202 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Two years afterwards, I found another cocoon attached to a twig of 

 thorn ( Crataegus ), but it was full of large parasites, all dead in the pupa. 

 In the fall of 1867, Mr. Couper informed me that he had seen a Saturnian 

 larva spinning up on a gate-post just outside the city, and on examining 

 the place, 1 discovered a cocoon, which, in the following May, produced 

 the moth, a female, Samia Columbia, from which the accompanying draw- 

 ing was made. 



The food-plants of the species are stated by Prof. Smith to be Nemo- 

 pantlies Canadensis and Rhodora Canadensis ; and perhaps Kalmia angu's- 

 tifolia, the maple and the larch. From the situations in which I found the 

 larva and cocoons — on dry and cultivated ground — I think it may also 

 feed on other plants, as none of those mentioned, except the maple, were 

 within accessible distance. Rhodora Canadensis, its favorite food in Maine, 

 grows abundantly in an excellent hunting-ground for entomologists — the 

 " Gomin Swamp," a large mossy tract of land about two miles from 

 Quebec. I made several visits to this locality last Spring, and searched 

 the Rhodora carefully for cocoons, but did riot find any. Perhaps some 

 Western collector may be more fortunate with this plant in his own neigh- 

 bourhood. The Rev. C. J. S. Bethune states that it is common in rear of 

 Toronto. 



The rarity of the moth is no doubt partially due to the fact, that the 

 species is attacked by several parasites. Prof. Smith mentions that out of 

 more than twenty cocoons, he succeeded in obtaining only three perfect 

 insects, nearly all the rest having been destroyed by ichneumons and other 

 enemies. Two species of these have been described in Prof. Smith's 

 paper, by Dr. Packard, as new, under the names of Cryptus samice and 

 Cryptus Smithii. It is likely that the larvae are equally subject to these 

 attacks in Canada, as one (perhaps two) of the three cocoons I obtained, 

 failed to produce the moth from this cause. 



Prof. Smith has kindly sent me photographs of the moths, cocoon and 

 chrysalis described by him, so that all doubt is removed as to the identity 

 of my specimen with his. I add his descriptions, to make these notes 

 complete : — 



" Male. Antennae black, and broadly pectinated. Palpi dark maroon 

 brown. Thorax with a white band before ; upper side dark maroon, with 

 a short grey band behind ; beneath black ; the legs also black, slightly 

 tinged with brownish towards the extremities. Abdomen annulated with 

 alternate black and dirty white. 



