436 



PSYCHE. 



[April 1S93. 



bulbous and placed slightly more than a 

 fourth way down the length of the body; the 

 same structure before the spiracles as in 

 Macrosila. Head, thorax, and appendages 

 apparently smooth but faintly wrinkled ; ab- 

 dominal segments wrinkled and punctate 

 evenly and not heavily, their posterior edges 

 on 4th-6th abdominal segments being mi- 

 nutely punctate. Cremaster large, conical, 

 scarcely flattened and with two very minute 

 points upon it. Length 46.5 mm.; breadth 

 13 mm. 



Went under ground September 19. 



DOLBA IIYLAEUS. 



Larval habits, etc. I placed a full 

 grown larva found on Cape Cod early 

 in September under a glass over a plant 

 of sweet fern. The earth was clean, 

 and he soon disappeared; but before 

 doing so he bit off' most of the leaves 

 at their base, green and dried alike, and 

 scattered them indiscriminately on the 

 ground below, so that the earth was no 

 longer to be seen, and until the leaves 

 were removed I could not tell whether 

 he was merely hidden beneath them or 

 had gone under ground. No opening 

 in the heap of leaves was discoverable. 

 He had buried himself in the earth to 

 the depth of about an inch in an oblique 

 position, head uppermost. 



The faeces of this caterpillar are as- 

 tonishingly large, forming an irregular 

 cylindrical mass often 12-14 mm. long 

 and 5 mm. broad, of a pitchy black 

 color, and looking like furnace slag, 

 and bearing no such definite markings 

 as are seen in Macrosila. 



Parasites. While taking notes of 

 the larvae, I was interrupted for a 



couple of hours, and was very much 

 surprised on my return to find that one 

 I had been describing just before was 

 now covered with brown worms ; no 

 less than eight of them had fastened 

 themselves by threads to the sides of 

 their victim, some on the fifth and some 

 on the eighth and ninth abdominal seg- 

 ments. 



They were of a very light brown color, 

 with a slight greenish tinge, having a dorsal 

 row and on either side of it two other rows 

 of small rounded elevations, one upon the 

 anterior edge of each segment in each row; 

 there was also a dark dorsal streak, and here 

 and there dark reddish brown spots, espec- 

 ially upon the dorsal surface and the last 

 three or four segments. The round thoracic 

 spiracles were dark brown. The skin was 

 glistening and very evenly and microscopi- 

 cally reticulate. The head had a faint green- 

 ish tinge, and upon each side were two black 

 bent lines like a figure 5 upon its side, while 

 the opposite extremity seems to have a little 

 thicker integument than the rest of the body. 

 Length 7 mm.; breadth 2 mm. 



These creatures had wormed their 

 way directly through the body wall of 

 the caterpillar, leaving little brown pits 

 in various parts of the body to mark 

 their exit; but there seemed to be no] 

 wound as there certainly was no loss] 

 of any fluid ; why is there none, and 

 why do all the worms come out to- 

 gether? The caterpillar, on the under 

 side of a leaf, remained motionless, 

 looking very slender and flabby, and 

 acting in a very dumpish manner. 



As for the worms, they immediately 

 began spinning their cocoons where 

 they were, and when one was torn viol 



