92 BULLETIN 417, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



July 19 and August 3. No eggs were secured from any of the females 

 notwithstanding the fact that the collector saw one pair in copulation 

 April 27 at Hollywood, Cal., the day they were shipped. 



The three females that entered hibernation in outdoor cages during 

 the summer of 1911 were found dead and dismembered 3 and 4 inches 

 below the surface of the earth in the spring of 1912. It is very prob- 

 able that this species is not adapted to withstand New England 

 winters. 



Of the lot of adults received from California April, 1914, two pairs 

 were enclosed in one jar in which eggs were found May 15 and June 5. 

 One of these females died before eggs were deposited, and 69 larvae 

 hatched as a total from one female. June 18 a few infertile eggs were 

 deposited on the surface of the earth in a jar which contained 1 male 

 and 4 females at the time. 



None of the adults lived to enter hibernation that fall. 



EGG. 



Nine eggs that had been preserved in alcohol averaged 4 mm. in length and 1.7 mm. 

 in width. Color white, form elliptical, tapering slightly toward anal end in those con- 

 taining fully developed embryo. 



Sixty-nine eggs deposited by one female in 1914 between May 11 

 and June 5 hatched in from 6 to 13 days. 



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF LARVA. 



First stage. — Small robust larva. Average length of 6 newly-hatched specimens 

 that had been preserved in alcohol, 8 mm. ; width, 2.2 mm. Color dark brown dorsally, 

 ventral plates grayish brown. Ventral and lateral plates especially thickly set with 

 long brownish hairs. .Caudal appendages (1.3 mm. long) very slender. 



Second stage. — Form similar to first stage. Average length of 3 specimens (almost 

 ready to molt) 18.5 mm., width 3.2 mm. Caudal appendages rather long and pointed 

 with several protuberances bearing spines, the middle dorsal being slightly more 

 prominent than others. Color of dorsum dark brown to black, ventral plates brown 



Third stage (PI. XVII, F) . — Short robust larva. Average length of 4 specimens 24.5 

 mm . , width 5 . 7 mm. Caudal appendages rather long (1.8 mm . ) , diminishing abruptly 

 in size after middle. Dorsal protuberance on middle of each appendage rather long, 

 acute, extending backward, parallel with caudal appendage. Appendages show slight 

 curve downward beyond middle, tapering to a short point. Color shining black above, 

 grayish brown below. Ventral plates thickly set with hairs, regular in outline. An- 

 terior ventral plates on abdominal segments 2 to 7, inclusive, oval in form and some- 

 what dilated, without regular marginal notches. Posterior median plates rectangular 

 in form and outer ventral plates on 3d to 7th abdominal segments oval. Posterior 

 angles of anal segment narrow at base, projecting straight backward into a long blunt 

 point with stout spine at apex. 



LARVAL RECORDS. 



Many larvae were reared in individual jars during 1914 and were 

 fed M. americana larvae which were very easy to obtain during May 

 and June. It was estimated that from 20 to 35 large caterpillars 

 were destroyed by each beetle larva before maturity, as actual counts 

 were not made in connection with this species. 



The larvae are active and feed over a period of from 18 to 25 days, 

 or an average of 23. Time required to complete the various stages 

 in an outdoor vivarium at the laboratory, as averaged from 7 speci- 

 mens, was 5 days for the first, 4 for the second, and 14 for the third 

 up to the time the larvae ceased feeding. An additional period of 

 from 4 to 6 days elapsed before the larvae pupated. 





