the winter of 189 1-2, I received from Miss Morton, of 

 Newburgh, N. Y., six cocoons of P. Columbia, which she had reared 

 from ova, received from one of her correspondents in Ann Arbor, Mich. 

 They were the first cocoons of that moth I had seen. Their extremely 

 small size as compared with Cecropia, their natty appearance and dark 

 colour, relieved by flecks of white silk, was quite novel to me, so I 

 frequently showed them to visitors. Amongst these was Mr. R. Elliot, of 

 Plover Mills, one of our members, whose residence is about fifteen miles 

 north-east of London, and whose name is well-known in ornithological 

 circles, but who is rather a " naturalist " than a " specialist ; " clear, calm 

 and appreciative in his observations of nature, and thoroughly reliable in 

 his statements. When he looked at the cocoons, he meditatively 

 remarked : " I think I have seen something like that about our place. 

 Indeed, I feel certain I have seen it, but I shall keep a look-out." On 

 the 14th of April, 1894, I received from Mr. Elliot two P. Columbia 

 cocoons. They were attached to a branch of larch, on opposite sides of 

 the same branch, and one about half its length in advance of the other. 

 The son of a neighbour of Mr. Elliot found one on a tree growing at his 

 house and showed it to Mr. Elliot, who saw it was what he was on the 

 look-out for, so they searched the trees and found more. 



The roughened exterior of the cocoons, their dark brown colour, with 

 white markings, give them such a close resemblance to the bark of the 

 branch, that, but for their prominence, they would be extremely difficult 

 to detect, thus forcing on the observer the conviction that larch must be 

 their natural food-plant. On the 3rd of May a male moth emerged from 

 one of the cocoons, and on the 6th a female from the other. On the 5th 

 of May Mr. Elliot' gave me another cocoon, which gave forth its imago 

 on the 13th, also a female. The male is three and a-half inches in 

 expanse of wing ; the females are four and four and a-quarter. Those 

 from Miss Mortoa's cocoons are of corresponding dimensions. 



Much doubt was entertained when this moth was first discovered, as 

 to whether it was a " species " or a cross between two. This question 

 was conclusively settled when Prof. Fernald published his description 

 of its early stages (Can. Ent., Vol. X., p. 43). Miss Morton has 

 succeeded in pairing it with Cecropia, and she says the progeny "were all 



