41 



They are quite active, readily curling up when disturbed and usually 

 rolling down the leaf into the mass of young leaves at the base. It 

 is interesting to note that larvae were also active in confinement, but 

 not easily disturbed, not curling up unless considerably agitated. 

 This was doubtless due to the handling they had received in packing 

 and unpacking and to the jarring incident to their long journey, all of 

 which had the effect of causing them to be less easily disturbed than 

 under normal conditions. 



Dock was rather scarce in the field at this time, the beets having 

 been recently cultivated, and their leaves at this season of the year 

 so covered the ground that the young dock leaves had not had oppor- 

 tunity for growth. It is probable that the larvae on the beet leaA^es 

 had been hatched from eggs deposited on dock, and that they had 



Fig. 15. — Taxonus nigrisoma: a, adult; h, larva; c, head of same 



enlarged (original). 



d, cocoon in stalk — all 



resorted to the former when the dock was cut dowm. Several beet 

 plants were seen that had been seriously injured, and the dock leaves 

 remaining in the fields were riddled. Dock plants growing along 

 roadsides and in uncultivated fields were not infested. The larva? 

 seen showed a preference for leaves more or less protected by other 

 leaves ; they usually rest flat on the leaf, but some were noticed 

 slightly curled when resting near the edges. 



At this time the larvae belonged to several stages, three at least, 

 one being the mature stage. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Mature larva. — The prevailing color of the mature larva is leaf 

 green, slightly paler than that of either of the leaves on which it 

 feeds, this paleness being, perhaps, due to the presence of a faint 



