COMMUNAL COCOONS AND THE MOTHS WHICH WEAVE THEM.

BY W. J. HOLLAND, PtI.D., PITTSBURGH, PENN.

[Annual address of the retiring president of the Cambridge Entomological Club, 3 January, 1893.

One of the comparatively recent dis-coveries in the field of entomologicalinvestigation has been that of the curi-ous habit possessed by certain lepidop-terous larvae of living in communitiesand weaving for themselves a largeouter cocoon, or envelope, in whichthey each subsequently spin a smallercocoon in which they undergo trans-formation into the chrysalid state, andfrom which they subsequently emergeas moths. Thus far this habit has onlybeen observed in the hyponomeutidgenus Hyphantidium, the generaAnaphe, Walk., and Hypsoides, Butl.(Coenostegia, Mabille), which havebeen commotly referred to the Noto-dontidae,* and the pyralid genus Coeno-domus, Walsingham. To this list Inov have the pleasure of adding a lip-arid moth fl’om tropical West Africa,for which I propose the generic nameOecura, and which I shall specificallydesignate by the name of its discoverer,the earnest and talented explorer, Rev.Dr. Good, to whom I have in recent

years been indebted for many notableacquisitions to my collection. I alsoappend the description of two newspecies of Anaphe, from the tropicalWest Coast of Afl’ica, A. clara, mihi,and A. subsordida, mihi (vide infra).The ilrst reference which I have been

able to find to the curious habit to whichI have made allusion is in an article com-municated by Dr. Ch. Coquerel to theEntomological society of France at itsmeeting held Dec. 3, 854, and pub-lished in the Annales for the year 855.He alludes to the great cocoons as wellknown objects, "On connaissait depuislongtemps ces grandes poches de solequi garnissent souvent routes les branchesprincipales de plusieurs arbres de Mada-gascar appartenant pour la plupart ala famille de Ldgumineuses (SutrfaAlaclagascariensis, 3limosa Z.efiDek,etc.) mais on n’avait jamais d6crit lesinsectes qui forment ces cocons, avee

Observations entomologiques divers insectesrecueillls h Madagascar. 5me parfie. Par M. le Dr.Ch. Coquerel, _nnales de la Soc. ent. de Franc% 3meserie, vol. iii p. 5z9 et seq.

Probably correctly referred to the Liparidae. Intsia Jgadagascariensis. "Sutria" is misprint.

386 [February 893.

lesquels les Malgaches tissent des 6toffesremarquable par leur 6clat et leur soli-dit6." He informs us that the cater-pillars of Bom3yx ( l-lypsoides) Rada-ma, Coq., live after the manner of thecommon European processionaries, andafter having woven in common an enor-mous pouch which is often several feetin length, each forms in its interior anindividual cocoon, and there undergoesthe final transformation. The speciesdescribed by Coquerel in this paper areZ-Zypsoides Radama, andand AnaAe Panda, Boisd., the latterfrom Natal, in reference to which Mons.Coquerel remarks that it has the samelarval habits as the two Mascarene spe-cies, and that its silk is employed in thesame way by the natives of the countryin which it is tbund. Subsequently, in1863, Dr. Coquerel artd Mons. A. Vin-son published another paper upon thissubject in the Bulletin de la Soci6t6d’acclimatation et d’histoire naturelle dela R6union, and followed it in 866 bya paper in the Bulletin of the FrenchSoci6t6 d’acclimatation. The last articleby Dr. Coquerel which treats of thesubject is contained in the Annales ofthe Entomological society of France forI866, having been presented at the meet-ing of the Society held in July of thatyear. This article is accompanied by aplate representing the cocoons and outercocoon-bag woven by /-/. 2adaraa.Meanwhile in 859 Mr. A. W. Scottpublished in the Proceedings of theZoological society of London a paperin which he described a moth found inNew South Wales, which is referred to

the Hyponomeutidae, and to which hegave the name ftyphantidium seri-cearium. The social habits of thelarvae of this insect are remotely relatedto those of the Mascarene insects de-scribed by Coquerel. The paper ofMr. Scott is accompanied by a plategiving anatomical details of Hyphan-tidium. For seventeen years after thepublication of the last paper by Coq-uerel, or fi’om t866 to z883, nothingappears to have been added to the liter-ature of this interesting subject, thoughMr. A. G. Butler in ,877 and again in1878 described a species of Anaphe,the former from Ambriz, and the latterfrom Old Calabar; and in I882 erectedthe genus Hypsoides for the receptionof/-/. 3@ars, a new species from Mada-gascar, strictly congeneric with Bom@xtadama, Coq., and 2?ombyx Diego,Coq. In 883 Carl Fromholz publishedan article in the Berliner entomolo-gische zeitschrift (Band xxvii, pp. 9et seq.), in which he gives an interestingaccount of the larval habits of Anaphepanda, Boisd., based upon materialwhich had been presented to the ento-mological museum at Berlin by theGerman savant and traveller, Dr.Fischer. The paper is accompanied bya plate upon which the larva and thecocoon-bag of A. panda are depicted.According to the information given byDr. Fischer the natives of th regionabout sixty miles inland from Dar-es-Salaam, where the cocoons were ob-tained, report that the caterpillarsoccupy the nest, which they weave as acommon home, for two years before

