1014 Additions: PIERIDAE. By J. Rober. 



gacsati !<.•:. P. ariarathes gaesatius Fruhsl. from Matto Grosso resembles the form leuctra from Goyaz, but the 



white demi-band on the proximal margin of the forewing as well as the red spots in the anal region of the 

 hindwing are reduced. 



dclunaris. P. tumus ab. delufiaris SchvJiz are specimens in which the yellow marginal lunae are almost dying 



pcrfuh-a. away. — ab. perfulva Hdiullz arc specimens with a dark yellow ground-colour, dehmaris seems to correspond 

 to tiie machaon-iovm nigrojasciaPus Eothke, perfulva to ab. aurantiaca. 



suhnigratii . P. eurymedon ab. subnigrata Sclmltz. On the upper surface the light marginal spots are absent. 



lurida. P. cresphoiites ab. lurida Schuliz has a creamy white instead of yellow ground-colour, and the light 



spots of the forewings are smaller. 



lockliorni. P. mcircellus ab. tockhomi Oskar Schultz denominated a specimen of the species with dull brownish- 



yellow and dull ])lackisli bands. As in marcelhis the ground-colour being in the living insect of a wonderful 

 Nile-green invariably grows pale in the dead insect — the longer the more so — , this is probably a postmortal 

 variation. 



miemos. P. dolicaon anemos Fruhst. has the forewings like deicoon Fldr. from Paraguay and Southern Brazil, 



but the white subapical maculae are duller, the posterior part of the cell dusted with black; hindwing similar 

 as in deileon Fldr., but with a larger yellow subanal spot. From Matto Grosso. 



Pieridae. 



sii.ffrisa. Neo'phasia menapia suffusa TIV. is a more intensely marked form from the western coast of North 



America; especially the hindwing beneath shows broader markings of the veins and reddish marginal spots. 



As to the most interesting biology of Eucheira socialis Westw. (18 a, 194 a) the following is known. 

 ,,The small, bluish-white eggs are of an oblong shape and are deposited on the leaves of Madrono (Arctosta- 

 phylos); it has also been observed that the eggs were deposited within the larval nest, but this is only the 

 case if the insects, for reasons explained farther below, could not find then* way out of the nest. The larva 

 is of a dark coffee-brown colour and clad with longitudinal rows of short soft hairs of white colour, which, 

 however, are not nettle-hau-s. The larva attains a length of 25 to 20 mm. Of the twelve not strongly marked 

 segments the first thoracal ring and the anal segment are mostly somewhat darker. The head is black. 

 The larvae feed at night and, like the processionary catei'pillar , they come in the evening in long rows, one 

 behind the other (not in double rows), out from' their nest into which they retiu-n again toAvards the mor- 

 ning and where they spend the whole day. ,,The nest is a solid web, not unlike thick parchment which it 

 resembles also in the colouring. It is about 20 cm long, of a somewhat oval shape, narrow at the apex 

 which forms something like a neck and is fastened on a thin branch, without being able to swing to 

 and fro, because it is built at the junction of two branches running along the neck of the nest. On 

 the whole, this nest very much resembles those of French wasps, e. g. the wasp Chartaria. On making a 

 longitudinal incision from the bottom of the nest, a pecidiar sight is offered by no less than a hundred pupae 

 being fastened at its interior upper surface on the upper half of the nest, as well as by the lower part of the 

 branch passing through the neck of the nest. The size of the nest and the number of larvae and pupae therein 

 are veiy variable. One may find small colonies of 4 to 6 specimens and then in all sizes with up to 100 

 occupants and more. The ingress is always at the deepest place of the nest towards the soil. This is of the 

 greatest importance for the hygienic conditions of the colonies, since on the one hand the dead insects and 

 excrements can easily fall out of the nest, and on the other hand dampness and rain cannot enter, so that in 

 this way the mildew diseases spreading havoc among the larvae are avoided. There are often also bags found 

 with two entrances. 



Humboldt denotes these larval nests of E'ucheira socialis as ,,natin-al paper, and they have indeed 

 also been used by the Aztecs as paper before the Spanish Conquest. 



One question had not been cleared up to the present day : in what way the developed imago is able to 

 get out through the nairow opening of the nest. Some asserted that the imago emerges when its wings are 

 still soft, whilst others advance the opinion that the copula and oviposition takes place in the interior of the 

 nest and the imago would not at all fly in the open air, and others again thought the imago to be able to get 

 out owing to the wings being specially shaped. It has, for instance, been observed that from among those 

 that had been bagged not one imago came out into the open air, and that, on opening the nest, it was found 

 filled with developed imagines which were partly already in copula (Rob. Muller, Mexico). The same is also 

 the case in nature. A bag having been brought home after the flying-time of the imago, after having been 

 opened showed ciuite a number of fully developed imagines lying dead on the ground of the nest, whilst a much 

 greater multitude — judging from the number of pupae crept out — nnist have got into the open air. 



