76 Psyche [June 



genus Depressaria live very retired, and species may be excessively 

 abundant, yet never seen in the perfect state. Many of the species 

 hibernate in the perfect state, and some, which are seldom seen 

 before hibernation, are comparatively common in the spring; but 

 others do not show themselves either before or after hibernation." 

 He further mentions that the adults may often be taken after dusk, 

 on the food plants, when they are found crawling up the stems. 

 "When dislodged from any place of retreat, they shuffle along with 

 considerable rapidity till they have attained a fresh place of con- 

 cealment. " The adults are likewise mentioned by Stainton as 

 being fond of sweets. 



In the main the pupal state seems to be passed on or near 

 the surface of the ground, usually under stones, dried leaves or 

 other rubbish. Thirty-nine are reported as pupating thus, usually 

 within a light silk cocoon. But there are others that remain in the 

 top of the plant for pupation, either in the umbels or in the silken 

 webs in which they found shelter as larvae; seventeen are recorded 

 in this category. One of these remains within a silken gallery 

 which it spun inside a leaf, the outer edges of which were drawn up 

 and securely fastened. Still a third type of pupal habit is known, 

 that of pupating within the stem of the plant. Three species 

 belong here. One of these has been described as burrowing into 

 the stem for a short distance, then up, after which it erects, across 

 the hollowed stem and above the entrace hole, a silken platform, 

 upon which the pupal state is passed. 



The habits of the larva are perhaps of greater interest, as these 

 are determined mainly by the need for food and shelter. Their 

 methods of providing themselves with shelter may be considered 

 first. Twenty-four are leaf -rollers, usually rolling part of the leaf 

 and securing it with bands of silk, thus forming a shelter for them- 

 selves when they are at rest. Twenty-three are makers of tubes, 

 either wholly of silk, or more often partly of leaves or flower heads 

 and partly of silk. Within this tube they find safety. Still 

 others, fifty-seven of which are recorded, may be called web spin- 

 ners, since they form irregular webs, and with these silken strands 

 draw leaves of a shoot or flower-heads in an umbel more or 

 less together; or perhaps merely parts of a leaf are thus held and 

 fastened. Some larvae are both web spinners and tube makers or 

 leaf rollers. Three are known to be leaf miners, at least in the 



