242 REPOET OP THE COMMISSIONER OP AGRICULTURE. 



grown, and some of them transformed at once. The cocoon is made within the silken 

 tnnnel and is quite delicate, the pnpa being plainly visible within it. Individuals of 

 this brood remained ten days in the pupa state. The greater number of the moths 

 bred by me this year issued July 17. Some, however, did not appear until August 13. 



These moths are not easily disturbed, but will sufter the twig upon wl\ich they are 

 to be hnudlcd freely without moving ; and often they Avill not take to Jlight even when 

 touched. They usually rest upon the two posterior pairs of legs and the tip of the 

 folded wings, with the front pair of legs drawn closely to the body, and the whole 

 body forming an angle of about 45° with the object upon which they are at rest. lu 

 this position they will remain motionless for hours. 



Can it be that the slowness with which the coccid can spread has influenced the 

 habits of this sx)ecies in the adult state ? 



Several of the moths which issued July 17 were placed in a breeding-cage containing 

 a twig infested with Puhinaria. July 12 several eggs were found. These eggs were 

 deposited singly either on the bark, the coccid scales, or the cottony masses. In the 

 latter case they could scarcely be detected by the naked eye on account of their re- 

 semblance in color to the excretion. Six days after oviposition the eggs hatched. 



I was unable to trace the history of the second brood for want of eggs or young bark- 

 lice with whith to feed the larvae. It is probable, however, that the habits of this 

 brood are si nular to those of the tirst. I am strengthened in this belief from the fact 

 that I found newly-hatched Pulvinaria the day before the second brood of the Pyralid 

 emerged from the egg. 



The anomalous habits of this species are different from anything I have been able to 

 find published. I do not think that it is to be classed with the few doubtful Lepidop- 

 terous parasites that have beenrecorded, or with the many inqnilines known to science. 



Of the former, the following are the most striking examples: First, the two moths 

 described by Westwood in the Trans. Ent. Soc. London for 1876 and 1877, which were 

 parasitic, in the sense of residing upon, the one on Fulgora candelaria, the other upon 

 a species of Aphaena, also a member of this family Fulgoridae, Westwood is of the 

 opinion that in each case the Lepidopterous larva feeds upon the waxy excretion of 

 its host without in any way injuring it; second, the two Tineids, mentioned by Mr. 

 Westwood {I. c, 1877, p. 436) as being parasitic upon the three-toed sloth. Speaking 

 of these moths he says: "From the information I received with the last-mentioned 

 specimens, I believe it was among the hairs of the Bradyims that the moths had either 

 been reared or had taken up their abode." 



The remaining instance described by Westwood, that of a single Bonibydd moth bred 

 from the puparium of a Tachina, as well as that described by J. W. Lea in the Trans. 

 Ent. Soc. London, 1853, of a moth bred from pupa of Lasiocampa trifolii, are each too 

 doubtful to serve as a basis for any conclusion. 



In case of inqnilines, of which many have been described (see especially papers by 

 Walsh on Insects inhabiting Willow Galls, Proc. Ent. Soc. Phila., vol. vi, -p. 270, 

 also his report as State entomologist of Illinois, p. 79), it is supposed that they are 

 vegetable feeders, and only occasionally or incidentally destroy the life of their un- 

 fortunate hosts. 



Neither is this case to be classed with those instances of Lepidopterous insects feed- 

 ing upon dead animal matter, as hair, wool, bone, horn, or entomological specimens. 



Had a single specimen of this insect been observed to be camiverous, I should have 

 been inclined to consider this habit an accidental occurrence due to the larva finding 

 itself under unnatural conditions. Every entomologist knows how frequently Lepi- 

 dopterous larvae devour each other when imprisoned. In my attempts to rear Heliothis 

 armiger this season I have been unable to breed more than a single specimen in a jar. 



I liave bred over forty specimens of Dafcjttwiacocciditwa from Pulvinaria innumerabilis. 

 There was no indication of its feeding upon the tree on which it was found. Nor was 

 there any evidence whatever that it feeds upon the excretory masses in which it lives. 



Moreover those masses contained, in addition to remnants of destroyed lice and eggs, 

 the excrement of the larvae in large quantities, showing that they had resided thcro 

 for some time. 



These facts I think warrant me in considering the species jjredaceous. 



Since writing the above I have bred this insect from three atlditional 

 species of Coccids, all from Florida. April 17, I received from W. H. 

 Ashmead, of Jacksonville, Fla., many specimens of a large species of 

 Lecanium, which is common on magnolia and bay. These bark-lice were 

 found to be infested with larvae of D. coccidivora, which at that date 

 were full grown. The adult moths from these larvae began to issue 

 June 7. 



I am also indebted to Dr. E. S. Turner of Fort George, Fla., for speci- 

 mens of a Coccid allied to DactylojpiuSj from which I have bred D. coc- 