February 1893.] PSYCItE. 387

emerging as moths. The nests, accord-ing to the same authority, are collectedby the blacks and in times of want are

added to the stores of the native larder.The next contribution to the litera-

ture of the subject is the masterlyarticle by Lord Walsingham publishedin the Transactions of the LinneanSociety for the year 1885, foundedlargely upon material communicated tothe writer by Col. J. H. Bowker.This article is profusely illustrated, andWalsingham describes and figures twonew species of the genus Anaphe,A. infracta and A. carteri. Accord-ing to information given Lord Walsing-hana by Col. Bowker, the natives of.South _A_frica use the silk of the cocoon-

bags in cases of injury very much as

oiled silk is used by surgeons in more

civilized lands. Lord Walsinghamfollowed his paper upon the genus_A_naphe by a paper published in theTransactions of the Linnean Society for

1887 upon Coenodomus Hockingii,Wls., a curious pyralid moth found inthe Punjab, which has larval habitssomewhat closely allied to those of the_African genera Anaphe and Hypsoides.This paper is accompanied by a mostexcellent plate giving full details.

In 1888 Mr. H. Druce described in theProceedings of the Zoological society ofLondon a new species of Anaphe fromGambia, which he names after its dis-coverer, A. Moloneyi. Mr. Druce saysthat the cocoon of this species, whichhad been presented to him by Capt.Moloney, was "almost the shape of a

large pear, about five inches long, and

was found hanging Dom the branch of a

tree by a fine silken thread." He alsonotes the fact that he had recently re-

ceived fl’om Mr. _A_. Higgins a specimenof the cocoon of A. infracta, Wls., ob-tained at "Ile Ire, about fifty miles in-land from Lagos, where they are verycommon, hanging from trees." He adds’I’he natives eat the larvae, which are

of a reddish brown color; they fry themin palm-oil. Mr. Higgins informs me

that they are of a sweetish taste whencooked. They also make use of thesilk, taking it from the cocoons, wash-ing it, and forming it into hanks, which

they sell in the market-places; it is alsomade into rough cloths by the women."The cocoon given to Mr. Druce byCapt. Moloney yielded Mr. Druce aboutsixty moths, and I am personally in-debted to him for a fine suite of this

species now in my collection. Thus farI have not received any specimens ofAnaphe infracla from any of thosepersons, who have collected for me uponthe West _African coast south of CapeLopez, but I have received several coc-

oons of A. 3oloneyi, from one ofwhich, represented in the plate, abouteighty moths had emerged previous to

shipment. The last cocoon sent tne

was delayed in transit, and upon open-ing the tin box containing it, I foundthe remains of a large number of mothswhich had etnerged and perished uponthe journey.The cocoons of . 2kfoloneyi which I

have received have not been suspendedby a thread of silk, but are firmly fixedamong the outer twigs of branches. The

388 PSUCIIE. [February 1893.

cocoon represented upon the plate is61/2 inches in the major, and 3 inchesin the minor diameter. The cocoon ofOecura Goodii depicted upon the same

plate is flattish and was found attachedto the trunk of a tee, and superficiallyin form and color strikingly resemblesa reddish brown fungoid growth. It is

6 inches long and 41/2 inches wide uponthe longest diameters, and at the deepestpoint in the middle not more than inchthick. Dissected across the middle itssection presents the form of an arc, thechord of which represents the base bywhich it was attached to the bark ofthe tree. The inner cocoons are lessthan an inch in length and about one-

third of an inch in diameter, and are

arranged with the longer axis in a posi-tion vertical to the base in the middle,and as the outer circumference is reachedwith the longer axis sloping inwardly,while just at the edge a few cocoons are

disposed horizontally to the base. Thecocoons are very compact, and im-bedded in layers of soft silk. The outerinvestiture or covering is composed ofseveral distinct layers and superficiallyis smoother and more compact than inthe cocoon of A. 3loloneyi. When theinsect emerges from the inner cocoon ithas also to force its way out through thetissues of the external envelope, which

yield to the advance, but close again,leaving hardly any trace of the perfora-tion. There is no common passage forexit.

It is worthy of note tlat these insects

appear to be peculiarly subject to theattacks of parasitic enemies. Fromholz

describes a lepidopterous parasite towhich he gives the name Zophodi@sishyaenella, and which fi’om the descrip-tion and figure I judge to be identicalwith the insect described by Coquerelin I885 as Chilo carnifex. The sameinsect is found upon the West Afi’icancoast. Walsingham figures a Tachina,T. Onchestus, Walk., which preysupon the larwte. I have a series ofTachina which emerged from the co-coons figured upon the plate, but whichdo not appear to be identical with thespecies named by Walker.

