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NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



was the depredator. The well known, almost omnivorous habits of the 

 larvae and their abundance at the present season in the same field throw a 

 very strong suspicion on these caterpillars. 



Description. The eggs are deposited in patches on the under sur- 

 face of the leaves, according to Prof. Davis. He also states that a moth 

 usually lays from 125 to 150 eggs, though he obtained one cluster of 

 452. The young larvae probably vary seme what in appearance. Dr 

 Packard describes them as pale greenish, with four dark stripes on each 

 side. Dr Riley states that at first they are almost black, though they 

 soon become pale and green, while Prof. Davis found them to be 'hairy, 

 speckled, white caterpillars, with a black head and black crescent on the 

 thorax.' After the first molt, the appearance of the larvae is much the 

 same as when matured, according to several writers. In the earlier 

 stages, the black dorsal stripe is divided by a median white line and the 

 proportionate amount of black is much less than when the larvae are 

 nearly mature. The brilliantly colored larva is from i|- to 2 inches 



Fig, II MAMESTRA picta: a, larva; />, moth (after Riley). 



long when full grown, and may then be recognized by its broad, jet-black 

 dorsal stripe. The two bright yellow stripes on each side are separated 

 by a broader black area, which is broken by numerous transverse, 

 irregular, white lines (fig. 11 and pi. 5). In Dr Lintner's detailed descrip- 

 tion of this larva (see citation), he compares the broken, black stripe to 

 a series of letters : I VNW. Beneath the lower yellow line there is more 

 or less black, broken by irregular white lines, somewhat as in the lateral 

 black stripe above. The head and legs are brick red. 



