201 



XVI. On Attacus (Samia) Columbia and its Parasites 



BY ir. A. IIAGEN, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. 

 [Bead before this Society, December 15, 1874.] 



The new aiTiingement of onr biological collection, drew my 

 attention to the large New England Attaci, all but Columbia bred 

 by myself, some of them even in very large numbers. The prepar- 

 ing of the objects for the collection, and the determination of the 

 parasites bred by myself, or presented to the collection, was of 

 course followed by a nearer study of the literature scattered in 

 different papers. 



Our stock of Cohimhia is, so far as I know, still unrivalled, 

 containing all the types of Mr. S. I. Smith, the discoverer of the 

 species, the types of his description as well as of his photographs. 

 There are, of imagos, two males and one female, all Mr. Smith was 

 able to raise, as the others Avere infested by an unusual number of 

 parasites. One of the males, No. 548, of Mr. Smith's catalogue, is 

 stated '"to be developed from the pupa found upon a maple twig 

 growing among Rhodora Canadensis; the cocoon apparently the 

 same as this, and quite common on Rhodora." The cocoon with 

 the same number, is still present in the collection. Nine similar 

 cocoons all from the same collector, are still present; three are 

 given to other collections. Besides these, twenty specimens of two 

 species of parasites upon this species were sent. Some of these 

 latter are still preserved in good condition, labelled by Dr. A. S. 

 Packard, who described them in the original paper. 



I was fortunate in being able to make the set more complete by 

 opening all the cocoons, and searching carefully their conteuts. In 

 two I found the caterpillar remains in tolerable condition ; in one 

 the pupa skin. The others were all filled with parasites, and I 

 was able to take out both species described by Dr. Packard, in frag- 

 mentary condition, but sufficiently preserved for determination. 



BUL. BUF. SOC. NAT. SCI. (26) JANUARY, 1875. 



