248 
Psyche 
[June-September 
Pupae 
A larva nearing pupation wanders for about one day, then pre¬ 
pares a silk pupation platform several centimeters above the ground 
on the underside of a leaf or twig. Platform making usually begins in 
the late afternoon or early evening, and is quickly followed by spin¬ 
ning of the silk stalk from which the pupa will be suspended. During 
platform making and stalk spinning, larvae evert the whitish gland 
located ventrally on the prothorax between the legs and head. The 
function of this gland is not known. Once the silk stalk is completed, 
the larva walks forward until its tenth segment prolegs are posi¬ 
tioned over it. These prolegs are then used to pull and shape the 
stalk before they finally clamp onto it, and support the larva during 
its final molt. By midnight most larvae have let go with all but the 
tenth segment prolegs, and now hang in a “J” position until 8 or 9 
AM, when ecdysis takes place. 
In the laboratory, larvae hang from the cage cover to pupate. 
Under crowded conditions, freshly-formed pupae may be cannibal¬ 
ized by hungry final instar larvae. 
Pupae of A. amathea (Muller, 1886), A.fatima (Young and Stein, 
1976), and A. jatrophae (Scudder, 1893; Wolcott, 1951; Rawson, 
1976) are 15-22 mm long, smooth, spindle-shaped and without pro¬ 
tuberances. They are usually translucent jade green in color, with 
dark spots (Figure 6; see also Young and Stein, 1976) in the same 
positions occupied by scoli in the final larval instar, plus a few 
additional dark marks on the wings. Occasional individuals of all 
three species are black (Scudder, 1893; A. A. and R. E. S.). 
days since oviposition 
Figure 9. Development times of male and female (stippled) A. amathea (N— 
1,764) and A.fatima (N=l,579), reared under crowded conditions (up to 20 larvae 
per container). 
