100 



THE AMEEICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



are deposited in June, and hatch in from six 

 to ten days after being deposited. The young 

 worms differ so much from the mature ones, 

 and undergo such great changes in appearance 

 in the course of their lives, that we are sur- 

 prised that no acconnt is to be found of these 

 larval changes in any of our entomological 

 works. Wlien first hatched they are entirely 

 black, with the tubercles placed in the same 

 position, but being larger at the base and with a 

 narrower stem than in the more mature individ- 

 uals, the upper and smaller end being crowned 

 with a whorl of conspicuous stiff black bristles. 

 After the first moult the body is of a deep 

 orange color, with the tubercles and head black, 

 and with longitudinal rows of black dots run- 

 ning between them. After the second moult, 

 a still greater change takes place : the body 

 acquires a beautiful yellowish-green tint, the 

 tubercles on the back are blue on sequents 1, 

 12 and 13; coral-red on 2 and 3, and yellow 

 with black spines and a black spot on the inside 

 and outside of the stem, on 4 — 11. Those at 

 the sides are blue, and the head is of the same 

 color as body. After the third moult, the black 

 spots, except a row below the stigmatal row of 

 tubercles, disappear; the tubercles themselves 

 lose all black except the spines, and the head 

 and body become delicate bluish-green rather 

 than yellowish-green as formerly. After the 

 fourth and last moult, the red tubercles near 

 the head frequently become yellow, and when 

 full-grown, the worm measures over four inches, 

 and presents the appearance of Figure 62, the 

 tubercles being respectively of the most delicate 

 yellow and blue. Two weeks after the worm 

 first began to spin, it changes to a chrysalis, and 

 as already stated, passes the winter in this form, 

 there being but one brood each year. 



[rig. 62.] 



Enclosed in the cocoon with the chrysalis was 

 a kernel of corn, and Mr. Jackson was anxious 

 to know how it got there. The only explana- 

 tion we could give, was that the kernel had 

 perhaps been accidentally dropped by some 

 bird, and had fallen through the meshes of the 

 loose silk and lodged while the worm was yet 

 spinning its cocoon. It is one of those singular 

 coincidences which occur once in a life-time, 

 and we mention it in this connection, simply to 

 place the fact on record. 



Parasites of the Cecropia Moth. 

 Last year our Cecropia worm seemed to be 

 unusually numerous in many parts of the coun- 

 try, but it very rarely becomes siifiiciently so 

 to prove greatly destructive ; though instances 

 are on record of their having entirely stripped 

 small apple trees. The principal reason is 



[Fig. 63.] 



Colors— Green, blue, yellow, and i 



On the 20th of March, 1867, Mr. J. A. Jack- I 

 son, of Gooding's Grove, Ills., brought to us a 

 cocoon from which the moth had not yet escaped. 



Color — Yellowish-brown. 



because th(;y are such large and conspicuous 

 objects, that they fall a ready prey to birds, and 

 to numerous insect enemies. We will conclude 

 this article by referring 

 to a few of the more con- 

 spicuous of the latter. 



The Long - tailed 

 Ophion — (Ophion mac- 

 rurum, Linn.) — This 

 arge yellowish-brown 

 Ichneumon fly (Fig. 63) 

 is often bred from the 

 cocoons in place of the 

 moth which one expects. 

 It is one of the most 

 common parasites of 

 this large insect, and the 

 -'^- females appear to be 



altogether more common than the males, for we 

 havetred no less than seven of the former and 

 not a single one of the latter sex. The female. 



^, GLOVfi-^^ 



