212 VAPORER MOTH CHRYSALIS. 



smooth on its inside, and a little larger than the chrysalis which 



reposes within it. The cocoon is placed indifferently either in 



a perpendicular, an oblique, or a horizontal direction. 



The chrysalis is of an oval form, twice as long as broad, measuring from 0.60 

 to 0.70 in length. It is rounded anteriorly and drawn out into a little horn- 

 like point at its hind end, furnished with minute hooks at its tip, which are 

 fastened into the threads of the cocoon. It is of a brown color with pale clouds 

 and the under side of the abdomen whitish. Sometimes it is black and shin- 

 ing, with scarcely any traces of whitish. Upon the head back and sides it is 

 thickly covered with rather long fine white hairs. The three anterior segments 

 next to the head have each upon their middle, above, an oval or square trans- 

 verse spot of a pale clay color, formed of scales which resemble little collapsed 

 vesicles or bladders, and each of these spots is crossed by a slender line upon 

 its middle. The wing-sheaths appear to be of the same length in both the 

 sexes, reaching to the anterior edge of the first abdominal segment. On break- 

 ing open a female chrysalis, its inside is found filled with eggs which appear to 

 be grown to their full size. 



In each instance when I have bred these insects, the moth 

 made its appearance on the thirteenth day after the cocoon was 

 spun. It therefore begins to appear abroad upon the wing about 

 the first of August. We sometimes, however, meet with the 

 chrysalis unhatched in the cocoon in the winter. These are 

 doubtless individuals which have been later in completing their 

 growth and from which moths will be given out early in the fol- 

 lowing spring. From the gay appearance of the caterpillar one 

 would expect a very pretty moth to be produced by it, and will 

 be disappointed on obtaining a dark sooty brown thing, little 

 variegated with spots or streaks. These moths may sometimes 

 be seen resting upon the door posts or the shady side of build- 

 ings, with their fore legs stretched out in front, and their antennae ' 

 elevated. They frequently enter open windows in the evening, 

 attracted by the light. They fly also in the day time. Their 

 mode of flight is peculiar, consisting of short jerks or in a flirt- 

 ing manner. This has probably obtained for insects of a similar 

 kind which occur in England, their common name, vaporer moths, 

 a term indicating something of a volatile, peevish, hysterical dis- 

 position. They pertain to the genus Orgyia in the family Arc- 

 TiiDiE and order Lepidoptera, and this species is named leuco- 

 stigma or the Pale vaporer moth, in the splendid work of Abbott 

 and Smith upon the Insects of Georgia, plate 79. The epithet 

 " pale," however, is inappropriate for these moths as they occur 



