THK CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 4^> 



question. I may say in conclusion that I have bred a specimen of Eupel- 

 imis Allynii from a gall that was probably made by Tsosovia Hordei, hence 

 there is a probability that the specimens I bred from the wheat stalks were 

 parasitic on the larva of our wingless Isosoma. 



NOTES ON CERTAIN BUTTERFLIES. THEIR HABITS, ETC. 



No. 2. 



BY W. H. EDWARDS, COALBURGH, W. VA. 



8. On Young Caterpillars Eating their Egg Shells. 



Mr. Scudder, Butterflies, p. loi, says, after describing the way in which 

 the caterpillar eats out of the egg : " The taste he has gained of egg-shell 

 seems to allure him ; for, strange as it may seem, although placed by the 

 provident parent within immediate reach of choice and succulent food, he 

 win not taste it until he has devoured the last reuniant of Ms prisoii-walls. 

 Strange food this for a new born babe 1 The act, however, is plainly a 

 provision of nature by which the tender animal is rid of a sure token to 

 his enemies of his immediate proximity." Surely here is an error in fact, 

 and a wrong conclusii n whatever the fact may be. I read the above 

 statement on the 25th July last, and at once went to my garden to search 

 for eggs of Libythea Bachmaji?n, on Hackberry leaves. The young 

 caterpillars of this species are green, of a shade so near that of the leaves 

 they feed on, that it is very difficult to discover them. Even where the 

 tip of the leaf has been eaten, and their presence is suspected, it is easy 

 to overlook them. I found at once three eggs and one young caterpillar. 

 The egg from which this caterpillar had come was present at the base of 

 the leaf on the extreme tip of which the Httle creature rested. A hole 

 was in its side near the top, and no more had been eaten than just enough 

 to permit egress. Repeatedly, in the next succeeding days, I found egg- 

 shells of Bachnanni, each with an opening like that described, and 

 usually, on the leaf above was the caterpillar. So that here is one species 

 which does not devour the last remnant of its prison-walls — perhaps no 

 part thereof And instead of ridding itself of a sure token of its presence 

 to its enemies, quite the contrary happens, for the empty shell left at the 



