EncDi 



irs 



IQ7 



Fu;. LI. — Mticmnoclua ouusfa^' 



length, shortly after it appears — depositing them, seat- 

 teringh', se\"eral inehes abo\'e the ground, some in 

 craeks in the base of old leaves, hut most of them 

 betA\'een the edges of the overlapping lea\'es, near the 

 base. 



The eggs, probabh- all of them, remain unhatehed 

 until spring — hatehing soon after the Iris resumes 

 growth, about the last week in Wax. Idie lar\-a 

 begins to feed a little where hatehed, and then works 

 down, eating the tender part of the plant, until it 

 reaehes the rhizome, and there, or in a eontiguous one 

 if it has exhausted the hrst one, it continues its de- 

 structive work by eating, until it completes its larval 

 development, which usually occurs about August. B}- 

 this time it is a large caterpillar from one and a half 

 to tAvo inches in length and from a quarter to half 

 an inch or more in diameter; body smooth, cylindrical, 

 of a pale flesh color, sometime-s of a yellowish cast, 

 Avith lateral black spots; head a rich chestnut-red, 

 shin}-, rounded and flattened in front. The accompany- 

 ing illustration (Fig. LID is natural size of the speci- 



*Courtcsv of Dr. E. P. Felt. 



