202 
Psyche 
[Vol. 90 
mass under most of the body (except the head). The top half of the 
chorion including that surrounding the head seemed to dissolve. If 
the larva swallowed any portion of the chorion it was not evident. 
As eclosion continued the larva came to lay directly on top of the 
pollen mass, with all segments touching it, and began to feed. 
Feeding Stages. The second stadium was short (Table 1) and the 
second instar fed differently than the other instars. The larva 
remained nearly motionless with the head in direct contact with 
food in an area of the provision that was considerably higher in fluid 
and nectar content than other areas. As the larva fed, a back and 
forth motion of the head was apparent and it appeared to suck up 
fluid like a small pump. The mouthparts were partially buried in the 
provision but almost no movement was detectable in that area dur- 
ing feeding. 
The actual process of molting was not observed but larvae 
marked with powder on the dorsal side of the body were noticed 
lying on the old exuvium that bore the powder mark after a molt. It 
appeared then that the entire old integument was sloughed off and 
not dissolved away. The instars molted in the same manner so that 
after molts the body was attached to old exuviae which in turn were 
attached to the provision. 
Ingestion of solid food, aided by the mandibles, began in the third 
stadium. Subsequent instars fed in a similar manner but the last 
instar consumed the bulk of the provision. As the larva fed, bi- 
dentate mandibles shovelled food into the mouth and appeared to 
be aided by a pumping motion of the head capsule. As the head 
capsule retracted the mandibles pulled the food in and as the head 
capsule extended the mandibles opened outwardly. Larvae tended 
to feed in bouts of approximately 5 minutes, stopping to swallow 
and pass food into the gut with a series of peristaltic waves between 
feeding bouts. As the provision was consumed the larva began to 
turn from white to yellow and the pollen-filled gut became visible. 
The third instar began feeding in the place where the second instar 
fed. The fourth instar fed in the same place, hollowing out a cavity 
beneath itself. By the middle of the fourth stadium many larvae had 
become detached from the provision but were much more mobile 
and continued to feed. Regardless of position (attached, detached 
with venter on floor, detached with dorsum on floor) the last 3 
