1864.] ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OP CANADA. 377 



thorns were picked off the branches before the larv^ were attached 

 thereon. The lepidopteristwill no doubt understand my astonish- 

 ment to find the large, soft, thin-skinned, and hairless larva of A, 

 polijphcmus feeding on the sweet-briar, a plant said to be intro- 

 duced into Canada. Harris gives three food-plants, i. e., the oak, 

 elm, and lime trees. Formerly I found it feed in o- on a species of 

 maple at Toronto, and now in the Lower Provinces we find it 

 on the thorny briar. How they manage to turn and creep from 

 one branch to another without comino- in contact with the nume- 

 rous thorns, T am unable to explain. They continued to feed on 

 the supplied food up to the 28th of August, on which day they 

 ceased to feed, and prepared to spin. The caterpillar that pro- 

 duced the male first ceased feeding ; it was also the first to issue 

 from its cocoon, although both were subject to an equal tempera- 

 ture. A short time previous to spinning, both caterpillars ejected 

 the contents of the viscera, consisting of about a teaspoonful of a 

 dark green fluid, and immediately afterwards they began to form 

 their cocoons. I notice this singular caterpillar ejectamentum, 

 as I think it has been hitherto overlooked, and it would be 

 advancins; our knowledQ;e in entomolooical science to have this 

 fluid analyzed. The caterpillar that produced the male had the 

 dorsal tubercles much shorter than the one that issued from the 

 other cocoon ; they were tipped with bright yellow, with a slight 

 golden reflection. The caterpillar of the second cocoon, or the 

 one producing the supposed female, had the lateral and dorsal 

 tubercles bridit orangje red, mino-led with o'olden, the tubercles 

 were more robust and longer than the one which produced the 

 male. Unfortunately, during my absence from home, the moth 

 from the second cocoon escaped through the window, and I am 

 therefore unable to prove the imago sex with the larvae. But 

 from external characters alone, I rest satisfied that the future inves- 

 tigator will find that the richest colored caterpillar forms the 

 cradle of the female. I trust my short investigation may lead 

 others to study the metamorphosis of this genus of moths. No 

 doubt if a thorouo'h search is also made for the larvae of A. luna 

 in the Lower Provinces, it will be found feeding on a plant differ- 

 ent from its western food, and probably hitherto unknown to be 

 used as such by this beautiful moth. 



