— 16— 



As far as I have noticed, the Lepidoptera are also very scarce here, 

 at least even the more common species have been rarely seen by me, but 

 as an offset for the lack of species of other orders the Hymenoptera are 

 very jilentiful. 



At one place, north of the town, where a swampy field is full of wild 

 plants, scores of species could be seen flying from flower to flower in such 

 variety that I was greatly tempted recently, to collect them, instead of 

 continuing in ni}- vain search for beetles, L, E. Hood. 



Minot has found that even a small piece of the skin of a larva will 

 serve to identify it. In many of them the color of the skin is caused by 

 pigment which may permeate the entire chitinous substance or be confined 

 to the outer cuticular layer, where it is arranged, in combination with 

 the sculpture of the surface, into pretty microsco{)ic patterns, which are 

 different in every species. The larvae were taken from alcohol, boiled in 

 concentrated potash and the chitinous layer mounted m balsam. In 

 Danais archippus the dark brown transverse bands ot the mature larva are 

 caused by the coloration of the cuticle; but the color is not evenly dif- 

 fused, and is confined to small, sharply defined spaces which are elevated 

 in the center, so that the whole has a hilly appearance. A transverse sec- 

 tion showed that the coloring matter was contained in a very thin layer of 

 lamellae upon the base of colorless chitin. In Cynthia lavmia the fields 

 are also papillose but grouped in small spots. In Vanessa antiopa the skin 

 is evenly papillose ; in Grapla intcn'ogafiotiis \;iy'\^h\y so. In Linictiiiis 

 disipptis dark papillae are scattered among the colorless majority. In 

 Grapta comma the papilla; are acute and somewhat spiniform and very 

 close together, In Papilio pJiihnior this is exaggerated, so as to cause the 

 appearance of a thick fur. In Hcliconia charilonia the paj)illx' are more 

 sparse, but unusually thick and convex in profile, while usually they are 

 concave, A remarkable decrease in the number of papilkv is found in 

 Eupioieta claudia, while in Agraulis vanilLv they are more numerous but 

 smaller. In Papilio ajax there are neatly formed pointed papillae of variable 

 sizes, evenly spread over the surface. In Anisota stigma they form small 

 hillocks without distinct apices. In Dataiia ministra as well as in Cimbex 

 ainericana the rounded hillock like form of the colored spaces gives a reti- 

 culated appearance. Minot believes, that these modifications of the cuticle 

 have some connection with unknown sensory organs, and that he has dis- 

 covered a valuable aid to the construction.of a natural system, 



(Compare Charles Sedgwick Minot, Archiv fi'ir mikroskoj)ische Ana- 

 tomic, Band 28, .'^eite37 — 48, t. 7. — Knt. Nachrichten, XIII, 29. 



John B, Smith, 



