1910] Reiff — Hemileuca lucina Hy. Edw. 29 
NOTES ON HEMILEUCA LUCINA HY. EDW.! 
By WrituiaM REIFF. 
On the 19th of last June, while in the company of Dr. Arthur L. 
Reagh on a collecting trip to the neighborhood of Raymond, N. H., 
we came upon a swampy meadow where there was an abundance of 
Meadow-sweet (Spiraea salicifolia L.). Immediately my attention 
was attracted to these plants which harbored a large number of un- 
known caterpillars. Interested in the find, we looked further and 
found the same species on nearly every bush of the Spiraea. The 
caterpillars were partly in the second and partly in the third stage, 
feeding close together in large numbers and dropping to the ground 
upon being disturbed. They were so thickly distributed on the 
plants, that often entire twigs were covered with the larvae, giving the 
impression of strong swellings upon the twigs. According to our 
estimates, we must have seen more than 20,000 caterpillars in the 
locality, but owing to lack of proper receptacles, we could unfortunately 
collect only a small part for breeding. 
Although the caterpillars resembled those of Hemileuca mara 
Drury very closely, we could not satisfy ourselves that they belonged 
to this species, for it seemed strange that all the maia females should 
have laid their eggs on meadow-sweet when there was close by an 
abundance of oak which is the favorite food of mata. We also searched 
the nearby oaks for Hemileuca caterpillars without result, but Dr. 
Reagh found some maza on oaks several miles further on which proved 
their presence in the locality. Our caterpillars could therefore hardly 
be maza, for this species would have no necessity of laying its eggs on 
plants other than oaks. As already mentioned, our caterpillars were 
very similar to those of maza, and like them were black in the youngest 
stage, but distinguishable by a strong brilliancy, best compared to 
black stove-polish. The appearance of the older caterpillars was 
exactly like that of maza, except that all had a sharply defined white 
stripe above the feet, which is absent or faint in maia. In spite of 
plentiful and regular feeding the size of the growing caterpillars re- 
mained always less than that of maia. Pupation occurred on the 

1 Contributions from the Entomological Laboratory of the Bussey Institution, Harvard 
University. No. 13. 
