REPORT OF STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 213 



MOURNING CLOAK BUTTERFLY. 



The mourning cloak butterfly, Buvanessa antiopa, has become 

 such a pest within the past few years that we deem it best to 

 show its different stages and give a short account of its life 

 history. Since the advent of the gipsy and brown-tail moths 

 into the State this one insect has caused more uneasiness than 

 any other. The caterpillars are sent to the office in great num- 

 bers. Their usual food plants are the elm, poplar and willow. 



The butterfly as shown in Plate III, Fig. 5, hibernates through 

 the winter and lays her eggs in early summer in clusters on the 

 under side of the leaves. The caterpillars are gregarious and 

 keep together until they reach maturity. They strip the leaves 

 clean as they go, so that whole branches and sometimes whole 

 trees, if they are small, are stripped bare before their presence 

 is known. The butterfly as shown in the cut is somewhat 

 reduced in size. They will average about three inches across 

 the extended wings. The ground color is a rich velvety brown. 

 Near the outer margin of the wings is a broad yellow band with 

 a row of bluish spots within a band of purple just inside of the 

 yellow border. The caterpillars are almost black in color with 

 a row of eight brick-red spots along the back. Each segment 

 is armed with long black branching spines which are stiff and 

 sharp pointed. When mature the larva measures about two 

 inches in length. When fully grown they crawl to some con- 

 venient place and spin a small tuft of silk; in this they tangle 

 their posterior pair of feet and gradually work free from the 

 caterpillar skin and appear in the chrysalis form as shown in 

 the figure. 



MAPLE BORER. 



The maple borer, Plaginotus speciosus, is causing a great deal 

 of damage to our shade trees. There is hardly a healthy maple 

 tree in the city of Waterville, and many other places are equally 

 as bad, owing to the presence of this insect. The beetle is about 

 an inch in length. It is a strikingly marked insect and when 

 once identified could never be mistaken for any other. The 

 colors are black and yellow. The head is mostly yellow with 

 black eyes and antennse ; the thorax is black with two lateral 

 transverse yellow bands; the wing covers are about equally 



