136 



PSYCHE. 



[November — Decembsr iS8S. 



With some I tried lilac, pear, Pyrtis- 

 . japonica^i walnut, and horse-chestnut, 

 and at first they seemed to like them, 

 except the horse-chestnut, but the sec- 

 ond day they only nibbled at these 

 leaves, and several larvae died. 



To others I gave Lonicera tartarica 

 and bittersweet {Solanum dulca}?iara.,) 

 and tliese they ate fairly well, but did 

 not grow as large as those on tulip-tree, 

 though they moulted at the same times. 



Moulting began on 7th June, seven 

 days from the hatching of the first 

 eggs. 



The second moulting of the first- 

 born larvae began on 9th June, only 

 two days from the first moulting, and 

 before the last larvae had finished their 

 first moulting. 



The 3rd moulting began 14th June, 

 five days from the second, and before 

 the last larvae had accomplished their 

 second moulting. 



The 4th moulting began on 17th 

 June, before the last larvae had finished 

 the 3rd moulting. The green color 

 appeared for the first time, and the 

 anal shield was bright orange edged 

 with pale blue. Several died in moult- 

 ing, and for no apparent cause. 



On the nightof 30th June two larvae 

 began spinning, and by four p. m. on 



ist July their cocoons were thick, 

 while several others had begun to spin, 

 making their larval life just one month. 



The largest of these larvae weighed 

 l-oz.each and were three inches long, 

 or lacked a trifle of that length. The 

 smallest, those fed on Lonicera tartar- 

 ica were one and a quarter inches long 

 and weighed very little — less than my 

 letter-scales would weigh ; their moults 

 corresponded with those of the full- 

 grown larvae, and they reached the 

 same coloring and markings, except the 

 orange anal shield, with the blue edge, 

 and the other blue markings. 



Their development seemed to be re- 

 tarded as well as their size stunted by 

 the food-plant. 



Although the dwarfs moulted at the 

 same time with the large larvae of the 

 same age, the two which survived the 

 last moult fed until the last part of 

 July, when one died, and the other be- 

 gan to spin 31st July. After various 

 futile attempts he gave it up, and, on 

 Sth Aug., pupated on the bottom of the 

 tin, without any trace of silk about 

 him. The pupa was bright yellow, 

 turning brown gradually. 



None of the larvae fed on tulip-tree 

 made as heavy cocoons as those fed on 

 Ailanthus^ from which these were bred . 



