42 



PSrCHE. 



[April iSSS. 



they are about fully grown when they 

 become more scattered. The abdomen 

 is kept slightly raised, but is lifted 

 much more, and the ventral surface ex- 

 posed, when disturbed. They occurred 

 in sufficient numbers last year to defol- 

 iate many young birches and destroy 

 large portions of the foliage of some 

 larger trees. They seemed to devour 

 any species with equal avidity, and these 

 included Betula alba^ B. lenta, B. 

 lutea^ B. nigra^ and B. papyrifera. 



In some respects this larva resem- 

 bles that of Croesus septentrionalis of 

 Europe, but in the latter, the spots are 

 all much more distinct and separate, the 

 upper row are not connected by the 

 brown band, the legs are not so brown, 

 and the prolegs are tipped with brown. 



Mrs. A. K. Dimmock in "The insects 

 of Betula in N. A. "(Psyche, 1S85, v. 

 4, p. 286) in giving references to this 

 insect says, "Norton (Proc. entom. soc. 

 Phil., 1S62, V. I, p. 199) describes the 

 male of this species and later (Trans. 



Am. entom. soc, 1S67, v. i, p. S/j) 

 describes the female." This is evi- 

 dently a mistake as both of Norton's 

 descriptions refer to the female. 



All the specimens raised by me were 

 females, and there are ten specimens, 

 all females, in the Museum of compara- 

 tive zoology at Cambridge, Mass., 

 which were collected by J. Shute at 

 Woburn, Mass., in 1S70. The only 

 male I have seen is an imperfect one in 

 the Harris collection. In his catalog" 

 Harris wrote "Larva on birches, gre- 

 garious, Sept., winged May i, 1S27, 

 do. Aug. 5, 1831." 



The only references I have seen re- 

 garding the larva is at the end of Nor- 

 ton's description of the female (Trans. 

 Am. entom. soc, 1867, v. i, p. 84) where 

 he savs, — "Qiiite rare, wild cherry, 

 Aug. 16. Bred by Mr. Walsh from 

 larvae feeding on birch." Was the 

 "wild cherry" referred to, the cherry 

 birch, Betula leJita? 



SOUND SLEEP OF LYCAENA AMERI- 

 CANA. 



A few years ago, being detained in Boston 

 until the middle of August, and having few 

 butterflies to study, I was led to notice those 

 few very carefully, especially L. ainericana^ 

 which was very abundant in the vacant lots, 

 and the grass-plots in Marlborough street. 



I noticed that, as one side of the street 

 grew shady, towards sunset, L. americana 

 might be seen clinging to grass-blades, and 

 with wings somewhat drooped, suggesting 

 that the muscles were relaxed by sleep. 



Approaching one, I gently touched the 

 grass, but the butterfly remained as before. 

 I shook the grass, then shook it less gently, 

 but the butterfly did not stir. Then I picked 

 the blade, and carried it in my hand, not 

 taking any care to keep it upright, for five 

 blocks, and even then it was only as the sun 



struck the grass, when I crossed the street, 

 that the butterfly awoke, and lazily flew to a 

 shady place, resting as before. I followed, 

 and this time a touch was enough to startle 

 it. I did not arouse it a third time, but after- 

 wards, in the country, I tried the experiment 

 several times, always with the same result. 



I have always found the butterfly in the 

 same position, more than half-way up the 

 grass-blade, in the shade, and with the head 

 up, the wings drooped to an acute, instead of 

 a right, angle with the body. It certainly 

 sleeps very soundly, and when aroused, does 

 not becorne as active as in the middle of the 

 day. 



I have waked and disturbed one Z. amer- 

 icana six times, each time immediately after 

 it had settled down after a former awakening, 

 and even the last time it flew but ten steps or 

 so, and settled down as before. 



Caroline G. Soiile. 



