24 TRANSACTIONS OF THE KaNSAS 



While in tlie act of measuriug it a small white worm forced its way through the 

 skiu and stood upright upon the back of the caterpillar; soon, more began to come 

 out, and in twenty minutes there were forty-two of these little parasitic grubs stand- 

 ing up at right angles to the body of the sphinx. In a few minutes these little 

 worms began to double up so that head and tail came together. They then spun a 

 fine, white, silk cocoon, and wove it about as wide as their own diameter; this they 

 completed in two days. The Sphinx larva was alive and able to walk all this time, 

 but did not eat. It died four days later. 



Before the second brood of Maple Worms {Anisota ruMcunda) had attained their 

 growth, the supply of maple leaves was entirely exhausted, so that the worms were 

 compelled to set out in search of food. At one place on the AVakarusa there is a 

 grove of maples, some of which are very large ; near this grove there is an open 

 field which had been freshly plowed, and was slightly beaten down by the late sum- 

 mer rains. 



While crossing this field one morning my attention was called to some maple 

 worms crawling upon the ground at least fifteen rods from the nearest maple tree. 

 After looking about for a few moments I found several specimens five rods or more 

 beyond the first, making the remarkable distance of over twenty rods from the 

 grove. Immense numbers of these larvae must have perished on the Wakarusa and 

 Coal creek bottoms from want of food. After the maple leaves were all gone I fre- 

 quently found them feeding upon the leaves of the burr-oak. 



A few days later, while at the old University building, I was surprised to find 

 hundreds of these larva3 ascending Mount Oread from the maple groves in the 

 corners of the lot, a distance of about eighteen rods from the old University. Nor 

 did they stop when they had reached the summit of the hill, but many of them 

 were trying to ascend the building. Curious to know what success they Avere hav- 

 ing, I went to the top and there found three way-worn and sickly-looking worms ; 

 one of these was much contracted in length and soon afterward transformed into a 

 chrysalis. These larvas had attained a bight of more than one hundred and fifty 

 feet above the place from which they started. 



THE COTTONWOOD LEAF BEETLE. 



(Plagiodera scripta Fabr.) 

 By W. OsBUBN, Student in the University of Kansas. 



Beetles are certainly remarkable for their various methods of obtaining sustenance 

 in the larval state. Some live in the ground, feeding upon the roots of plants, 

 some are wood-borers, and others feed upon decaying animal and vegetable matter ; 

 some live upon fruit, some are cannibals, devouring other insects, and others still 

 feed upon the leaves of plants. The last method of obtaining sustenance is char- 

 acteristic of the Chrysomelidse family of beetles, to which belongs the above species. 

 On July 22, 1875, we discovered Plagiodera scripta in the imago state, its eggs, the 

 young, and full-grown larva?, and the pupae, all upon the same willow bush, so tliat 

 we are enabled to give quite a full history of its habits and transformations. 



The eggs are laid in batches, containing from ten to twenty eggs each, upon the 



