NYMPHALINAE: EUPIIYDRYAS THAETON. 699 



alive and quiet; one which he sent nie (82:3) was of a reguhir, com- 

 pressed, ovoid torn), about the size of a pigeon's egg, and composed 

 of leaves and fruit of Chelone, securely bound together by a silken 

 web ; most of the leaves were already dead, and all were covered 

 with web, and tlie interspaces so filled with silk that the whole outer 

 surface was smooth and uniform. The nest was soft and flexible throujrh- 

 out, the web delicate, allowing the parts within to be seen, but very 

 close and even. On opening the nest it was found very compact, formed 

 upon the drooping head of the plant, which was partially distended 

 as it were by the apical leaves ; in various parts of the nest there were 

 several oblong holes or passages, about the size of the caterpillars, which 

 measured from 4-9 mm. in leno;th. There was a o-reat deal of filth in the 

 nest, and it was also tenanted by the very lively caterpillar of a moth. 



Mr. Edwards describes as follows the largest nest seen by him while it 

 was under construction. It was — 



Long and narrow, tapering at either end, about tliree inclies broad in the mid- 

 dle, and so tliick and closelj' woven as to conceal the interior. For egress while 

 at Avork, two somewhat tubular openings were left on the middle of one side, and the 

 threads about these were doubled. To support this large web the upper part of a 

 stem of swamp grass . . . was bent down, and its broad and spreading leaves were 

 bound over the surface, and this with the stem of Chelone was stiff enough to resist 

 the Avind. After the larvae had ceased work and flnallj^ retired within the web, a 

 slight covering was spun across the outlets, sufficient, evidently, to throw off water 

 and to keep out spiders. . . . Six weeks later the webs were found to be bleached 

 white, and were weather-worn and considerablj' shrunken; often distorted, too, by 

 the growth of the plants. The effect of the shrinkage was to compress the larvae 

 into a hard, compact mass. 



The caterpillars make some selection in constructing their nests, since 

 they are not always found upon Chelone, which is an annual, and when 

 using that as a basis generally interweave the outlying parts of the sur- 

 rounding herbage. Here, then, they take up their winter quarters — with 

 us in the latter part of August or early in September, but further south, 

 where Mr. Edwards has observed them in West Virginia, about the middle 

 of July, when there is abundant season for a second brood. Yet whether 

 in the White Mountains or Virginia, to bed they go when the third moult 

 is past. Yet in Virginia their condition is not then one of torpidity or even 

 of lethargy, for when disturbed there is an immediate and general move- 

 ment. INIr. Edwards removed some to a young plant of Chelone, templing 

 them with their choicest food, "but they showed no disposition to feed nor 

 to construct another web. They ran over the leaves for a few hours, till 

 the whole plant had been thoroughly explored and then left it, betaking 

 themselves to the grass." They evidently wished to be let alone. 



In the spring, all is changed. They forsake their web, and though still 

 gregarious to a limited extent wander ceaselessly about, swarming over 

 Lonicera and other plants, seeking only the concealment of dead leaves 



