174 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS [April, 'll 



while Virgil Smith, Verner Pinkerton and the author collected 

 a goodly number of cresphontcs larvae. 



Larvae of titrnns were found on hop tree, prickly ash, plum, 

 apple and ash, but not plentifully. No searches were made for 

 asterias though the imagoes were not rare. As usual, from 

 the scarcity of its food plant, philenor, even in the winged state 

 was very scarce. 



While feeding three larvae of regalis in a roomy breeding 

 cage and with an overabundance of fresh leaves, the smallest 

 caterpillar mysteriously disappeared nor could any trace of it 

 be found. The cage was close and no possible show of escape, 

 so the only conclusion as to its fate was that the larger two 

 worms devoured it. Repeatedly has the author lost Catocala 

 larvae in the same mysterious manner and Mr. Davenport re- 

 ' ported similar losses among well grown larvae of several 

 genera and species. Why caterpillars Avith an abundance of 

 food should resort to cannibalism is inconceivable, and yet 

 there is no other way to explain the disappearance of some of 

 our "worms." 



From over one hundred pupae of the first brood of Tripto- 

 gon modesta (Rothschild and Jordan call this Pachysphinx 

 modesta) quite seventy produced imagoes with crippled wings, 

 although all chrysalids were on damp earth and strips of cloth 

 hung down the sides of the cages. The freshly hatched 

 imagoes all climbed up the cloth and yet with everything in 

 their favor, they failed to mature. Thinking the trouble was 

 caused by keeping the pupae together in tlie cages, they were 

 separated so that one would emerge in a can or jar per night 

 and still there was little improvement in the quality of the 

 moths. 



It is true there was a slight increase in the number of per- 

 fect moths after the separation of the chrysalids, but the trouble 

 was not obviated. As a matter of fact there were a few more 

 deformed females than males. Out of ten moths that emerged 

 together, one night, there were but two perfect specimens. It 

 is possible that this is another means that nature takes to check 

 overproduction. 



