4 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



As soon as possible, with, the help of a magnifying glass, I took the following 

 description : — 



Length 0.45 in., greatest width 0.20 in. — onisciform. 



Body, above, dull rosy red, with a diflfused yellowish tint on the sides, most 

 distinct along the middle segments, and a dorsal line of a deeper shade of 

 red. Body downy, with minute yellowish and brownish Lair, scarcely visi- 

 ble without a magnifier. 



On the 16th of May it changed to a chrysalis, and on the 28th the follow- 

 ing description of it was taken : — 

 Length, 0.40 in., greatest width, nearly 0.20 in. 



Color, pale, dull brownish red, with many black dots j a ventral streak of 

 brown, dotted with black, with two diverging branches on anterior portion 

 of body ; a band of the same color across the base of the head, and a short 

 cross line about midway between these. On each side of the body are 

 three rows of black dots, one dot on each segment in each of the rows, the 

 two upper ones extending from the 6th to the 11th segment inclusive — the 

 lower one the whole length of body. Below these are a few additional 

 black dots, very minute. Body thickly covered with very small brownish 

 dots, and roughened with minute pale tubercles. 



On the 3rd of June the chrysalis began to grow darker, and soon a reddish 

 lustre shone through the thin membrane covering the wings ; on the 5th the 

 imago was produced, which proved to be Polyommatus Americana. 



These observations seem to establish this point : that the insect passes the 

 winter in the larva state, probably nearly full grown. The chrysalis period 

 was no doubt prolonged in the present instance by being keptiw a cool room. 

 Drasteria erecthea is one of our commonest moths — common almost every- 

 where. It is one of the earliest on the wing in spring, and specimens of the 

 second brood may be found up to quite a late period in the autumn. It fre- 

 quents open places on the grassy sides of railroad tracks, in fields and mea- 

 dows, suddenly starting up before you and, after a short but rapid flight, as 

 suddenly alighting. 



About the middle of August I captured a female specimen and confined it 

 in a pill box, where, a few days afterwards, I found it had deposited a num- 

 ber of eggs. These, in a short time, hatched, and from a number of different 

 kinds of leaves, put in for the larva to feed on, they selected clover, on which 

 they were easily reared. By the 21st of September they were full grown, in 

 fact several specimens had already entered the chrysalis state. On that date 

 the following description was taken : — 



Length, 1.25 in. Body thickest along the middle segments, somewhat smaller 

 towards head, but tapering much more towards posterior segments. Head 

 medium sized, flattened in front, pale brown, with darker longitudinal lines. 



