Feb., '04] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 69 



Interesting points in the habits of this species were observed. 

 The time of day when they emerge differs from all Sesiids 

 known to me. The males emerge from noon till 4 p.m., the 

 females from 3 to 5 p.m. No notice was taken of this imusual 

 behavior when two males emerged on August 8th and 14th, 

 respectively, but when eight males and one female appeared 

 during the afternoon of August 15th, my interest was aroused 

 and I determined to learn their mating time. The males were 

 bottled and the female placed in a cage and exposed all day 

 August 1 6th. She remained inactive until 3 p.m., when, in a 

 clumsy manner, she commenced flying about the cage. At 

 nearly 5 p.m. the first male appeared, and more at short inter- 

 vals until 6 P.M., when I had taken fourteen. A male was 

 placed in the cage, and copulation took place, which lasted till 

 8.45 P.M. Subsequently I mated a number of pairs, but copu- 

 lation never lasted more than forty-five minutes to one and 

 one-half hours. From August 2 2d onward females were ex- 

 posed every day, but males never appeared as early as the first 

 day the experiment was tried. 



Mr. Beutenmiiller, in his Monograph, p. 226, under the 

 heading ''Habits of Imago s,'' expresses the view that viar- 

 giyiala is probably nocturnal in its habits. He came close to 

 it. In all the experiments, excepting the first day, males were 

 attracted from 6 p.m., sometimes 6.15 p.m., till 7.20 p.m., when 

 it was quite dusk. This, however, is as far as its habits ap- 

 proach the nocturnal stage. After copulation they remain 

 inactive until the following day, when about 10 am. several 

 females became active and deposited a few ova on the screen 

 of the cage. In the field I have seen only two females. These 

 were found about 2 p.m. on September 6th, resting on leaves 

 of hawthorn and blackberry, respectively. Mr. Zahrobsky, of 

 Wilmerding, Pa., observed the female flying about noon de- 

 positing ova on the base of blackberry canes. About one 

 hour after emergence the males take to the wing and must be 

 removed from the cage, otherwise they quickly reduce their 

 wings to fragments. The pupae and imagos show a remarka- 

 ble variation in size. The male imagos range from 17 mm. to 

 26 mm., the females from 26 mm. to 32 mm., with a corre- 



