132 • SIXTU ANNUAL REPORT 



rax, breast between the antenna?, and tip of abdomen, are light brown ; the ej^es, dor- 

 sal plates and projections, darker brown ; the wing-sheaths and interspaces between 

 dorsal plates, whitish ; and the sides greenish. 



" c? (Fig. 38, ;, dorsal view) distingnished generally by his somewhat smaller size ; 

 by the doisal projections not diminishing on joints 8-11, bnt rather increasing in size ; 

 by the greater shortness of joint 11, and gijeater length of joint 12; and by the apex 

 not being so rounded, and not extending beyond the broad anal horny processes. At 

 maturity the maxillary pieces are somewhat flatter, owing doubtless to the fact that 

 in $ the spiny cylindrical tentacles lie stretched nearly their whole length, and cause 

 them to bulge more. 



"Thus in the chrysalis state this insect is as abnormal and as ad- 

 mirably adapted to its conditions and wants as it is in the larva and 

 imago states. Sexual distinctions are very rarely observable in chrys- 

 alides; but after I had learned to distinguish between them I could 

 readily separate the sexes in this case, and my judgment was con- 

 firmed upon the issuing of the moths. By a series of contortions, but 

 more especially by alternate forward and backward movements of 

 the dorsal projections, this chrysalis easily ascends to the surface of 

 the ground, the cephalic spines serving to open the end of the cocoon, 

 and the dorsal projections making excellent levers by which it pries 

 its way through the soil. 



" I found it very difficult to hasten the natural process of devel- 

 opment, for notwithstanding that, in my anxiety to force a few speci- 

 mens, I kept them throughout the winter in a mean temperature of 

 about 80° F., I did not succeed in getting a chrysalis until May 5. As 

 the blooming season of our filamentous Yuccas is comparatively 

 brief, and as all moths issuing before or after such blooming would 

 be likely to die without issue, we find the habit of developing at the 

 proper season very strongly fixed. My first moths issued (three of 

 them, all forced) May 30, leaving their exuviae lying on the top of the 

 ground. The cocoons out-doors, and which are seldom more than five 

 or six inches below the surface of the ground, yet contain (June 2), 

 many of them, the unchanged larva." 



liegarding the method of oviposition, I copy the following com- 

 munication to the American Naturalist (Vol. VIL, Oct. 1873) : 



"To complete the natural history of ^rc»7^?^Ja yuccasella., di ^e- 

 scription of the method of oviposition is necessary. In a former 

 article [Rep. V., p. 155J on this insect, occur the following sen- 

 tences : — 



' For want of sufficient time, I have been unable to catch the moth 

 in the act of oviposition ; but from careful examination I am satisfied 

 that the eggs are not deposited on the outside of the fruit. They are 

 either thrust into it from the side or from the stigmatic opening, fol- 

 lowing, most probably, the course of the pollen tubes. I strongly 

 incline to the latter view, for, though many Lepidoptera are furnished 



