THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



of the Sphingidce, and which some of our readers may possibly have noticed in 

 the striking resemblance to a human skull on the thorax of the English death's 

 head moth, Acherontia atropos. The wings are long and very narrow, but 

 possessing great strength and evidently adapted for great swiftness. Their 

 general color is dark purplish-brown, with a stripe -of white on the front edge 

 extending from the white sides of the head, and with a fawn-colored stripe on 

 the outer edge of the front wing. The hind wings have two whitish wavy 

 stripes with a similar fawn-colored stripe on their outer edge. There are also 

 three or four black oblique streaks on the fore-wings, and generally a black dot 

 on the white stripe. 



The engravings of this insect are the work of Mr. C. J. Beale, of Toronto, 

 Out. That of the pupa and larva are adapted, with some alterations, from the 

 excellent designs of Professor Townend Glover, of Washington. But the beau- 

 tiful figure of the moth was engraved by Mr. Beale from a specimen in my own 

 collection, and is an admirable fac simile of the original insect. 



QUEBEC CURRANT WORMS. 



BY G. J. BOWLES. 



Iii May last I became the tenant of a house in a central part of the city of 

 Quebec. To this house is attached a garden, which contains a few plum trees, 

 and a considerable number of currant and gooseberry bushes. The plants, how- 

 ever, are very old, and as the garden has been neglected, noxious insects have 

 increased and multiplied to no small degree. I intend in this paper to give my 

 experiences as regards the currant and gooseberry bushes, leaving the rest till 

 another time, and trust that I shall be able to add something to the history of 

 the insects, unfortunately too common, which infest these small fruits. 



N o sooner had the currants and gooseberries expanded their leaves, than I 

 observed, here and there upon them, a few green caterpillars about half an inch 

 or more in length,which seemed to be in a healthy and flourishing condition. I 

 did not molest them, feeling rather pleased at the idea of having something of 

 the kind to study so near home ; and as I intended looking after them when 

 they had grown larger, I did not examine them very closely. In a few days, 

 however, these green caterpillars had disappeared, but the bushes swarmed with 

 another larva, which, to my surprise, I soon found to be those of the notorious 

 currant saw-fly ( Nematus ventricosus.) Whether or not the green ones I first 

 noticed were larvae- of this species in their last stage, I cannot now say ; but if 

 they were, it certainly is a corroboration of Mr. Saunders' conjecture, that some 

 individuals hybernate in that state. The currant unfolds its leaves very quickly, 

 and these green caterpillars (which were not geometers), made their appearance 

 almost as soon as the bushes were covered with foliage. Their disappearance 

 so soon afterwards is also a fact which would favor the idea of their being the 

 larva? of this sawfly. 



