760 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



common " rue " and from fraxinella, and a shrub full of " thou- 

 sands " of smaller ones was also reported. This caterpillar 

 may attain a length of 2^ inches. It is curiously mottled with 

 shades of brown and with two large silvery white patches, one 

 near the middle of the caterpillar, and the other at its posterior 

 extremity, giving it a peculiar, blotched appearance, and making 

 it resemble somewhat the droppings of a bird. It is well repre- 

 sented, with its reddish, fetid osmeterium extended, as is the 

 ^ase when it is annoyed or alarmed, in the accompanying figure. 

 The above records are in marked contrast to those of pre- 



Flg. 29 Orange dog or caterpillar of H erac 1 ides cresphontes 



vious years, the presence of this species in the state having 

 been reported directly to the office but twice before, according 

 to published records, once last year, when our attention was 

 called to its occurrence on fraxinella at Altamont, and again in 

 1892, when it was sent to the late Dr J. A. Lintner from Glen 

 Cove L. I., with the statement that the caterpillars were numer- 

 ous on Choisya ternata. Dr Lintner, commenting on 

 this insect in his report for that year,^ makes the following 

 statement: 



Papilo cresphontes is a southern species ranging 

 from the northern part of South America northward. It has 

 gradually extended its range until now it occurs as far north as 



'N. Y. state ent. 9th rep't. 1892. p. 337. 



