December, '17] dozier: life-history of the okra caterpillar 541 



General Description of Stages 



Egg. — The egg is circular in shape, flat below, with diameter of 0.8 mm. It is 

 ribbed, the ribs running from the base towards the summit, many reaching only half 

 way to the summit. This egg looks a great deal like that of Alabama and Heliothis, 

 also very much Uke that of the velvet bean caterpillar {Anticarsia (jemmatilis), 

 although much smaller in size. The color is ahnost white, when first deposited, soon 

 turning to a pale yellowish green, almost of the same shade as the lower surface of the 

 leaf. 



Larva. — The newly hatched larva is 2 mm. in length; entire body whitish; head 

 glycerin-like in color, tips of mandibles reddish brown. After the larvae have eaten, 

 their bodies take on a faint greenish appearance. 



According to Riley, there are six moults, making seven instars. The full-grown 

 larva is light green in color, measuring If inches in length. 



Pupa. — The pupa is 15 mm. in length, blackish-brown in color with opaque wing 

 sheaths, the remaining portion slightly pohshed. The front of the head is prolonged 

 into a short, stout, conical projection. Riley gives the following description of the 

 tip of the last joint : " The tip of the last joint is broad and prolonged each side into a 

 short, stout, and sharp tooth directed forward. Between these two is a pair of slender, 

 bristle-like spines directed forward and with their tips curved in the shape of a loop; 

 another pair of similar spines, which are directed forward and inward, are situated, one 

 at each side, on a small projection which is armed at its edge with two large, stout, 

 claw-like teeth, which stand at right angle to the body of the pupa. " 



Adult. — The male and female of this species differ greatly, the female being sUghtly 

 the larger in size. The female is a bright orange yellow in color, the forewing slightly 

 speckled with red and with slight purplish suffusion below the postmedial line, and has 

 a wing expanse of one and a quarter inches. The male has its forewings reddish 

 brown in color, suffused with purple gray. 



Life-History 



Copulation was not observed during the day and probably takes 

 place at night. The eggs are deposited at night usually, or about dusk, 

 singly on either the upper or lower surfaces of the leaves, the majority 

 being deposited on the under surface. One moth in captivity deposited a 

 scattered mass of 142 eggs on the sides of globe of the cage before dying. 



Incubation takes about four days. The newly hatched larvae, after 

 devouring their eggshells, rest for a short time and then begin to eat 

 the leaf. 



The larval stage lasts about twentj^-four days. The full-grown 

 larva is very sluggish. It pupates, usually, by simply folding over the 

 edge of the leaf, pupating in the recess thus made. On young okra 

 and Abutilon leaves, it makes its pupation chamber by drawing the 

 edges of the leaf together in such a manner as to leave a little groove in 

 which the pupa lies ensconced. Where two leaves happen to touch 

 or overlap, they are fastened together by a few silken threads, the 

 larva pupating between. 



Large numbers of click-beetles of two species, Monocrepidius lividus 

 and M. vespertinus, are often found in these pupal chambers. What 

 they are doing there is somewhat of a mystery. Experiments seem 



