28 E. P. Stebbiug — Life-Hist., Sfc.^ of moth Daomitus leuconotus. [No. 2, 



covering. Stigmata black with a circular orange edging. Nine dorsal 

 segments plainly visible, and 5 ventral ones. 



Length 2 to 2f inches. Size very variable. 



The moths appear on the wing in the latter half of September, and 

 are to be found during the remainder of that month and on up to about 

 the third week in October. They are extremely sluggish during tlie 

 daytime, but are powerful fliers at night. In the day they are to be 

 found clinging to the bark of trees which their general colouration 

 greatly resembles, thus serving to protect them from the attacks of 

 enemies. The male lives but a few days and dies after pairing with the 

 female. The latter lays her eggs, which are small, yellowish and 

 deposited in irregular-shaped masses stuck together with some siccable 

 material upon the bark of trees. She dies as soon as she has finished 

 ovipositing. Examination of attacked trees has shown that these eggs 

 are laid anywhere upon the woody parts of the tree, and that the young 

 larv83 on hatching out bore straight through the bark to the sap-wood 

 and feed in this for a time, subsequently going into the hard wood of 

 the stem or branch. The mortality amongst the young larv^ must be 

 very high since it would be quite impossible for any one tree to support 

 the large number of larvae the eggs of a single moth gives rise to, it being 

 remembered that almost the whole of this stage is spent feeding in the 

 wood. The larva almost certainly spends not less than two years 

 feeding in the wood of the tree. The evidence for this assertion was 

 found in the case of a tree which had practically been killed by the 

 insects. Mature pupae and moths were taken from tliis tree and also 

 two half- grown (or less) larvae. Since the moths only issue in Sep- 

 tember-October it is evident that these larvae hatched from eggs laid 

 at the very latest in the year before. 



The larva bores in an irregular manner in the wood, the tunnel 

 having apparently no regular or definite directioti. The tunnel increases 

 in diameter with the growth of the grub, finally measuring over haW 

 an inch across. It is packed with the wood sawdust and excreta of 

 the larva. When fullgrown the larva carries its tunnel to the outside, 

 boring a hole through the bark, and this hole will be observable on the 

 outside owing to the fresh sawdust to be seen just below it on the bark 

 of the tree. Having thus prepared an exit, the caterpillar larva backs 

 down its tunnel for a distance of 2-3 inches (this space being kept quite 

 free of wood particles) and spins a stout web-like series of strands of 

 a coarse yellowish-brown silk acioss and below the mouth, thus effectu- 

 ally preventing any intruder, entering the tunnel from outside, getting 

 near it. The larva then pupates. These strands of coarse brown silk are 

 very charactristic of the pupation of this Duomitiis, The pupal stage is 



