1915] Life History Thelia Bimaculata 145 
nants of the old integument still clinging to the legs and abdo- 
men. The abdomen is removed slowly, here again, especially 
in the case of the female, small pieces of old skin sometimes 
remaining attached to the caudal extremity to be sluffed off 
later. The process is a comparatively rapid one, usually occu- 
pying about twelve minutes, while in one case observed in the 
laboratory (in the last molt) the time from the first splitting of 
the skin over the head to the complete emergence of the insect 
lasted only five minutes. 
The recently emerged adults are almost white, the abdomen 
gray or greenish, and the whole body very soft. The thorax 
hardens rapidly and the normal color is completely apparent at 
the end of six hours. At first the colors are quite brilliant but 
become duller in a few days. The newly molted adults are very 
active and fly in a surprisingly short time but during the first 
few hours of their adult life the pronotal horn is likely to be 
injured on account of its soft condition, and if crushed or 
twisted will harden permanently in that position. 
The old nymphal skins do not remain attached to the host 
but drop to the ground as soon as the ecdysis is complete. 
Consequently the cast skins are not seen on the trees as they 
are in the case of most of our other forms of Membracide. 
FEEDING. © 
Although careful field notes have been kept on this species 
for several years, and a very large number of individuals have 
been observed under natural conditions, surprisingly few actual 
instances of feeding have been noted. When recorded, it has 
always been in the early morning, and the insects have been, 
not on the more succulent twigs as might be expected, but on 
the second or third year’s growth, with their beaks in the crev- 
ices of the bark. In the laboratory the nymphs fed on the 
young stems but the feeding periods were very short and they 
seldom moved about on the plant. No records were made of 
the nymphs feeding in the field. It may be noted that both 
while feeding and while molting the nymphs are constantly 
attended by swarms of ants which seem in no way to disturb 
the membracids and it has even been suggested by Miss Branch* 
_ that the ants are necessary factors in the life of an individual 
* Branch, Hazel E. The Kansas University Bulletin. July, 1913. Vol. VIII: 
No. 3., p. 84. 
