june · 2019. 8. 1. · about18 june many of the large larvae entered the soil to pupate, and they...

apri sss. tSI"CtIE. 41

NOTES ON CROESUS ZAT]TARSUS, NORTON, AND DESCRIP-TION OF THE LARVA.

BY JOHN GEORGE JACK, JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS.

In the latter part of August, I886, Icollected a number of sawfly larvae,found feeding upon the foliage of27etu-la alha and 27. flaflyrifera, in thisvicinity. These larvae were nearlyfully grovn and during the first weekin September they all entered someloose soil and debris and made brown-ish, oblong cocoons about I2 ram. long,and 6 mm. in diameter. These werekept out ofdoors in a tin box, all winter,and some of the perfect insects emerged

May, 887.On 14 June I found larvae’ in almost

all stages of growth, feeding upon birchtrees in the Arnold Arboretum andother places in the vicinity of Boston.There were larvae nearly fully grown,while others were just hatched, andportions of the egg-shells remained,arranged along the principal veins ofthe leaf. About 18 June many of thelarge larvae entered the soil to pupate,and they emerged as perfect insectstS-zo. Aug. Fresh specimens continuedto appear fi’om pupae for about twoweeks after the last date.Larvae were found in all stages of

growth on 5 September. Most oftlesehad gone to the ground to pupate byOctober. Very few were found after

that date.The following is a rough description

of the mature larva. Head black,shining. Body dull yellowish green,the last two segments being ratherlighter than the others and varying to

yellowish, especially beneath, and atthe extremity of the ventral segment.A broad stripe, free fl’om spots, extendsalong the dorsal surface, from the headto the anal segment. On each seg-ment, just above the line of spiracles,there is a l:rge, irregular, black spot oneach side of the body. On the analsegment, however, they are generallyvery indistinct. The spots are usuallyconnected together by a cloudy bandwhich is sometimes so dark as to seemalmost like an unbroken black gtripe.Above the tip of the anal segment thereis a large triangular or shield-shapedspot. Below the line of spiracles, andabove the legs, there are several blackspots, somewhat irregular and conflsedon the thoracic segments, but becomingmore regular and distinct on each suc-ceeding abdominal segment, until, onthe last segment with prolegs, theyappear as two distinct oblong spots oneach side. On the eleventh segmentthe spots are less distinct and often seemreduced to one, and in the last two seg-ments they are entirely wanting. Theventral surface, between the legs, isusually more or lessblack. The tibiae,tarsi, claws, and basal portion of thefemora of the legs are dark brown onthe ex{ernal side. The prolegsare paleyellowish green and without spots.There are a few very short hairs on thehead, along the sides, on the ventralsegment around the anus, on the legs,and several on each of the prolegs.Length o-25 mm.

The young are pale green and thespots are quite pale, but become darkerand more distinct as the larvae increasein size. The larvae feed together until

42 ’ST’CIIE [April SSS.they are about fully grown when theybecome more scattered. The abdomenis kept slightly raised, but is liftedmuch more, and the ventral surface ex-posed, when disturbed. They occurredin sufficient numbers last year to defol-iate many young birches and destroylarge portions of the foliage of somelarger trees. They seemed to devourany species with equal avidity, and theseincluded ]3etula ala, ]3. lenla, ]3.lutea, ]3. niffra, and ]3. papyrifera.

In some respects this larva resem-bles that of Croesus septentrionalis ofEurope, but in ’the latter, the spots areall much more distinct and separate, theupper row are not connected by thebrown band, the legs are not so brown,and the prolegs are tipped with brown.Mrs. A. K. Dimmock in "The insects

of Betula in N. A. "(Psyche, t885, v.4, P. 86) in giving references to thisinsect says, "Norton (Proc. entom, soc.Phil., 186z, v. 1, p. 199) describes themale of this species and later (Trans.

Am. entom, soc., 867, v. 1, p. 84)describes the female." This is evi-dently a mistake as both of Norton’sdescriptions refer to the female.

_All the specimens raised by me werefemales, and there are ten specimens,all females, in the Museutn of compara-tive zoology at Cambridge, Mass.,which were collected by J. Shute atWoburn, Mass., in 187o. The onlymale I have seen is an imperfect one inthe Harris collection. In his catalogHarris wrote ’Larva on birches, gre-garious, Sept., winged May I, 1827,do. Aug. 5, 83 ’’’The only references I have seen re-garding the larva is at the end of Nor-ton’s description of the female (Trans.Am. entom, soc., 1867, v. I, p.84) wherehe says,"Q.uite rare, wild cherry,Aug. 6. Bred by Mr. Walsh fi’omlarvae feeding on birch." Was the"wild cherry" referred to, the cherrybirch, ]3etula lenla?

SOUND SLEEP OF LYCAENA AMERI-CANA.

A few years ago, being detained in Bostonuntil the middle of August, and having fewbutterflies to study, I was led to notice thosefew very carefully, especially L. americana,which was very abundant in the vacant lots,and the grass-plots in Marlborough street.

I noticed that, as one side of the streetgrew shady, towards sunset, L. americanamight be seen clinging to grass-blades, andwith wings somewhat drooped, suggestingthat the muscles were relaxed by sleep.Approaching one, I gently touched the

grass, but the butterfly remained as before.I shook the grass, then shook it less gently,but the butterfly did not stir. Then I pickedthe blade, and carried it in my hand, nottaking any care to keep it upright, for fiveblocks, and even then it was only as the sun

struck the grass, when I crossed the street,that the butterflv awoke, and lazily flew to ashady place, re’sting as before. I followed,and this time a touch was enough to startleit. did not arouse it a third time, but after-wards, in the country, I.tried the experimentseveral tlmes, always with the same result.

have always found the butterfly in thesame position, more than half-way up thegrass-blade, in the shade, and with the headup, the wings drooped to an acute, instead ofa right, angle with the body. It certainlysleeps very soundly, and when aroused, doesnot become as active as in the middle of theday.

I have waked and disturbed one /. amer-icana six times, each time immediately afterit had settled down after a former awakening,and even the last time it flew but ten steps orso, and settled down as before.

Caroline G. Soule.

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june · 2019. 8. 1. · about18 june many of the large larvae entered the soil to pupate, and they...

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