January iSq;,] 



PSYCHE. 



11 



recurved, horn-like spine, stout and tliick. 

 Cervical sliield reduced to a small, scarcely 

 cornified, concoloroiis area. Spiracles cir- 

 cular, rather large. Setae very fine and 

 obscure, the tubercles reduced to obliter- 

 ation; i and ii nearly in line, iii above 

 the spiracle, three or four smaller secondary 

 setae scattered over the lateral area; iv and 

 V on the upper subventral ridge in line, 

 rather remote; vi on the lower ridge; vii of 

 two or three very small setae close to the 

 crotchets of the foot. Length of larva about' 

 35 mni. Harrisott G. Dvar. 



NOTE ON EGGS OF STAGMOMANTIS 

 CAROLINA. 



The eggs of this insect are enclosed in 

 cells in the ootheca, the walls of which 

 consist of a tough, almost horny, secretion. 

 To reach the eggs by mechanical mean^, one 

 has to tear these walls down, and when these 

 are removed there still remains, outside the 

 egg-membrane itself, which is exceedingly 

 delicate, transparent and glistening, a par- 

 tially transparent membrane of great tenuity 

 like an investing tunic of desiccated frolh. 



The ootheca, according to Glover, are 

 deposited on branches of trees in the autumn. 

 They hatch in May of the following year, 

 and leave a skin protruding from the egg, 

 half as long as the hatched larva; each cell 

 of the ootheca is hexagonal in transverse 

 section and has an elastic neck at summit. 

 A large mass sent nie by tlie late B. D. 

 Walsh measured 23 mn). in length, 10 mm. 

 in breadth, and 6 mm. in height; there is an 

 empty chamber on each side and an empty 

 space at the summit, apparently for the 

 better protection of the eggs. Cut across 

 the middle, it was seen that there were nine 

 lines of eggs, the central one upright, those 

 at the sides inclined toward it; the outside 

 row contained 20 eggs, so that there were 

 probably 150 eggs in the whole mass. 



The eggs are about 3.25 mm. long and 

 0.75 mm. in diameter, and in midwinter 



were partialh- developed, just about as far 

 .advanced as was observed for the same 

 season in Chloealtis conspersu, or perhaps 

 slightly less advanced. In this stage the 

 eyes of the embryo are distinctly marked 

 by discolored spots and the facets may be 

 observed, though they are very indistinctly 

 margined; no sharp angles can be seen, the 

 facets being as much circular as polygonal; 

 at the same time, the limits of the eye are 

 vague, the facets merging imperceptibly into 

 the other cellular matter; this eye spot lies 

 not far from the middle of the egg. There 

 seems to be little further advance until 

 shortly befne hatcliing. 



Samuel H- Scudder . 



LEUCANIA UNIPUNCTA. 



E MiLv last summer there appeared at 

 Little 3oar's Head, New Hampshire, swarms 

 of mollis, which, one night, covered the ceil- 

 ing of the little building used as a post 

 office, and in several instances so covered the 

 walls and ceilings ot sleeping-rooms in some 

 of the houses, that the rooms could not be 

 occupied until the moths had been cleared 

 out. In at least one case the rooms had to be 

 fumigated with sulphur, and tlie dead moths 

 swept up and carried away. 



Some fishermen told of a great cloud oi 

 the moths over their boat out on the sea. 



No entomologist being at hand, specimens 

 were sent to Cambridge, and word came 

 back — '• Look out for next year! They are 

 army-worm moths." 



In most cases no one could tell how the 

 moths entered the houses, for doors and win- 

 dows were well fitted with wire screens. 



In Brookline, Mass, the larvae have been 

 very abundant this autumn, not marching, 

 but appearing at night, cutworm fashion. 



Bluejays, golden-winged woodpeckers, and 

 " chickadees" have found them out, and inay 

 be seen searching the ground for them, — the 

 first time I have seen chickadees on the 

 ground. Caroline G. Soiile. 



Nov. 17, 1S96. 



