132 Forty- fifth Report on the State Musevm. 



anterior half of wings greenish, posterior [half] whitish. Secondaries 

 whitish; the line appears, though very faintly. Abdomen green, 

 streaked mesially with whitish. Length of body, £, 0.33; ?, 0.43. 

 Expanse of wings, 0.65 — 1.08. (Packard.) 



Its Natural History. 



The early life-history of the raspberry geometer is not known. Its 

 eggs are probably deposited on the leaves of the raspberry and the 

 blackberry near the blossom buds in May or June, according to the 

 latitude, and the caterpillar feeds at first upon the tender leaves, but as 

 soon as the berries begin to ripen they constitute its entire food. At 

 or about the time of the ripening of the berries the caterpillar having 

 reached maturity, it selects a suitable spot upon a leaf or twig where it 

 forms a slight cocoon for its pupation. A few days only are passed in 

 this stage when the moth makes its appearance — in the latter part of 

 June in Texas, in July in Illinois, in August and September in New 

 York and New England. 



One of the two caterpillars received from New Haven either escaped 

 from its box or was devoured by its associate; the other, after having 

 fed for nearly two weeks upon raspberries, commenced making its 

 cocoon on August 8th, and had completed it on the following day. 

 Two days later (11th) the pupa could be seen through the thin meshes 

 of the cocoon, of a pale brown color, with darker spots and lines, and 

 about one-third of an inch in length. After a two weeks' pupation the 

 moth was found in the box on the 23d of August. 



A specimen in my collection bears date of August 3, 1873, taken at 

 Schoharie, N. Y., and another from the collection of the late W. W. 

 Hill, "July, 1871, Lewis Co., N. Y." 



The Cocoon. 

 The inclosure for its pupation hardly deserves the name of a cocoon 

 as it consisted only of about a dozen pieces of varying sizes taken from 

 the sepals of the calyx of the berry, and arranged over its body and 

 connected by some coarse threads, so few in number that they barely 

 sufficed to hold the pieces together. The pupa was fastened within by 

 its terminal tip caught in some silken threads. 



Abundance and Distribution. 



The principal interest pertaining to this insect lies in the possibility 

 of its not being detected when the berries to which it is attached are 

 eaten; but, in that event, no harm will ensue, or even a nauseous taste 



