134 



FIFTH ANNUAL KEPORT 



■Ai 



[i^'ig- 61 ] tion, both in color 



and pattern, and 

 certain males in 

 my possession 

 range from pale 

 c r e a m - c o 1 or to 

 buff in the front 

 winffs. 



The eggs are de- 

 ff posited in clusters 



on the under side 

 of the leaf. The 

 first description given of them is lu Uie Canadia7i Entomologist (Yo\. 

 II, p. 29), by Chas. S. Minot, who describes them as "top-shaped." 

 They are very much of the same form as those of Maia^ being com- 

 pressed on both sides and flattened at the apex — the attached end 

 smallest. The color is cream-white, with a small black spot on the 

 apical end, and a larger orange one on the compressed sides. A clus- 

 ter found on Sassafras by Miss Murtfeldt contained about thirty eggs. 

 The larvcTS begin to hatch about the end of June, and come to 

 their growth in two months, after passing through five* molts, as in 

 Mala. The hatching of eggs deposited at various times covers a con- 

 siderable period, as larvas are found as late as September first. As in 

 Maia, the young larva3 are gregarious, feeding side by side, (like the 

 Grape-vine Procris, 2nd Rep., Fig. 59), and they have a still more 

 inveterate habit of following each other in single file. They differ 

 from Maia in that they devour their cast-off, spinous skins, and in 

 being less particular about their food. The full-grown worm presents 



the appearance of 

 figure 65, and is of 

 a green color,with 

 the longitudinal 

 stripes at the sides 

 white and lilac- 

 red. In my experience, the urticat- 

 ing properties of this larva, which 

 exist from the first stage, are keener 

 than in Maia. At all events it can 

 not be handled with the same impu- 

 nity ; for it has fewer of the bristle- 

 ending spines, and more of the stout 

 and acute spines which prick most 

 readily. For the most part, these 

 larvpe remain at rest during the day- 

 time ; and they prepare for their dif- 



► Harris erroneously says four. 



