THYREUS ABBOTII 



GENUS, thy'reus (a large shield, the tubercle of the larva). 



SPECIES, ABBOT'II (Abbot's). 



This is one of the most common sphingid caterpil- 

 lars, feeding on grape and woodbine, and we had had 

 many half -grown specimens which we reared success- 

 fully before we had eggs to give us the life-history. 

 We knew a woodbine on which we had often found 

 these crawlers and Deidamia inscripta, and to this we 

 went for eggs of both. On June 8 we found plenty of 

 inscripta eggs and a few which might be ahhotii or 

 myron. We marked several sprays of vine having no 

 eggs on them, and went the next day to examine them. 

 It was probable that we should find eggs, because a 

 moth usually oviposits for several successive nights in 

 the same neighborhood, and this woodbine covered a 

 long wall, giving ample room for many larvae to feed 

 in comfort. It was therefore not a surprise to find 

 several eggs on the marked sprays, and we boxed 

 them with the satisfaction of having the exact date of 

 their laying. The eggs were bright apple-green, almost 

 globular, and finely shagreened, as seen under a lens. 

 They were on the upper side of the leaves, each on a 

 spray by itself, except one Qgg which was on a tendril 

 just over a leaf. In seven days they hatched. 



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