Article beginning on page 411.
Psyche 9:411-412, 1900.

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PSYCHE.
NOTES ON HYBRIDS OF SAMIA CYNTHIA AND ATTACUS PROMETIIEA.
CAROLINE GRAY SOULE, BROOKLINE, MASS.
Having been told that it was difficult,
if not impossible, to obtain fertile eggs from cross-mating these species I care-
fully watched the normal mating of
both species for suggestions which
should help in obtaining hybrids.
I found that the males were so
excited by the odor of the females that
they would fasten their claspers on any
part of a-female's body or even on each
other. Therefore I put female cy~tttAiasit~ a cage toward which the wind blew from
a cage containing a female fromethea.,
and introduced maleprometheas. After
a few minutes of the wild flight and quiv- ering of the wings characteristic of the mating of jromethea the males mated
the cym'hitz females as readily as if they had been of their own species.
The same experiment was tried with
cynthia males and promethea females
and with equal success so far as mating
went.
Of the eggs I sent away more than
three fourths and of these I know the
results of those sent Miss Eliot only.
Only two of my eggs laid by cynthia
females hatched, and the larvae were
normal cynthia larvae except that in the last stage they were greener.
Of the eggs laid by pronzethea females
all mine and Miss Eliot's hatched and
gave great variety, though we divided
them into "the promethea form" and
' the fynfhi' form," for convenience in
referring to them.
There were more 01 the "p~071adhea
form" and these were normal promethea
larvae except that in the last stage some had very noticeable blue patches around
the black dots of the lateral and stigma- tal rows. Rearing them side by side: with a brood of normai, pure frometheas 1
could see no other difference.
The "cj?z/h/a form" larvae were like
the prometheas, in the first two stages, but after the second moult they could
be separated from those, though they
varied among themselves.
Their heads were yellow barrccl with
black. Some bodies wcie yellow with
transverse black lines, black tubercles
on the first two and anal segments, and
yellow tubercles elsewhere. The legs
were black, the props yellow.
Others had two yellow tubercles,




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412 PSYCHE. [November, 1902
rather larger, on the third segment and
one bifid, larger, yellow tubercle on the eleventh segment. Part of the dorsal
tubercles, on the abdominal segments,
were yellow, part black, and part were
yellow ringed with black.
There was
no regularity in the distribution of color- ing, the yellow tubercles being some-
times on one side, sometimes on both,
sometimes opposite, sometimes at one
end, sometimes at the other,
sometimes
more on one side than on the other.
After the third moult the head was
yellow with two black spots, and some-
times two black dots.
The body was
almost white, the first and last segments being yellow. The first segment had
six black tubercles, shaped like gvtfhia's; the second segment had two large
yellow tubercles ringed with black on
the dors~nn and two smaller black
ones on each
side; the third segment
had two large yellow dorsal, and four
smaller yellow tubercles ringed with
black, and the abdominal segments were
like this except the eleventh which had
one large dorsal tubercle of yellow, and the other four tubercles smaller, yellow ringed with black; and the anal segment
which liad two rather large tubercles,
yellow ringed with black, on the dorsum, one black one on each side below these,
and two black ones on the anal plate.
The legs were yellow, the props yel-
low with a black spot, except the anal
props which had 111; black triangle
characteristic of proynethaa,
One larva had the dorsal tubercles on
the second segment smooth and shaped
like those of pomcfhea, the others had
these tubercles like cynthia's.
After the fourth moult the head was
small, yellow with two small black marks, and in one case a black bar across it.
The body was pale blue-green with white
bloom, except the first and anal seg-
ments, the former being yellow, the latter very yellow green like that of {immethea. The dorsal tubercles on every segment
were long and shaped like promethea's
thoracic tubercles in most cases, though a few had abdominal dorsal tubercles
shaped like cynthia's. These dorsal
tubercles varied much in color, some
being pale coral-red, darker on the tho- racic segments and growing paler to the
eleventh segment ; others being pale red on the first six segments, yellow else-
where; others pale red on a few seg-
ments and green with yellow tops on the
rest. Some had the thoracic dorsal
tubercles ringed with black at base,
others liad all the dorsal tubercles so
ringed ; while others had black rings
irregularly distributed, not even on oppo- site tubercles on some segments.
The other tubercles were like cynthia's, pale blue ringed with black. The legs
and props were yellow with a black dot
on each. Two had the anal plate edged
with pale blue, like cynthia's, and one
had this edge almost purple.
One larva had the dorsal tubercles,
Ironi the eighth to the anal segment,
pale coral-red at tip and vivid yellow-
green at base, and the two dorsal tuber- cles at the top of the anal plate vivid
green with a broad black ring on each.




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November, qozl PSYCHE. 413
At this stage many died from a disease
which killed also many of my excomtus
and all my promeihea larvae, and many
of Miss Eliot's hybrids in Nonquilt.
The "'promethea form " spun after the
fourth moult, but most of the "cynthia
form " moulted a fifth time.
After this moult they were like the
last stage, but much greener and with
much less bloom.
In this stage more died from the
same disease, though each was given a
tin by itself.
It is not possible to give. in writing
any adequate idea of the variety or the
beauty of this "cynthia form." Both
forms came from eggs laid by the same
moth and kept separate from other eggs
laid after similar mating.
I think that anyone can obtain fertile
eggs of hybrids of Attache moths by
following my plan of arranging the
cages for mating, although every coition may not result in fertile eggs.
Eggs laid by a female cynthia which
I found out of doors mated with a male
A. cecropia failed to give larvae, as did eggs laid by cynthia females mated with
promethcu males. f
GROUP CHARACTERISTICS OF SOME NORTI-I AMERICAN BUT- TERFLIES - V.
BY SAMUEL H. SCUDDER, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.
Apostraphia Htlbner.
Ca/erftil/ar at birth : All the tubercles rounded conical, one to a segment in
each row but the infrastigmatal where
there are two, three rows on each side
besides a supralateral series with append- ages less than half as long as the others. Mature ca/er$iZlar: Head covered with
a pair of slender, tapering, slightly re- curved spines. Each side of body with
three rows of very long and slender
straight, very scantily bristled spines, those of the upper rows equal and half
as long again as the segments. Chrjw
all's : Body with strong laminate protu- berances, the frontal pair excessively
elongate, widely divergent, ribbon-like
and serrate; antenna1 joints conspic-
uously spined ; third abdominal segment
and the adjoining segments to some
extent with it with a laminate laterodorsal flange crowned as the other abdominal
tubercles with slender aciculate spines. Apostraphia charithonia L. (ffdicmia
chat'itonia Auct.). Euiterfly: Wings rich blackish brown above, a little paler below. Fore wings crossed by three narrow yellow stripes, the middle one running obliquely from costa, past the Lip of cell toward the middle of the outer border; another suhparal- el to it midway to the tip of wing; the third following the black median vein to its first fork and here bent abruptly parallel LO the others. Hind wings with a rather narrow




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