82 N. S. ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



LIFE HISTORY AND IMMATURE STAGES OF AB- 



BOTANA CLEMATARIA, SMITH AND ABBOTT. 



by 

 H. G. Payne. 



About the middle of June, 1917, an egg mass was discover- 

 ed on the coarse bark of an apple tree at Port Williams, N. S., 

 and sent to the laboratory for rearing. From this material 

 adults were obtained, and later determined as Abbotana clema- 

 taria, the following paper being the results of our studies with 

 this insect. 



Food Plants. 



During our observations of this insect we have found it 

 feeding only on apple, but Mr. A. F. Winn informs us that he 

 has found it feeding on elm. It also feeds on the elm in Ver- 

 mont. (Vt. Ins. Inj. to Elms,: 50, 1890) 



Summary of Life History. 



The eggs are laid on the trunks or larger branches of the 

 trees from the first to the middle of June, hatching about fifteen 

 to twenty days later. The young larvae soon ascend to the 

 tender foliage, where they feed extensively and grow rapidly for 

 about one month, then pupation takes place. The pupal per- 

 iod lasting over three hundred days, the adult moth emerging 

 from the last of May to the first of June. 



The Egg. 



The eggs are laid in an irregular contiguous mass, often 

 being deposited one on top of another. Number of eggs per 

 mass, from two hundred and fifty to three hundred. When 

 first laid, the eggs are of a greenish shade turning to reddish 

 brown shortly before hatching; subspherical. Chorion smooth 

 and faintly reticulated on the cap. Length .812 m. m.; width 

 .65 m. m. 



The Larvae. 



The young larvae, like all geometers, loop from place to 

 place, consuming the foliage, always spinning down by a silken 

 thread when disturbed and staying suspended in the air, as- 

 cending by the same thread when danger is past to resume their 

 feeding. This habit of spinning down is lost as the larvae ad- 

 vance in age. When at rest, the larvae attach a silken thread 



