158 
ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 11-No. 10 



HN TOMOLOGY. 
WRIGHT & BATES, 
265 No. Beacon St., Brighton, Mass., 
ASSOCIATE EDITORS. 
Address all communications for this department as above. 


Sphingidae of New England. 
SPHINX UNDULOSA.— Walk. 
Head and palpi pale cinereous. Thorax of the 
same hue, with a black band on the anterior por- 
tion and a black line bordered anteriorly with 
white, on the metathorax. Tegule whitish. 
Abdomen dark cinereous above, hoary beneath, 
with a slender black dorsal line and an undulating 
blackish line on either side. 
Anteriors cinereous, with three blackish undu- 
lating lines crossing the basal portion of the wing; 
a band of the ground color, containing a white 
discal spot bordered with black, crosses the dis- 
coidal cell, curving toward the base at the discal 
spot; four undulating black lines cross the base 
of the nervules; there is also a short black line at 
the apex, and a longer just below it. Fringes 
brown, with spots. 
Posteriors dark brown, with a yellowish cast, 
with three darker bands. 
Under side hoary; two brownish undulating 
lines cross both wings, the basal one, which 
crosses the disc, being almost obsolete on the an- 
teriors; the apical line is not so distinct on this. 
side as on the upper. 
Expanse three inches. 
Mature larva, pale green, with a flesh-colored 
stripe on either side of the head, and seven ob- 
lique greenish stripes on either side of the body. 
Granulations on the head and first three segments 
pale yellow, on last segment black. Spiracles 
bright red with a white stripe down the middle. 
Caudal horn pale pink tipped with brownish ; 
feet flesh-colored. 
Transformation subterranean. 
Pupa, blackish brown with sunken tongue- 
case. 
Food plants, ash, lilac and probably walnut. 

The Cherry Tree Borer. 
BY L. E, HOOD. 

Early in July I found a specimen of this 
Buprestid (Dicerca divuricata, Say,) on a fallen 
tree, where 1 was enjoying the sun, all species of 
this family being great lovers of warm, sunny 
places, this species being frequently seen on cher- 
ry trees, which are bored by the larvee. 
It is an injurious insect, working in both 
cherry or pear trees, and may be classed as a 
special enemy of our orchards. 
The perfect beetle is usually about three-quar- 
ters of an inch, rarely an inch long, of a light 
coppery bronze color, with dark raised spots on 
the elytron which is striate and punctured; head 
set deep into thorax, both of which are densely 
punctured, with a slight elongate dentation on 
thorax; the elytron being longer than the body 
and, ending abruptly, gives the beetle a curious 
appearance, the end of the elytron looking some 
like a blunt W. 
The antenne is serrate looking like a fine saw, 
about twice the length of the head, legs of the 
same metalic lustre as the body, with a tooth-like 
prong on the middle tibie of the male. _ 
The larvee are large headed flattened, footless 
grubs, I have seen but one that I felt reasonably 
sure was a dicerca, it was taken from under the 
bark of a partly dead cherry tree. It was of a 
dark cream or yellow color, greatly enlarged and 
flattened, length slightly over half an inch, and 
may have been a Chrysobothris larvee, though it 
differed much from the specimens I have seen of 
C. femorata. 
I found two pupe in the same tree, but both 
died before their transformations were completed. 
They were fully three-quarters of an inch long, 
being larger than the pupe of C. femorata, which 
I have reared from larvee taken from apple trees. 

Preserving Larve. 
BY PAUL REVERE. 

Preserving caterpillars is one of the things that 
has been frequently tried by entomologists, and 
almost as often abandoned, while doubtless, if the 
same pains and patience had been expended as 
are sO commonly applied to the preservation of 
lepidoptera it would long ago have become as 
successfully established. 
Great care and a little genius are necessary to 
preserve the caterpillars, which are easiest set up 
in their natural form and color; and some have 
never yet been preserved, whatever the skill or 
genius applied in their treatment. 
Heat has been a most successful means of pre- 
serving the caterpillar in its colors. It may be 
done over an ordinary stove, although a spirit 
lamp may prove better as it is more comfortable 
to work over. All the tool that is necessary is a 
spool covered with blotting paper, which is used 
to free the body from the juices and frass, by 
rolling it over them from head to anal extremity. 
This must be done upon a sheet of blotting paper 
