show its general occurrence west of Florida and Georgia along the 

 Gulf. From the files of the Bureau of Entomology we learn that 

 this species was observed in Alabama in 1883, and was received from 

 Denison, Tex., in 1889. More recently the species has been reported 

 from Arkansas (by "Webster, in 1900) and from Cedar Creek, Ala. 

 (in 1904), following which it occurred at St. Elmo, Ala. In 1899 

 the species was not known to occur in New Jersey, but in 1900 it was 

 obseiwed in Camden County, near Philadelphia, and in Hunterdon 

 County." By 1906 it had become established at Elberon and Bloom- 

 field, the latter — westward and a little north of Manhattan, Xew York 

 City — being the northernmost point of which we have knowledge of 

 its occurrence in the East. 



LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. 



The catalpa sphinx is subject to considerable fluctuations in num- 

 bers. For one or two years or even several years it will not be 

 noticed in a given locality and will then suddenly appear in great 

 masses, completely defoliating the trees and covering the ground 

 beneath them with its larval excrement. It is interesting to observe 

 that John Abbot, who collected the type specimens in Georgia, men- 

 tioned more than a hundred years ago the fact that the fishermen 

 who inhabited the borders of the swamps hunted for these larva' 

 as the best bait for catching fish, and it is said that this bait is so 

 esteemed for this purpose in some parts of Florida that the catalpa 

 is often cultivated for no other purpose than to attract the insect. 



The eggs, as has been stated, are laid in masses, and the young 

 larvas-feed gregariously for some time. The prolificacy of the specie- 

 may be judged from the fact that an egg mass in the collection of the 

 U. S. National Museum contains nearly 1,000 eggs. The mass is not 

 compact and is slightly fastened to the underside of the leaves. Some- 

 times, according to Koebele, the eggs are laid in smaller masses on 

 the stems and branches. The larva? molt four times, becoming as 

 they grow older very variable in their markings. In the extreme 

 South the insect is reported to be found in all stages during the sum- 

 mer, and there are three or four generations annually, the last hiber- 

 nating in the pupa state beneath the ground and giving forth the 

 moth the following March. In the summer time, according to Koe- 

 bele, whose observations were made in Florida, the time occupied by 

 an entire generation is about six weeks. In the vicinity of Washing- 

 ton, at Coalburg, W. Ya., and probably everywhere in its northern 

 range, there are two generations, or broods, annually. 



» Entomological News. November, 1900, pp. 'ins, 611. 

 Clr. 96] 



