The Bulletin 
51 / i 
V \ \ 1 
In the jelly glasses and in the tin boxes the pieces of cornstalk con¬ 
taining the larvse were placed on and buried in damp soil, and placed 
on and buried in dry soil. Towards the end of the investigation all of 
these methods were discarded and the larvae were kept in boxes without 
any soil. In this way there was no danger of . losing the larva if it 
happened to abandon its piece of cornstalk. 
By this method 192 larvae have been reared front egg to adult and 
many other larvae have been reared through part of their development. 
Very careful records have been made of these larvae; in many cases 
the exact hour when they hatched, or when they molted, has been 
recorded. For many cases, however, this has not been recorded; there¬ 
fore, in the following records the time has been recorded only to the 
day. In most of this work two observations were made daily, one 
from about 8 to 10 a. m., the other from about 5 to 7 p. m. In this 
way the day was roughly divided into two periods approximating twelve 
hours each. Most of the changes, however, occurred at night and are 
recorded for the morning following the night on which they were made, 
and in a majority of cases, therefore, accurate to within twelve hours. 
PROCESS OF MOLTING 
The process of molting has been watched in several larvae. Briefly, 
it may be described as follows: The larva first becomes somewhat stiff 
and loses its characteristic curved shape and becomes more or less 
straight (Fig 29). This usually precedes the actual molting an hour 
or two, but in some cases the larva commences to assume this attitude 
as much as eighteen hours before it actually molts. The older the larva 
the longer relatively this preliminary attitude seems to he. In the 
case of the last molt or change to the pupa it is frequently as long as 
two or three days (Fig. 30). While in this attitude the larvae turns 
and twists about a great deal. This is especially marked as the mature 
larva prepares to pupate. In this way the inside of the pupal cell is 
smoothed and made compact, and this same result is noticed in the 
larval burrows, to a much less degree, however (Fig. 29). 
The second step in molting is the splitting of the head. The old 
head gradually splits along the epicranial and frontal sutures, and 
gradually, as the larva turns and twists, the new head emerges and the 
old headpieces are worked posteriorly. The chiten covering the rest of 
the body is gradually worked backwards, and is left eventually in the 
burrow behind the larva. This chiten is very thin and evanescent and 
soon loses its identity, but the harder headpieces, particularly the 
mouth-parts, persist for a da t y or two. This whole process normally 
occupies about half an hour, but frequently the larva seems to become 
exhausted and to lie quietly for an hour or so before recommencing its 
interminable turning and twisting. 
The head after molting is pure white, but in the course of an hour 
it commences to turn yellow and gradually it assumes the brownish 
