102 THE LEPIDO PTERIST 



felt certain that at least the oak-feeding Catocalae 

 were present, for there was an abundance of "live 

 oak" and "water oak." We were already planning to 

 make the usual burlap traps for Catocala larvae, when 

 Mr. Reiff found quite accidentally an almost full- 

 grown larva resting on a large oak tree and well hid- 

 den in a deep crotch. Now knowing where to 

 find these larvae we at once started to hunt 

 for them; and we were well rewarded. On the 

 average, we found a larva about every ten min- 

 utes. In most cases they were from one to five feet 

 above the ground; only a small percentage were rest- 

 ing higher up on the trees, and only three specimens 

 were out of reach. All larvae were in harmony with 

 their surroundings; in some cases the protected posi- 

 tion of the larva together with its resemblance to the 

 bark was indeed astonishing. No doubt we missed 

 many, yet our total catch was about seventy-five lar- 

 vae. Those on "water-oak" were discovered the easi- 

 est, as the bark of these trees is rather smooth and 

 does not offer the larva as much protection as the 

 bark of the "live oak." We noticed that no larvae 

 were found on the bark of low-branched trees nor 

 where the woods were thick. In fact, collecting was 

 best on isolated trees. Like all Catocala larvae, those 

 we found were full of vigor. They were moving rap- 

 idly when placed in the collecting boxes and would try 

 to escape at the first opportunity. Judging from the 

 structure of the larvae we were in possession of four 

 different species, and we were anxious to bring them 

 to pupation. Two days previous to our departure 

 from Rockledge the first larva began to get ready for 

 pupation and others followed in quick succession. 

 They could not possibly have chosen a more unfit 

 time, as they now had to undergo the transition 

 from larva to pupa under the influence of the move- 

 ments of the railroad train. We took every precau- 

 tion to give them the best train service, but all was 

 in vain. Some changed into deformed pupae while 

 traveling, but the largest number died during the 

 transportation period. We obtained only twenty pu- 



