THE ENTOMOLOGIST. £|3 



the northern part about the middle of May; in Massachu- 

 setts about the middle of June, and in Maine about the 

 middle of July. In every locality the worm goes under- 

 ground about a month afterwards to assume the pupa or 

 chrysalis state, and stays under-ground between two and 

 three weeks. Hence in the southern part of this State the 

 moth appears about the fore part of June, and a month later 

 in each successive locality as we go North, till in Maine the 

 period becomes the fore part of September. Of course these 

 dates will vary somewhat with the character of the seasons, 

 and sometimes from local causes ; but, broadly speaking, 

 they will hold good. The moths soon pair, and, some time 

 during the summer and fall months, deposit their eggs in the 

 positions already indicated. Many eggs are thus deposited 

 in tame meadows, but there is little doubt in my mind that 

 the great bulk of these eggs are deposited in low damp 

 situations, and, if the fall should prove wet instead of dry, 

 many of them would perhaps get drowned out, and we 

 should thus have another potent influence at w^ork to decrease 

 the numbers of the worm the succeeding year. I make this 

 suggestion with all. due consideration, for I have long since 

 concluded that the instincts of insects, as of some of the 

 higher animals, are not always sufficient to guard against all 

 contingencies. It has been demonstrated, beyond the possi- 

 bility of a doubt, that the plum Curculio deposits its eggs in 

 fruit that overhangs water, and in other positions where the 

 grub must inevitably perish ; and certain flesh-flies are well 

 known to deposit their eggs, by mistake, on flowers that 

 have a putrescent smell. Darwin has remarked that a small 

 South-American bird (Fumarius cunicularius), which builds 

 its nest at the bottom of a narrow^ cylindrical hole which 

 extends horizontally several feet under ground, is so incapable 

 of acquiring any notion of thickness, that, although he saw 

 specimens constantly flitting over a low clay wall, they 

 continued vainly to bore through it, thinking it an excellent 

 bank for their nests. Many such instances of misdirected 

 instinct might be cited, and they all lead me to believe that 

 the female army- worm moth would be just as likely to lay 

 her eggs in situations where they w^ould drown out, as in 

 situations more favourable. 



The above may be considered as the normal habit of the 



