MEMOIRS or THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 229 



Pupa. — "Lcnjitli, 10-22 iiiin. Body only moderately robust; sliiiiiiig, dark reddisli brown; 

 dorsal teeth at posterior margin of mosotliorax, 12 in number, gradually decreasing in size from 

 the center laterally, nearly i-ectaugular, and without central indenture; two spines at tip of body 

 rather long and narrow, somewhat ronglicned, and each with an inner sul>ai)ical tooth or branch, 

 in this rcsi>ect somewhat similar to the |iupie of Schizura. The slender outer branch is irregular 

 in length and direction, which, however, is generally outward." 



(Riley MS.) ■ > .X''°"^^'^°s°'''^X. 



Hahilfi. — During l.'^.'^d a great amount of damage was done to g s^—.-.r^/iV^'i ^V / 



the foliage of oak Ibrests in at least two counties of Arkansas by I ^ ,:^^^ y 



this worm, which appeared in immense numbers iu January. The \.v ^**\ /5 



following extract is taken from Professor Comstock's account in -\-- -((([il^ / 



his report as United States Entomologist (Agricultural Report, \^^ X-L^^^ 



1880) : ^^$/^ '° 



There are probalily two liroods ol the variahle i ater]iillar in the course Fia. 80.— Pupaof iT. ma/ido. 



of the season, although hut (Uic. the fall hrood, seems to have heen iiotieod. 



The moths appear iu the latter part of April or iu early May, aud hetfl-een that time and late Fepteuilier, wlien the 

 principal damage is done by the worms, there is abnudant time for two broods of caterpillars. 



In the District of Columbia for the last two years these larvi-e have been noticed very abundantly upon oak, 

 hawthorn, aud basswood, and doulitless feed upon other plants. In late September they had reached their full 

 size and entered the ground, where, as we gather from Mrs. Thomas's letter, they lie most of the winter before 

 transforming. 



Profe.ssor Eiley has sent us the following notes on its habits and food i)lauts, which api)eared 

 ill our report on Forest Insects: 



Two larv* of a Xotodonta were found feeding on oak and persimmon, iu N'irgiuia, June 18, 1882. Another one 

 was found June 20, also iu Virginia, feeding on walnut ; and two more July 19, feednig on oak. (It also feeds on the 

 white, post, aud laurel oak, and linden.) One of the first found larvae spun up between leaves .July 19, ami another 

 one pupated on the surface of the ground July 21. The iirst moth issued August .5 and the other one August 12. 



Larva' of a second brood were again found x\.ugust ."0, (Vediug on apple an<l black birch, and another full-grown 

 one September 3, feeding on persinnuon. 



Octoiier I'l, 1870: S. S. Eathvou describes it as injurious to the linden trees, stripping them aud going from one 

 tree to another lu the village of Lititz, near Lancaster, Pa. They went into the ground about the 1st of Sei)tember. 

 The specimen he sent had fifteen largo Tachina-tly eggs attached transversely across the end aud third joints. The 

 white margiu to the black stripe was missing, and the dark purple dorsal band extends to stigmata on joints 6 and 

 9 and to subdorsum ou 4 and 11 (box 3, No. 29), also » variety in box .S, No. 53. 



October 17, 1870: Bolter found 2 under oak leaves, both of them like that 1 found on oak October 2, 1870. 



April 30, 1871: One has issued from an exotic oak in Shaw's Gardens [St. Louis, Mo.]. The markings are much 

 more ditl'used, with a large whitish diseal spot ou primaries. That marked l.^t from burr oak — Muhleraau, issued 

 May 25, 1871. It is a variety aud iierfectly deceptive, like ^V. iitiiconiis, taking the same tubular position. 



\'ery abundant iu 1873. October 12, leaves falling, obtained many from post oak. Three most persistent forms 

 blown, (I (4 in cage 12), 6 (11 in cage 11), c (1 in cage 10). 



July 6, 1874 : The imagines have been issuing very irregularly. To-day I sie%-ed the cages, and especially 17, 

 in which there were a number of all three forms. They now are all alike, aud the head is the only characteristic 

 part. All the color is gone fiom the body, which is now of a uniform paris green, more or less mottled with a pale 

 and dark shade, the vascular line dark and broken. Many of these are now crawling about quite actively, while 

 others are in the pnp.a state aud others issuing. They were all in a very slight elastic silken cocoon. 



September 20, 1874: A number of all sizes on oak, sejiarated into three lots — a, in cage 12; b, in cage 10; r, in 

 cage 5. They are very variable, and there are specimens intermediate between these three forms. .Some have the 

 colors very bright and distinct, and others less so. A lot found on linden, but afterwanls feeding well on oak, are 

 all of the light form a in cage 13. 



November 21. 1874: In sieving the cages containing forms o, /), and c. they were found still in the larval state, 

 some having made >a tough silken cocoon, others made one only of a few threads, while some had no cocoons at all, 

 but had made a smooth cavity iu the earth. In cage 5 were found two large Tachina larvic, certainly from form c, 

 one of which is preserved iu box 7-40. April 10, 1875, one Tachina fly issued, marked 359-. One moth issued April 

 16, 1875, the larva of which was found on linden, but fed also on oak iu cage 13, where there are many more in the 

 ground. Braconid parasite bred October, 1874. October 26, 1875: Nine from oak, all near form //, 



"Eggs in August, Larva' in April, .June. .July, September, and October (winter as larv;c. transl'orming sometimes 

 as late as July). Adults in April, May, June, July, .Vngust." (Riley MS,) 



Food plants. — Different species of oak, including the white, post, burr, and hiurel oak; 

 hawthorn, basswood, persimmon, walnut, apple, black birch: in Georgia it lives on Piiickneya 

 pubens (Abbot's MS. drawings. Gray copy, Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist.); linden, oak (Kiley MS). 



