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Psyche 2:123, 1877.

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The whole larva is sparsely covered with short fine hairs. Length 45 mm. A very ordinary looking larva, and forming a striking contrast to the brilliant larvae of 0. nupera and the two European species. When at rest it bends its head to one side, after the manner of the larvae of Lithophane, thus differ- ing from 0. nupera, which rests straight along the stalk of its food plant. I obtained the eggs from which I reared this larva by confining a female in a box with leaves of Iris, on which it laid a large bunch. The larvae however did not thrive on this plant, and only one or two came to maturity. Calpe canadensis Beth. Color greenish white. A row of irregular black spots above ; another row of black spots on each side, three on each segment and one between. The middle spot on each segment is larger than the other two, and partially encloses a bright yellow patch above it. Beneath dull green, contrasting with the yellowish white color of the sides. Head greenish yellow with six black spots, two larger above and four smaller about the jaws. Eleventh segment slightly humped and with three conspicuous black spots. Length 35 mm. Spun a frail cocoon among some moss, and emerged about a fortnight after, June 22. Feeds on Thalictrum cormti. The young larva spins a case for itself, when about to change its skin. The mature larva is very showy and conspicuous. Roland Thaxter.
Oviposition in Spiders.
In PSYCHE, v. 2, p. 33-34, I described the method by which the eggs are laid and enclosed by several spiders that make cocoons attached by one side. In July last J had the good fortune to see the
method of oviposition of
Drassus, which carries the
cocoon in its claws or leaves
it loose in the nest. A fe-
male, who had been' kept
several days in a bottle, be-
Fig. 5.
gan her cocoon early one morning, and when I first saw Pnche 2 12J-124 tprc.1903). ht4)://psychmi1club org/2/2-121 html



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her at about six, a.m., she had made a flat web about a centimetre in diameter, held by threads extending in various directions to the sides of the bottle (A in the figure). The spi- der stood over this web and dropped the eggs (E) in a soft mass on it. She then spun threads from one side of the web to the other, over the eggs, until they were completely covered, and finished the cocoon by biting away the threads that held it to the bottle.
This agrees exactly with Menge's description of the cocoon- making of Lycosa piratica. In all his later accounts of this process, in various species of spiders, he says that, after the eggs are laid, the spider drops over them a small quantity of liquid which the eggs absorb, thereby becoming larger. This did not take place in any of the cases which I have seen. The eggs were always laid in a soft and wet condition, the whole mass resembling a drop of jelly, and they were always covered immediately by the spider. J. H. Emerton. Proceedings of the Club.
27. LOCUSTS IN MID-OCEAN. Mr. SAMUEL H. SCUD- DEE, exhibited a bottle full of Acridians put into his hands for identification by Dr. H. A. Hagen. They had been sent to the Museum of Comparative Zoology, at Cambridge, by Rev. N. H. Chamberlain, accompanied by the following memorandum : These locusts came on board the ship Harrisburg, of Boston, on the pas- sage from Bordeaux bound to New Orleans, on the 2d day of November, 1865, in Lat. 25' 28' North, Long. 41' 33' West, making the nearest point of land 1200 miles off. They came on board in a heavy rain squall; the clouds and ship's sails were full of them for two days. E. G. WISWELL, Master.
The locusts prove to be Acridium (Schistocerca) peregri- long known for its powers of flight and c~estruction in the Old World. The Compte-rendu of the Belgian Entomological So- ciety, No. 44, Nov. 3, 1877, p. 3-5, contains a note upon their appearance in Corfu, in Spain, and even in England. The Corfu swarm was composed of the variety with yellow colored hind wings, and therefore came from northern Africa, where that form is found ; while the Spanish and English swarms were



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