82 TWENTY-THIRD REPORT ON THE STATE CABINET. [21 4J 



(Sonchus arvensis, S. oleraceus and S. palustris)* it is probable that 

 C. intermedia is not confined to the burdock, but may be found on 

 others of the Composite. 



The larvae taken by me were fed in a box containing a few inches 

 of earth, in which it was presumed that they would bury themselves 

 for their transformation, but, instead of doing so, they were found to 

 construct their cocoons upon the surface. In one instance in which 

 the commencement of the operation was observed, the larva was seen 

 to attach its thread to the side of the box, at a height of about an inch 

 from the ground, and to carry it thence outwardly to the ground, at 

 an angle of about 45. A number of threads were thus spun back- 

 ward and forward within the space of perhaps an half-inch laterally, 

 to which other threads were attached, running in different directions 

 beneath. When these last had been made to define somewhat of an 

 oval form, inclosing the larva, particles of earth were taken up in its 

 mouth, as the operation of spinning continued, and deposited on the 

 viscid thread, until a wall was built up around it, entirely hiding it 

 from view. 



In this manner, a firm cocoon is constructed, which, to ordinary 

 observation, appears simply as a ball of earth, but which, under a lens, 

 shows clearly the silken threads traversing every portion of it. The 

 cocoons rested with one end on the surface of the ground, with a side, 

 somewhat flattened, attached to the box. One in my possession is 

 ellipsoidal in form, and measures six-tenths by nine-tenths of an inch 

 in diameter. 



A pupa-case of C. intermedia in my collection (Plate 8, fig. 6), in 

 which the abdominal rings have been contracted in the escape of the 

 imago, so that the anal spine is opposite the tip of the extended 

 tongue-case, measures seven-tenths of an inch in length. The free end 

 of the tongue-case extends fifteen-hundredths of an inch beyond the 

 wing-cases, at which point it is enlarged, and, apparently, has its 

 apical portion recurved and folded upon itself for about one-third its 

 length. The anal spine is smooth, short, curved, rounded at tip, 

 and hollowed beneath. The shell is thin, translucent, of a testaceous 

 color, with the stigmata, a mesial line on the apical portion of the 

 tongue-case and tip of the anal spine, black. 



There are two annual broods of intermedia. In addition to the 

 August brood mentioned by Dr. Speyer, they have been observed by me 

 during the latter part of May, taking their food upon the wing, at the 

 hour of twilight, from lilac blossoms (Syringa vulgaris), associated 

 with Deilephila chamcenerii, Amphion Nessus, Thyreus Abbotii and 

 Sesia Thysbe, and imitating very closely these sphinges in their method 



* Newman's Natural History of British Moths, p. 436. 1869. 



