416 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Dec, '07 



takes place from May 8th, to May 20th, and the emergence 

 of moths is about complete by June 1st. The moths are ex- 

 tremely variable, some examples being suffused with black 

 to the obliteration of all markings on the wings. 



The larva of semicrocea has been described and figured by 

 Riley; that of ridingsii is very similar, but is slightly larger, 

 measuring fully one inch in length, just before pupation. Its 

 color varies in different examples from brown to a bright red- 

 dish-maroon, banded with white between the segments like 

 semicrocea; the subdorsal fleshy processes, or lappet-like pro- 

 jections, of the first four abdominal segments are not as large 

 proportionately as in semicrocea, and in ridingsii, are also 

 present, though of smaller size, on the thoracic segments. 

 Ridingsii is noticeably less pubescent than semicrocea, and the 

 dark markings on the head, of similar pattern, are usually 

 heavier. The upper figures on Plate XV illustrate the larva 

 of ridingsii; the lower, that of semicrocea. 



Ridingsii is peculiarly free from parasites. Of several 

 hundred larvae and pupae, only two were observed to be parasit- 

 ized, and these by a tachina fly determined by Prof. C. W. 

 Johnson to be Hypostena variabilis Coq. The pupae have an 

 active enemy in a bird (?) which systematically selects the 

 leaves showing the large emergence hole and splits them down 

 until the cocoon is reached, abstracting the pupa. In one 

 field, perhaps a quarter of the entire brood was so destroyed. 



The dates given are probably a little later than those of an 



average year, as in 1907, throughout April and May, the 



weather was unusually cool, with heavy frosts to the middle of 



April. 



Exyra semicrocea Gn. 



In the vicinity of Summerville, S. C, the dry grass, weeds, 

 and brush in the open pine-woods and adjacent meadows 

 where the pitcher-plants grow, are burnt over each winter, 

 with the idea of improving the pasturage for the cattle, which 

 are allowed to graze in the un fenced woods and fields. This 

 results in the destruction of a very large proportion of the 

 hibernating larvae of Exyra ridingsii, and it is only in such 

 spots as escape the annual burning that these caterpillars make 



