1899] 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



103 



Butterflies. 



In June Papilio Turnus Linn, and Danais Archippus, Fab., were unusually abun-* 

 dant. On the 25th of the 

 month I found Archippus 

 larvae in the second and third 

 stages. At the same time 

 the female butterflies were 

 hovering about the milk- 

 weed in numbers, laying 

 their eggs one here and one 

 there on the plant. The 

 more advanced larvae were 

 full fed on the 4th of July, 

 and suspended themselves 

 for the pupal change. A 

 day later they cast the last 

 caterpillar skin, working it 

 upwards till it reached the 

 cremaster, when a succession 

 of convulsive twists dislodg- 

 ed it, and it fell to the 

 ground. The abdominal seg- 

 ments were then drawn up 

 and shaped into the rounded 

 summit of the very beautiful 

 pupa. The pupa changed 

 from green to a rich mahog- 

 any brown in the night of Fj g . 64.— Hybernia tiliaria : the winged male and wingless 

 July 16th-17th, and the per- female moths; larvae of various sizes. 

 feet insects appeared in the afternoon of the 17th. Butterflies of this species were on 

 the wing throughout the month of August 



In July Chrysopltanus epixanthe, Bd., and Lee. was unusually abundant at the 

 Gomin Swamp. 



In August larvae of Grapta interrogationis, Fab., were found feeding upon hops 

 which shaded the verandah of the country residence of the Hon. Richard Turner, on the 

 Island of Orleans. 



In this month I saw Pamphila Manitoba, Scud, on the Heights of Levis, but not in, 

 numbers. 



Saw-flies. 



In the Society's Annual Report for 1897, on page 73, I gave an account of the 

 saw-fly larvae that fed on poplar, and a description of the perfect insect. Mr. Ashmead 

 has since identified this for me as Nematus luteotergum, Norton. 



On the same page I described saw fly larvae that fed on Comus. They buried them- 

 selves in October, and I found some of the larvae quite fresh in the Spring, but they 

 failed to pupate, and perished. Last fall I obtained a new batch of the larvae and placed 

 in the cage with them some pieces of decayed birch- wood. On the 15 th of September, 

 immediately after a moult, they proceeded to tunnel into the wood, All had disappeared 

 before the 24th of the month. It was amusing to see how expeditiously tand neatly the 

 creatures accomplished their task. Every larva cleared its way with a whisk of the after 

 part of its body, which scattered the trass in a regular circle of about the diameter of a 

 half dollar. The finished hibernaculum was a clean-swept, oval* chamber, just large 

 enough to hold the larva comfortably. In this the creature remained unchanged till the 

 middle of June. On the 20th of June I saw the skin of one specimen burst at the head 

 and reveal the pupa. The insect in the pupal stage was seven and a halfjlines in length, 

 waxen in appearance. The head was distinct, and the eyes showed through the skin as 



