164 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



to study this further during last summer but the continued hot 

 dry weather was seemingly disastrous to T. polyphemus, for not a 

 larva was seen, but in order to learn what others had recorded about 

 this beautiful moth, notes were made of all the articles available to 

 me, so perhaps the following references to cocoon-making may be of 

 interest : 



The first note is in Abbot and Smith's ' Nat. Hist, of the Barer 

 Lepidoptera of Georgia,' p. 93 (1797), in which we read : "It 

 attaches its web to the underside of a leaf, taking care to spin round 

 the stalk of the leaf and part of the twig, by which means the 

 chrysalis is kept from falling off during winter." Fitch — 'Third 

 Keport, Noxious and other Insects of N.Y.,' No. 181, p. 455, 1856 — 

 says : " It sometimes attaches its cocoon partly to the side of a limb, 

 or sometimes with its silken thread draws two or three twigs together 

 sufficiently to tie its cocoon between tbem, in which case it does not 

 fall to the earth with the fall of the leaves in the autumn, but it is 

 very apt, by remaining exposed in the tree, to be perforated and have 

 its inmate destroyed by woodpeckers." Eiley — 'Fourth Missouri 

 Keport,' p. 126, 1872 — " The cocoon . . . generally attached to a leaf 

 or leaves, with which it falls to the ground, though sometimes it is 

 fastened to twigs and therefore remains exposed during the winter to 

 its enemies." Since the article by Grote (1895) referred to, Daggett 

 ■ — ■' Bntom. News,' vol. x, p. 201, 1899 — speaks of T. polyphemus 

 cocoons in California as " being closely woven the full length of the 

 stem, and including the twigs adjoining, these being permanently 

 attached to the tree " in contra-distinction to those he was familiar 

 with in the East, in which no attempt was made to fasten them to 

 the twigs and which readily fall to the ground. In ' Can. Entom.,' 

 vol. xxxv, p. 110, 1903, Grote refers to having recorded in 'Proc. Am. 

 Philos. Soc.,' vol. xii, p. 401, 1902, "an instance of the spinning of 

 a silken attachment around the stem of the enveloping leaf in the 

 cocoon of Telea polyphemus, reminding us of the habit of Phylosamia 

 cynthia or even perhaps of Antherea mylitta " and then adds that he 

 has found three more examples of this hitherto unnoticed habit. To 

 this Cockle replied ('Can. Entom.,' vol. xxxv, p. 139, 1903) that this 

 was the rule and not the exception at Kaslo, British Columbia, and 

 further, in vol. xxxvi, p. 100, 1904, quotes Denney that in Montreal 

 " in some seasons 19 out of 20 are firmly attached to the twig." 

 Webster (' Can. Entom.,' vol. xxxvi, p. 133, 1904), suggested the 

 possible interrelation of attacks by woodpeckers and the method of 

 attaching cocoons, and in a supplementary note on p. 3^36 refers to 

 an article by Davis in ' Journ. N.Y. Ent. Soc.,' vol. v, pp. 42-43. 

 Foster (' Can. Entom.,* vol. xxxvi, p. 144, 1904) then records " a 

 cocoon sent from S. Carolina securely fastened to a twig after .the 

 manner of cynthia or promethea." For further references to this 

 subject see ' Entom. News,' vol. xvi (1905), p. 275 and p. 333 (Soule), 

 p. 310 (Dyar) ; (1906), p. 32-33 (Skinner), pp. 33 (Soule), p. 112 

 (Kuschel), p. 177 (Kunze), p. 225 (Forbes). 



It would appear that Webster was about right in his conclusions 

 (' Can. Entom.,' vol. xxxvi, p. 336) " that these insects do the best 

 they can under existing circumstances." — Ina B. Muie ; 55, Aberdeen 

 Ave., Westmount, Quebec, Canada. 



