364 
year (1881) Mr. Brabandt reared the lar- 
vae of Stauropus fagi (called the crab- 
caterpillar on account of its shape) which 
larvae, as is well-known, always quarrel 
with each other and are fond of biting 
off each other’s Under such 
circumstances Mr. Brabandt obtained a 
larva which had lost one of its long fore- 
legs in a contest, but this appeared to dis- 
turb the insect little; and it continued 
feeding unconcernedly and pupated; and, 
front-legs. 
on 5 June of this year, the moth emerged. 
The moth showed only the single defect 
of not possessing the leg corresponding to 
the one which the larva had lost. 
The following may serve as a contribu- 
tion to the subject of the fertility of lepid- 
optera. Mr. Brabandt obtained from a 
ON A LARVA BORING THE LEAF-STALKS OF THE BUCKEYE 
(AESCULUS GLABRA) IN OHIO. 
BY EDWARD WALLER CLAYPOLE, NEW BLOOMFIELD, PERRY CO., PA. 
Several years ago, soon after going to 
reside at Yellow Springs, Ohio, I noticed, 
in the early part of May, that many of the 
leaves of the Ohio buckeye, Aesculus gla- 
bra, drooped and withered very soon after 
they had unfolded from the bud. For two 
or three years these drooping leaves caught 
my attention. On gathering them I uni- 
formly found a small hole in the leaf-stalk, 
from which a tunnel, sometimes twelve 
millimetres in length, ran along the stalk. 
Above this hole the leaf was dying, below it 
the stalk was still alive. 
stances I found in the tunnel a small yellow- 
In some few in- 
ish caterpillar, evidently the author of the 
PSYCHE. 
her duty in the most thorough way, for 
chrysalis, this spring, a female Lasiocampa 
quercifolia. As it was crippled he decided 
to set it out of doors in order perchance to 
attract a male, or in other words to secure 
a fertilization. Luck favored him; the 
next morning he found the female, only a_ 
few steps distant, in copulation with a male. 
The latter, in fine condition, was spread, 
but the female was imprisoned for the pur- 
pose of obtaining eggs. Behold! she did 
during the first night she laid no less than 
510 eggs, and during the second night 70 
more, —a total of 580 eggs, a fecundity F ; oy 
on the part of a lepidopteron which is f 
coe all and very rarely recorded. Not | 
a single egg was abortive, and each one ~ 
hatched its wae larva. nee Sane 
Leipug, 10 Aug. 1882. 
mischief. Wherever the hole in the stalk 
was closed with droppings the caterpillar 
was present, but whenever the hole nie 
open the caterpillar was gone, leading to— 
the inference that it had escaped through — bi 4 
the opening. oa 
After having made these preliminary ~, a 
notes I attempted, in May 1878, to trace out . 
the life-history of this insect, but, being — 
very much pressed with work, the experi-— Bs iY 
. sy 
ment was a failifre. The leaves were 
iw 
; 
overlooked for a few days of warm weather, — 
became mouldy, and the caterpillars died. — ae: 
In 1879 I made a second attempt with os 
rather better success, but still without result _ $ i 
5 
A 
‘ 
