34 



CALOSOMA SYCOPHANTA. 



Food of the Larva. 



The larvae of Calosoma sycoplianta feed chiefly on lepidopterous 

 caterpillars and pupa. It may be that coleopterous or other larvae 

 or pupae which live on or near the surface of the ground are destroyed, 

 but we have no definite data bearing on tins matter. Apparently 

 the larvae prefer large caterpillars or pupae winch have a considerable 

 amount of fatty matter in the body cavity. Tins makes gipsy moth 

 larvae and pupae particularly suitable as food for these predaceous 

 larvae. In rearing work at the laboratory only a few species have 

 been furnished and these have been selected on account of their 



abundance and the 

 ease with which they 

 could be collected. 

 Forest and Ameri- 

 can tent caterpillars 

 (llalacosoma disstria 

 Hbn. and M. ameri- 

 cana Fab.), gipsy 

 moth larvae (Por- 

 thetria dispar L.), 

 brown-tail moth lar- 

 vae (Euproctis chry- 

 sorrlicea L.), and fall 

 web worms (Hypli an- 

 tria textor Harr.) 

 have been used to 

 the greatest extent 

 and all of these 

 species except the 

 last mentioned have 

 been attacked with 

 equal avidity. It is 

 probable that fall 

 web worm larvae, on 

 account of their 

 small size, the dense hairy covering of the body, and the character 

 of their internal contents are not a preferred host of this species, and 

 we have observed that beetle larvae thrive better on more robust 

 specimens. 



Aside from the species already mentioned, sycoplianta has fed 

 freely in captivity on all species of caterpillars offered, among which 

 may be mentioned: Papilio polyxenes Fab., Callosamia prometliea 

 Dru., Estigmene acrsea Dru., Halisidota caryx Harr., Alypia octoma- 

 culata Fab., Catocala sp., Heterocampa sp., Heterocompa guttivitta 

 Walk., Gluphisia septentrionalis Walk., and Hemerocampa leucostigma 

 S. and A. 



s 



m£- 1 - 









i^kw^^^ 



■ |H 



: ,:«Tm. s J^3 





^y^jgi 









^^ ■ si 



m M 



m - 5 



& a 



££ 









Fig. 16. — Larva of Calosoma sycophanta feeding on gipsy moth pupse 

 on trunk of tree, North Saugus, Mass., July, 1907. (Original.) 



