1300 Rocer C. SmMirH 
which it can leave the egg. It holds fast by the tail except when bring- 
ing the abdomen forward; then it braces itself securely with its legs. 
It becomes more and more restless on the egg. Finally, after walking 
around over the egg, it discovers the egg stalk. If the stalk be perpen- 
dicular, the larva generally goes down head first, holding fast by the 
tail and grasping the stalk by the claws. Sometimes definite steps are 
indicated by the tail, but oftener this fails to hold and then it catches 
itself. The larva may come down backward, but this method appears 
to be less frequent. If the stalk be leaning or horizontal, the larva 
swings around on it and walks to the supporting surface upside down 
and head first. It grasps the stalk as a sloth grasps the limb of a tree. 
It does not use the tail in this case. Some writers suggest that the 
larva may drop from the egg. Lurie (1898), however, has stated 
correctly that dropping from the egg is not the normal manner of 
descent. 
The larva is usually hungry by the time it comes down from the egg, 
and immediately it begins to search for food. If none is provided, it 
starves to death in about a day, or at most two days, after hatching. 
Small aphids, such as cabbage aphids, are best suited for feeding newly 
hatched larvae. Insects’ eggs, such as those of aphids and of the corn- 
ear worm moth, have also been used in rearings. 
If a leaf having on it a group of eggs ready to hatch is left in a vial, 
the cannibalistic habits of the larvae will be demonstrated. In the 
same batch of eggs, those first deposited or those developing most 
rapidly will hatch first. If the larvae are undisturbed and are not fed, 
they will attack the unhatched eggs and then one another. In one 
instance forty-one eggs were allowed to hatch. After a few days there 
was but one live larva, the others having been killed by it or by its 
companions. 
Molting 
All chrysopid larvae have been observed to molt three times, the last 
molt occurring within the cocoon. This does not include the embryonic 
molt, which occurs at hatching. 
‘The first molt takes place from two to seven days after hatching. 
The second molt usually occurs at a somewhat shorter interval, from 
two to five days. The third instar may be very prolonged. Spinning 
usually takes place from four to ten days after the second molt. The 
final larval molt within the case occurs from five to fifteen days after 
spinning, or, in the case of wintering forms, from four to eight months 
after spinning. 
