70 Bulletin 64. 



hundred and twent^^ eggs after capture ; this is probably below 

 the average number, as her abdomen was but moderately dis- 

 tended with eggs. 



When first laid the eggs are a pale yellow color, but they grad- 

 ually turn to a more or less deep rufous color, and hatch in from 

 sixteen to thirty days, the time varying with conditions. While 

 young the larvae may usuall}^ be seen coiled up on a leaf in plain 

 sight when not feeding ; if disturbed, they remain quiet for a 

 minute and then try to escape or the)' may drop at once by a 

 thread of silk. As cold weather comes on the larvae feed mostly 

 during the day ; occasionally they may be seen feeding in the 

 early morning. When very young they eat only the soft paren- 

 chyma of the leaf, later the whole leaf is devoured. They feed 

 mostly upon grass, though they will eat small grains. This 

 species was bred in the hollow flower stalk of a species of wild 

 parsley,* by H. G. Hubbard. The larvse seemed to have fed 

 mostly upon the soft pith. The pupae were inclosed in a finely 

 spun thin cocoon and frass was thickly strewn over the cocoon. 



According to Dr. Lintner.t the larvae commence feeding in the 

 spring with the starting of the grass. They feed principally by 

 night and remain in a cylindrical tube composed of silk and bits 

 of grass, when not feeding. 



Dr. Lintner says : "The depredations, when serious, are con- 

 spicuously noticeable when the larvae are about three-fourths 

 grown — about the middle of May. 



When nearly mature the larvae from some unknown cause, con- 

 gregate in immense numbers on the trunks of trees near the 

 ground. 



When mature, about the 25th of May, they abandon their green 

 cases, and build long cylindrical earthen cocoons, placed upright 

 in the ground just beneath the surface. 



The larvae remain unchanged in the cocoons for two months or 

 more, through June and July, when they transform to pupse. 

 The pupa state continues about two weeks." 



Nahiral enemies. — Of the true parasites there are Lampronata 

 frigida Cress., an Ichneumoa Fly ; Cryptits mundus Prov. ; 



*See label in Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, Mass. 

 t First Report on Insects of New York, 1882, p. 144. 



