368 



ally thickly covered with minute hairs and more sparsely with longer 

 spinous hairs, intermixed; they are also swollen and enlarged toward 

 the base. The import of this fact can be best conveyed to you by the 

 statement that in all other Lepidoptera that I know of the tongue is a 

 smooth organ and in no way armed, except near the tip. In short, the 

 tongue in Pronuha maculata has become an accessory tentacle, serving 



Fig. 66.— Pronuba maculata: a, tip of female abdomeu; h j o, basal joint of oviijositor ; t j o, ter- 

 minal joint of ovipositor; o V, oviduct; m p, max. palpus; m t, maxillary tentacle; t, tongue; gs, clas- 

 pers of male from side; g r, claspers of male fr,om behind— enlargement indicated; p r, front wings, 

 showing arrangement of spots in two of the more common forms, hair lines showing natural size. 



and helping in pollination, but probably incapable of use for feeding 

 purposes. These structural peculiarities justify the conclusion which 

 observation confirms, that Pronuba does not feed in the imago state. 

 In other words, she has no incentive to go to the stigma with her load 

 of pollen, other than that of ])ollinizing, and the slight amount of nec- 

 tar which the plant secretes is well calculated to lead other insects 

 which seek it away from the stigma and thus not to interfere with 

 Pronuba's mission. 



DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFORMATIONS OF PRONIBA. 



On this subject I need only remark that the action of oviposition 

 causes a disorganization of the phiiit tissues in the 

 immediate neighborhood of the apical portion of the 

 egg and the swelling of the adjacent ovules; that the 

 embryo develoj^s in the capitate end of the egg, and 

 while the larva is white at first, or of the exact color 

 of the young ovule, it becomes slightly greenish or 

 roseate when full grown, which is in about a month, 

 or coincident with the ripening of the seed. It perfo- 

 rates the capsule and drops to the ground, having six 

 thoracic legs, which doubtless aid it at this period 

 of its life. It remains through the fall, winter, and 



Fig. 67. —Pronuba 



YUCCASELLA: I, male; 

 1)1, female chrysalis. 



early spring months in a tough cocoon, transforms to the chrysalis 



