:\IELIT.EA I. 



On 22d April, 1874, I wont again to the swamp, hardly expecting to find the 

 Chelone out ot* the ground, as the weather had been cold and veo-etation l)ack- 

 ward. But the moment I reached the water my eye fell upon two or three of 

 these caterpillars on the lower leaves of an isolated stem which was not more 

 than six inches high. Near by.Avere other stems, each with one or more caterpil- 

 lars, and so it was as far as I could distinguish the plants over the water. These 

 larvaj were nearly mature. On the stem being jarred they instantly rolled up and 

 dropped to the ground. Some I saw resting beneath the plants on chips or 

 leaves. Others were running over the hummocks which projected above the sur- 

 face of the water, moving rapidly anil throwing their heads to the right or left 

 as if feeling their way. Two days after I visited the swamp better prepared for 

 exploring the water, and could have brought away hundreds of the caterpillars. 

 They were to be found wherever a plant of Chelone grew, not at all screened, but 

 in plain sight, and wherever there were fallen trees or dead branches there were 

 to be seen many at rest. 



At this larval stage this species must be subject to few enemies, and must be 

 obnoxious to the birds which abound in swamps. Otherwise none could reach 

 maturity, for not the least effort is made for concealment after the caterpilhu's 

 have deserted the web, and the contrast of color with the green leaves makes 

 them unusually consi)icuous. The only shelter sought by them is in rainy 

 weather or from the sini when the heat is extreme, and that is attained by shift- 

 ing to the under sides of the leaves. 



At difterent times up to September, 1875, I visited the .swamp, and so have be- 

 come acquainted with the complete history of the species. On 13th June, 1875, 

 I found three clust<?rs of ea:e:s, and brouoht home two of them. These two were 

 laid on leaves of the same stem, at some distance from the top. both upon the 

 middle of the leaves, on under side, one close against the midrib, the other scarcely 

 touching it. The former comprised aljout two hundred eggs, densely packed in 

 a somewhat irregular mass, two layers deep, each egg resting on its base. The 

 other cluster was rounded, four layers deep, with a few eggs which represented 

 a fifth, the l)ottom layers apparently regular. Ijut many of the eggs of the upper 

 ones inclined, and some Ivino; on their sides. There seemed to be about four 

 hundred eggs in this cluster. (See Figs, a.rr.) The color was a peculiar shade of 

 crimson, like that of wilted currants, having a tint of blue in it, but two or three 

 of the eggs were lemon-yellow when first observed, and this I am informed by 

 Mr. Scudder is the color when newly laid. From him also I learn that the dura- 

 tion of this stage is nineteen to twenty days. The larvte began to emerge 24th 

 June, thirteen days after I brought home the eggs, and about thirty-six hours 

 before the disclosure the color of these had gradually changed from crimson to 

 black. 



