34 Annals Entomological Society of America  [Vol. XIV, 
that they may assist but probably not necessary. It has been 
observed in the more transparent cocoons of rufilabris and 
plorabunda that the pupz within the cocoons are capable of 
shifting their positions very easily and rapidly. 
Just before emergence, the pupal coloration and characters 
can be seen rather clearly in most cocoons.. The pupal disc is 
the old larval molt and immediately before emergence is quite 
black. The golden or brownish eyes of the pup can be seen, 
while the general color of the cocoon changes from the pearly 
gray or white of the newly spun silk to yellowish in quadri- 
punctata to a distinct green in harrtsit. 
THE ADULT. 
The chief points of importance in connection with the adult 
which it is desired to describe here are the length of life, number 
of eggs laid, food, and ecological distribution. It is usually 
stated that the adults are short lived. Some of the less com- 
mon species could not be kept alive in captivity longer than a 
few days to a week at the most, but, of the commoner species, 
two females of C. oculata lived 42 and 34 days, depositing 
617 and 470 eggs, respectively. Dissections showed that neither 
had deposited their full quota of eggs. These are records in 
both cases. Adults of C. plorabunda have been be kept 
alive over winter. C. rufilabris and C. harrisit were also kept 
alive from late September until the latter part of December. 
Overwintering specimens can be distinguished from normal 
specimens by the brownish color which replaces the green, a 
change brought about comparable, it is thought, to the dis- 
coloration in autumn leaves. 
Some confusion exists concerning the feeding habits of 
adults. Specimens of oculata, rufilabris, nigricornis, plora- 
bunda, chi, and quadripunctata were kept alive for relatively 
long periods by daily feedings with aphids or weak sugar 
solution, and water. Our common species feed upon aphids, 
without doubt, and other small, soft bodied creatures. It is 
believed that the adults feed upon approximately the same 
species of aphids as the larve of the same species. This 
explains why adults go to aphid infested plants to oviposit 
rather than the doctrine of parental solicitude for the young. 
Adults of lineaticornis, harrisii, cockerelli, Meleoma signoretit, 
and other less common species could not be kept alive very 
