254 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Oct., '05 



On the Pupation of the Noctuid Moth Harrisimemna 

 trisignata Walk. 



By Franklin Sherman, Jr. 



Of this moth Dr. Holland in his Moth Book says : ' ' Ranges 

 from Canada to Texas and from the Atlantic to the Great 

 Plains. The larva feeds on the winterberry and lilac. ' ' 



In the literature which I have thus far been able to examine 

 I find no reference to the pupation of this species. 



On July 14, 1904, Mr. R. W. Collett, of Andrews, N. C, 

 himself a keen observer of insect life, sent me a piece of per- 

 simmon {Diospyros vif-giniana) twig with the suggestion that 

 it might be interesting to put it in a breeding cage to see what 

 would come out of a certain hole which he had seen a cater- 

 pillar make in the wood but which was now filled up. He 

 said the caterpillar was " black-banded and mottled, hairy and 

 hump-backed, about one inch long," and added jocularly, " no 

 doubt you will recognize it by this minute and accurate de- 

 scription." 



Curiosity prompted me to cut the stick open sufficiently to 

 expose the larva which was now about to pupate. The burrow 

 was about i ^ inches long and not much wider than the diame- 

 ter of the larva, certainly not large enough to allow the larva to 

 turn around in the burrow. The larva was now reposing with 

 the head toward the opening of the burrow which it had care- 

 fully sealed over with a tight covering of silk. At first I was 

 of the opinion that the larva fed on the wood and had reached 

 maturity in the burrow, but Mr. Collett at once put a quietus 

 to" this theory, — he had seen the larva at work on the burrow 

 when only half-way in, the larva being then grown. He says : 

 " I saw him in several stages of the work, but did not see him 

 disappear into his hole or the after process of sealing it up. 

 * * * I might add that all this time he was in my room." 



When examined on Aug. ii, 1904, the insect had pupated, 

 with its head toward the opening of the burrow, and on Aug. 

 12, 1905 (just a year later) the adult moth emerged. There 

 thus seems to be but one brood, even though this individual 

 might have emerged earlier under natural conditions. 



