52 
[ 312 ] 
very rare moth in this part of the country, and has not before, 
I believe, been reared from the larva state. There is no specimen 
of it in the Walsh cabinet, but Mr. Eiley has a single specimen, 
presented to him by Rev. C. J. S. Bethune, of Canada, nnder the 
name given above, of A.cronycta sujperans , of Guenee. It would 
seem to be a more common species farther north, as Mr. Bethune, 
in his notes on Canadian Lepidoptera, speaks of having captured 
numerous specimens at Cobourg, in June, 1855. It can scarcely 
at present be considered a noxious insect. Nevertheless it feeds 
upon one of our fruit trees, and, from its considerable size and its 
non-gregarious habits, it might become a serious pest if it should 
ever become numerous. 
In the short account given above of these caterpillars, and which 
contains all we at present know of them, five circumstances are 
mentioned which we here repeat, in order to show what importanl 
inferences may sometimes be drawn from a few well attested facts 
First, they were found upon a plum tree and were afterwards lee 
to maturity upon plum leaves ; they must, therefore, in proportior 
to their numbers, be injurious to this tree, and must be admittec 
into the catalogue of noxious insects. Second, from their being 
found at a distance from each other, we conclude that they are sol 
itary in their habits, and therefore would be more difficult to de 
stroy if they should ever multiply to any serious extent. Third 
from their being stationary by day, we infer that, like many, anc 
perhaps most caterpillars, they are night-feeders. Fourth, Iron 
the discovery of a much smaller individual later in the season, i 
is probable that they have two broods in a year; and, fifth, Iron 
the attached cocoon of the Ichneumon-fly, it is evident that w< 
shall have the aid of parasitic insects in keeping this species ii 
check. As this is a very rare moth, and as it does not appear t( 
have been reared from the larva state, and moreover as the descrip 
tion of the superans , by Guenee, is incomplete in some of th< 
most characteristic particulars, I herewith subjoin a more detaile( 
description of the insect in both the larva and the winged state: 
Larva, or Caterpillar. —Length, one inch. Body thick, green, with a broad, ches< 
nut-brown stripe the whole length of the back, separated from the adjoining parts by 
yellow line. Within the stripe, on the top of each segment, are little shining black tr 
bercles, two on the first, second and third segments, and four on the others, arranged i 
a transverse curved line, each emitting one or more black hairs, but wanting on the las 
ring. Some long, sparse, whitish hairs along the lower part of the sides. 
