54 



PSYCHE. 



[May i88S. 



PSYCHE. 



CAMBRIDGE, MASS., MAY i8S8. 



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UNUSUAL COCOONS OF LIMACODES 

 SCAPHA. 



In October, 18S7, Miss Ida M. Eliot sent 

 me, from Nonquitt, Mass., several larvae of 

 L. scapka on twigs of bajberry {Myri'ca). 



To keep the food moist I put damp sand in 

 a tin box, stuck the twigs into it, and placed 

 the larvae on them. 



One caterpillar made its cocoon in the 

 usual way, — a tough, parchment-like case, 

 but all the others spun bits of coarse sand 

 into their cocoons, so that they look like 

 nothing but lumps of sand. Beneath the 

 sand, however, the cocoons show the normal 

 kind and shape. 



One larva added to the sand two bits of 

 leaf, and the one which made the usual 

 cocoon fastened it to a leaf. 



Caroline G. Soule. 



NOTE ON MELITAEA PHAETON. 



On the third of last August I found, in 

 Jefferson Highlands, N. H.. a nest of young 

 larvae of Melitaea phaeton. It was formed, 

 as described by Mr. W : H : Edwards, by 

 drawing together the leaves of the Chelone 

 glabra, and a fern had also been worked into 

 its construction. I allowed the main part of 

 the colony to remain where it was found, 

 removing only a small detachment. The lar- 

 vae that weie removed ate one or two meals, 

 certainly not more, before going into winter 



quarters in a small nest which they construct- 

 ed in their new home. Visiting the main 

 colony of larvae from time to time through 

 the month to compare their habits with those 

 of the larvae in confinement, I was surprised, 

 at that time not being familiar with their his- 

 tory, to find that they too had ceased to eat. 

 On the twenty-seventh of the month I placed 

 my smaller detachment in proximity to the 

 largercommunity, often removing the smaller 

 lot to a fresh sprig of Chelone, and found that 

 the larvae soon rejoined their old companions, 

 with whom they are now hibernating. 



Holmes Hinkley. 



HABIT OF VESPA. 



While going through a swamp filled with 

 alder bushes I noticed, hanging in the middle 

 of one, a wasp devouring a fly in the position 

 shown in the drawing. The wasp hung 

 down by one foot. The abdomen was bent 

 up out of the way. The half-eaten fly was 

 held by the front feet, while the other legs 

 and wings stuck out carelessly in all diiec- 



tions. As the mandibles and antennae kept 

 in rapid motion and the fly was turned over 

 and over by the fore feet, the wasp swung 

 slowly back and forth with the same appear- 

 ance of comfort and enjoyment as a man eat- 

 ing an a'pple in a hammock. When the fly 

 had been reduced to wings and shell the wasp 

 let it drop, got up on the twig and flew away. 

 James H: Rmerion. 



