﻿182 
  REPORT 
  UNITED 
  STATES 
  ENTOMOLOGICAL 
  COMMISSION. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Mann 
  says:^^ 
  Of 
  sixteen 
  dated 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  male, 
  twelve 
  

   were 
  taken 
  in 
  October 
  or 
  November, 
  and 
  four 
  in 
  March 
  or 
  April. 
  Of 
  

   several 
  hundred 
  females, 
  four 
  were 
  taken 
  in 
  April 
  and 
  the 
  rest 
  in 
  Iso- 
  

   vember. 
  Again, 
  he 
  says 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  captured 
  imagos 
  during 
  every 
  

   week 
  from 
  the 
  last 
  week 
  of 
  October 
  to 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  Januar^^, 
  inclusive, 
  

   in 
  the 
  last 
  week 
  of 
  March, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  second, 
  third, 
  and 
  fourth 
  weeks 
  of 
  

   Ai)ril. 
  

  

  Under 
  conditions 
  of 
  confinement 
  we 
  have 
  observed 
  that 
  two 
  males 
  

   mated 
  with 
  five 
  females 
  j 
  whether 
  the 
  males 
  are 
  polygamous 
  in 
  a 
  state 
  

   of 
  nature 
  we 
  cannot 
  say. 
  It 
  would 
  seem, 
  however, 
  from 
  the 
  circum- 
  

   stance, 
  that 
  out 
  of 
  fifty- 
  eight 
  chrysalides, 
  fifty-six 
  were 
  females, 
  that 
  

   such 
  was 
  the 
  case 
  to 
  an 
  eminent 
  degree. 
  

  

  OviPOSiTiON. 
  — 
  In 
  depositing 
  her 
  eggs, 
  the 
  mother-moth 
  does 
  not 
  hide 
  

   them 
  away 
  under 
  the 
  loose 
  scales 
  of 
  bark, 
  or 
  elsewhere, 
  as 
  is 
  the 
  habit 
  

   with 
  the 
  female 
  of 
  the 
  spring 
  species, 
  but 
  lays 
  them 
  in 
  the 
  forks 
  of 
  the 
  

   small 
  branches, 
  or 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  young 
  twigs 
  and 
  buds, 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  bark 
  

   of 
  the 
  trunks 
  of 
  the 
  trees, 
  in 
  regular, 
  compact 
  batches 
  of 
  from 
  60 
  to 
  200 
  

   eggs, 
  placed 
  in 
  a 
  single 
  layer 
  upon 
  their 
  ends, 
  side 
  by 
  side, 
  firmly 
  fast- 
  

   ened 
  together 
  and 
  to 
  the 
  bark 
  by 
  a 
  strong 
  glue, 
  and 
  coated 
  with 
  a 
  gray- 
  

   ish, 
  water-proof 
  varnish. 
  From 
  five 
  impregnated 
  females, 
  which 
  we 
  

   raised 
  in 
  confinement 
  in 
  1875, 
  we 
  obtained 
  the 
  full 
  complement 
  of 
  eggs, 
  

   which 
  were 
  laid, 
  by 
  four 
  females 
  in 
  single 
  batches 
  of 
  224, 
  230, 
  241, 
  and 
  

   243, 
  respectively, 
  and 
  by 
  one 
  female 
  in 
  two 
  batches 
  of 
  142 
  and 
  63, 
  re- 
  

   spectively. 
  The 
  first 
  four 
  batches 
  were 
  laid 
  on 
  the 
  smooth 
  pine 
  sticks 
  

   that 
  supported 
  the 
  muslin 
  cap 
  of 
  the 
  breeding 
  cage; 
  the 
  last 
  two 
  on 
  the 
  

   muslin. 
  In 
  each 
  instance 
  the 
  time 
  occupied 
  in 
  oviposition 
  was 
  between 
  

   two 
  and 
  three 
  days. 
  None 
  of 
  the 
  unimpregnated 
  females 
  which 
  we 
  

   raised 
  laid 
  regular 
  batches. 
  Most 
  of 
  them 
  laid 
  a 
  few 
  scattered 
  eggs, 
  

   generally 
  singly, 
  but 
  also 
  in 
  small 
  groups 
  ranging 
  from 
  2 
  to 
  54. 
  

  

  Immediately 
  after 
  the 
  insects 
  have 
  thus 
  provided 
  for 
  a 
  succession 
  of 
  

   their 
  kind, 
  they 
  begin 
  to 
  languish 
  and 
  soon 
  die. 
  

  

  Season 
  of 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  worms. 
  — 
  Although 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  

   laid 
  at 
  such 
  different 
  periods, 
  during 
  fall, 
  winter, 
  and 
  spring, 
  they 
  do 
  

   not 
  hatch 
  any 
  earlier 
  than 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  spring 
  species. 
  The 
  larvae, 
  at 
  

   first 
  minute 
  and 
  thread-like, 
  ai)pear 
  as 
  the 
  leaves 
  begin 
  to 
  form, 
  

   develop 
  very 
  rapidly, 
  and 
  with 
  favorable 
  weather 
  enter 
  the 
  ground 
  to 
  

   form 
  their 
  chrysalides 
  within 
  three 
  weeks 
  aft^r 
  hatching. 
  Harris 
  says 
  

   that 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  usually 
  hatched 
  between 
  the 
  first 
  and 
  middle 
  of 
  May, 
  

   and 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Boston 
  the 
  larvae 
  do 
  not 
  become 
  extremely 
  

   voracious 
  until 
  June. 
  ''In 
  the 
  year 
  1841, 
  the 
  red 
  currant 
  flowered, 
  and 
  

   the 
  Canker 
  Worms 
  appeared, 
  on 
  the 
  fifteenth 
  of 
  May. 
  The 
  insects 
  

   were 
  very 
  abundant 
  on 
  the 
  fifteenth 
  of 
  June, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  seventeenth 
  

   scarcely 
  one 
  was 
  to 
  be 
  seen.'^ 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Packard 
  says 
  that 
  "on 
  the 
  9th 
  of 
  April, 
  1875, 
  the 
  eggs 
  of 
  this 
  

  

  osProc. 
  Boat. 
  Soc. 
  Nat. 
  Hist., 
  v. 
  15, 
  p. 
  384. 
  

  

  