355 



to feed upon the vines in order to get the poisonons dose where Paris 

 green is sprayed upon the phmts themselves, we liave recommended 

 the poison-trap system, urging that grass or alfalfa, sprinkled with an 

 arsenical solution, be scattered at the bases of the vines. 



ON THE TRANSFORMATIONS OF THE SATURNIID^. 



Dr. A. S. Packard has recently published in the Proceedings of the 

 American Academy of Arts and Sciences [New Series, Vol. xx (?), pp. 

 55-92], a paper entitled "Studies on the Transformations of Moths of 

 the Family Saturniidse," in which he gives the results of a series of 

 most careful examinations of the different larval stages of these insects. 

 He believes from his studies of the larva that the family originated 

 from some spiny grouj), undergoing a change in shape from a rather 

 long, slender form to a thick, heav^y body with a thin skin, perhaps as 

 a result of an unusually stationary mode oi life. He shows also that 

 the adults have apparently undergone a process of degeneration, as 

 seen in the total or partial atropliy of the maxillie, and in the loss of 

 the veins in the large but Aveak wings. The loss of strength of 

 flight, however, he thinks is somewhat compensated by the remarkable 

 development of the olfactory organs or antenufe. He believes the fam- 

 ily to be a closed type, unless perhaps the Cochliopodida? have de- 

 scended from it. It appears to represent a side branch of the Bomby- 

 cine tree, which grew apart late in geological history and reached a 

 marked degree of modification, resulting in adaptive characters not 

 transmitted to later forms. The type is probably Miocene-Tertiary 

 which has lingered on in eastern America and eastern Asia, as well as 

 in Africa, while it has become nearly extinct on the Pacific shores of 

 North and South America. He describes most fully the larval stages 

 of each of our common forms, summarizing at the end of each descrip- 

 tion under different heads the congenital characters and the evolution 

 of later adaptational features. 



THE TITYRUS BUTTERFLY ATTRACTED TO LIGHT. 



In Excursus 10 of Scudder's " Butterflies of New England" it is 

 stated that while several butterflies have been found attracted to elec- 

 tric lights since their general use in the country, but two instances are 

 known of the attraction of butterflies to ordinary lights at night. 

 These are Aimtura celtis, reported by Miss Murtfeldt, and AnosiapJex- 

 ippus, recorded by Dr. Merriam. At o'clock on the evening of June 

 6, after a long continued rain, weather sultry, a handsome fresh male 

 of Uiidamus tityrus entered my study through the open window. It 

 fluttered about with a heavy lumbering flight, quite unlike its usual 

 active darting motion in the sunlight, and was evidently strongly 

 attracted by the white curtains, upon one of which it finally perched 

 and passed the night. The adjoining garden contains several old 

 Black Locust trees, upon one of which it had probably fed in the larval 



