Dec, 1902.] 



BiuD : Boring Noctuid Larv.i-:. -1-^ 



nation of this species seems lacking, which should no. be, as .t 

 widely distributed and cou,n>on, if sough, arigh. I.s d-o-JV ^' 

 Rye happened as one of .hose pleasant surprises wh.ch ever awau ,he 

 borer investigator and which, a. the sa.ne .ime, often proves how much 

 of our famibar surroundings are still in the dark ,0 us. 1" 'he ^-"^^^ 

 „d later the roots, of In. r..uo,.; .hese larva, thr.ve, and alth gh 

 .he fact had been chronicled by Dr. Thaxter years ago, '- ■ orma 

 tion seemed .0 have been overlooked and a la.er reference to german 

 lilv" did no. assist. The species is slow in ma.urmg, rnnn.ng well 

 through .he summer in the completion of its larval stages and ,s 

 afflic.ed by a more senons s'a.e of parasitism than any o.her known to 

 u The moth emerges in September (if your supply of larv»= were 

 sufficien.ly .tumero s perhaps yo , can use .he plural m speakmg o 

 your imag..es), and furnishes a striking if no. handsome example o 

 our na.ive owlets. Its cylindrical, smooth, sem,-.rans ucent arva well 

 re, res n.s wha. we have .0 expec. of .he .rue borers, for perforce .hey 

 cam.:, have furry coa.s, nor humps nor horns, which help us so mt,ch 

 in dis.inguishing some o.hers. Such characters appear as of protec- 

 ve or repellant benefit and with the Heliothu.ii whose larva, br.rrow 

 nseedpo'ds or capsules, in some of the few cases known, a^ colored 

 and str ped in such manner as to give protective results. Wha. mcer 

 nl rTcan there be than he mature A,a,-ia pru/. larva bes.de ,ts 

 pay consumed seed vesicle ? If this larva ha. M*otographed the 

 CO r of its surroundings," wha. can we say of .he young Gor.yn. 

 wt are .he .rue aristo, rats of the boring fra.erni.y ? Here ^e ma..,r 

 borers come u.rder .he conventional sem.transparent class, but ,n early 

 l,fe shows contrasting colors in the form of longi.t.d.nal s.r.pes wh ch 

 .op abruprly at its .triddle. It would look as though the.r ancestors 

 may have liv'ed within son.e encrcling protection while the ex.rem,t,es 

 were left exposed. The larva of the common bag-worm, shows, on 

 Tt expo ed thoracic joints, lines quite snrrilar to those of t„e yo.tng 

 Gortyn^e and it s w.thn. bounds to bel eve the latter possess thetr s 



from a like exposure. . i „„^i 



The Nonagrid and o.her par.ly aquatic forms work.ng ,n reeds and 

 water plants offer most in.eres.ing study and are in need of much 

 Trther scrutiny. An unrecorded note of the extreme s or ness o^^ 

 pupal stage, in Nomgria oHo„ga, may be favorable .nformat.on of the 

 Tpel:, :s 'it is natural .o desire quick reali.a.ions after .l^e 'rot, le of 

 the breeding cage. From seven to nine days was the reco.d cf ,.,,e 



