Article beginning on page 27.
Psyche 5:27, 1888.

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PSYCHE.
MIMICRY IN HEMIPTERA.
E. P. VAN DUZEE, BUFFALO, N. Y.
The family Zygaeidae presents us
with two examples of protective mim-
icry that seem well worth recording.
These cases which are very similar,
have doubtless been frequently observed
by collectors, but I have seen no pub-
lished account of them. I refer to the
adolescent stages of Cymus angusta-
tus and qedancala dorsalis; both live
on the various species of Carex and
Juncus growing in swampy places in
open woods and pastures.
Cymus angusfwfus occurs princi-
pally on "fancus nodosus and allied'spe- cies, but is frequently found on the
smaller Carices; it is extremely abnn-
dant in the localities mentioned above,
and along roadside ditches, and in fact
wherever the JXZCMS grows. In this
vicinity it appears in May, and continues until late in autumn ; copulation takes
place about the first of July, the imma- ture insects are abundant through the
last of July, the imago appearing from
the first to the tenth of August. The
young, at least in the nymph state, bear a striking resemblance to the capsules
and perigynia of the plants on which
they occur; they are of a dull straw-
color, ovate in form, compressed or
somewhat lenticulate, acute behind,
produced and blunt before, and with
the connexivum expanded and very thin.
When taken in the sweep-net with the
glumes and fruit of these plants, it is
all but impossible to detect them as long as they remain quiet, which however,
fortunately for the collector, is never for any considerable length of time. I
have frequently poked them aside with
my tweezers, never suspecting their true character until they indicated it by
scrambling to their feet and running
off, which they did with surprising
facility.
Oedancala dorsalis is a larger spe-
cies and rather less abundant ; it occurs wherever Carex vulfinoicLea can be
found, but can frequently be taken on
other species of Carex and Cyjerus.
In the nymph state it greatly resembles
the preceeding, but is larger, more
rounded in form, has a conspicuous
dark line on the dorsum, and is of a
much more sluggish disposition ; it is
equally difficult to detect, when on the plant or mixed with the contents of the
sweep-net. The imago when senile is
Pu&e 5 027-28 (pre.1903). hfp //psyche aitclub org/5/5.0027.htd



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PSYCHE.
[March 1888
deeply suffused with red ; in this state they can be found through June and
July, when, however, they are less
common than at other times : they
reach maturity about the tenth of Aug-
ust, but occur throughout the summer
from May to September,being the most
abundant in August.
I would here mention another hem-
ipteron that affects the same plants,
through July and August, the Liburnia
dorsalis of Fitch, who described it
under the Fabrician genus Delfhax.
Like the foregoing species it derives
protection by its close resemblance to
the inflorescence of its native grasses, being of a soiled yellow or testaceous
color with a darker dorsal stripe. It is not a common species here, and is dif-
ficult to capture as it is very shy and
agile, and when approached leaps so
quickly that the eye cannot follow it.
I have never taken the young.
VARIABLE NUMBER OF MOLTS OF INSECTS.
BY ANNA KATHERINA DIMMOCK, CAMBRIDGE, MASS. The first notes given below are trans-
lated from a paper by Alfred Wailly,
entitled "Educations d'attaciens serici- g6nes faites si Norbiton, Surrey, Angle- terre, en 1884" (Bull. d'insectol. agri- cole, Nov. 1885, v. 10, p. 173-174).
"In my English article, recently pub-
lished in the Journal of the Society of
tirts, of London, I have given certain
accounts of the curious system employed
by Mr. Weniger in rearing lepidoptera
and of the extraordinary results obtained by him. He rears the larvae in a large
glass box, a green-house in miniature,
heatedby a kerosene lamp, upon which
is placed a saucer filled with water.
The larvae, kept at a uniform tempera-
ture of about 25 degrees centigrade, live in an atmosphere charged with the
vapors of water and kerosene, and in-
stead of dying of disease, they develop
with extraordinary rapidity. I have
seen the larvae of Antheraea mylitta,
hatched seven days after the deposition
of the eggs, arriving at their last stage towards the end of a month. Attacus
atlas was reared in a like manner, and
fourteen days after the formation of the cocoons, the emergence of the moths
took place ; but not a single copulation was obtained. Many delicate species
difficult to rear, ha& been reared in
this manner with great success.
"There is also a fact which, I think,
here merits attention. The larvae of
Antheraea mylitta and of Ceratoca@a
iwperialis, species considered as hav-
ing six stages, and which, when. reared
under normal conditions actually have
the six stages, when reared in this




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