I append some extracts from the notessent me by Mr. Good.

No. IOO. (Oecura Goodii, Holl.)

"March 7th, i89. Seven days ago,March Ist, my boy retnrned from downriver with the queer object labelled No.IOO. He found it attached to the trunk ofa tree and pulled it off’. Three clays agoI saw it first, and pulled off one of thecocoon cells. Cuttingit open I found a

caterpillar about half changed to a chry-salis. They must only have just spunup when they were discovered.May 9th. Three moths came out in

the box in which this "comb" of cocoonswas kept. I thought they came from it,but I could only find very small rents inits face, so I waited for more to emerge.No more came out till May ith, when,to make certain that they had not comefi’om something 1 had forgotten in theground at the bottom of the box in whichthey were, I turned out all the earth.May I9th. Today two more of these

February x$93. PSTCtt.E. 389

moths came out, but one had damageditself.May zznd. Another moth emerged.May z3rd. Another moth hatched.May 3oth. Another moth has come

out.A large number of flies, not moths,

(Tachina), also came out of this massof cocoons, each one of which had ofcourse destroyed a chrysalis. Two ofthese I send pinned and numbered oo."

No. 2 I. (Ana_phe Moloeyi, Druce.)

"Sept. 29th, I89I. This morning a

native brought me the cocoon numberedI2I. I have seen several similar co-

coons before I supposed this to havebeen spun up by a single very largecaterpillar. I bought it and laid it downon my table till I could finish what Iwas doing, when the boys called to me,and pointed out that a moth had come

out, and there it was, creeping up the

wall, where it finally settled in order to

allow its wings to develop. I now

realize that I have another multiplecocoon like No. oo. There must be a

number of species which spin suchcocoons, for I have" seen several otherslike this one but differing in importantparticulars.

Oct. 5th. Four more of the moths

have hatched.Oct. 6th. Three more came out today.

I remark that all of these moths so far

have emerged from the cocoon between

9 and IO A.M. All African butterflies

come out in the morning fl’om the

chrysalis, and all moths so far as I have

observed in the afternoon, or during the

night. I at first thought these mightbe day-flying moths, but they seem notto be, as they do not stir all day long.As was the case with No. oo, so here,a great many flies are emerging fromthis cocoon. I should say two fliescome out for every moth. I send a

couple of them pinned and numbered2 t." (They are of the same species as

that which emerged from the cocoon ofOecura.)

"Oct. 24th. The flies have ceased toemerge, but the moths are still coming.At first mostly males came out, thenmales and females, later only females.Three or four days ago I thought all themoths were out. All had apparentlycome out of one side, that fi’om whichthe twigs project, and I supposed thatthese were all that the nest contained.But a day or two ago they began to

come out from the other side and todayfour emerged, all males. I suppose thefemales will come later." From thedates on the envelopes it is plain thatthis surmise was correct.

It only remains to be said that in theeconomy of these insects we have awonderful illustration of instinct,scarcely less remarkable than that dis-

played by the bee, and especially won-derful because exhibited by the insect inits larval, and therefore immature, state.

OECURA,* gen. nOV.

Palpi minute, porrect, compressed, heavilyclothed with short hairs, the third joint shortand clothed with hair to its tip, and almostlost in the hairy vestiture of the second joint.

* Oo,pt Domi rectrix.

390 PSYCttt. [February $

The antennae of the male are moderatelyshort, heavily pectinated, of the femaleequally long but less heavily pectinated. Thepectinations are margined on both sides withdelicate hairs and have a spur on the outeredge near the extremity. The legs are hirsutewith two spurs upon the tibiae of the lastpair. The abdomen in the male has twominute tufts upon the dorsal line back of thethorax. The radial on the primaries and thesecondaries springs from near the bottom ofthe cell. The primaries are subtriangularwith the costa very moderately convex, ornearly straight for two-thirds of the distancefl’om the base with the apex rounded and theouter margin evenly convex, the inner angleis rounded, and the inner margin slightlyconvex before the base. The secondaries are

sub-pyriform with the outer margin evenlyrounded. The prevalent coloration is obsctrebrown and gray. The larva is characterizedby the habit of forming social cocoons, amultitude of individuals weaving a common

covering of silk, which is applied to thetrunks of trees and similar situations andpresents the appearance of a fungoid growth,within which each larva weaves a smallercocoon in which it undergoes final transform-ation.

Oecura Goodii, sp. nov. ’. Palpi, frontand collar dark brown. Antennae testaceous.The patagiae are brown margined externallyand internally by a few grayish hairs, orscales. The upper part of the abdomen im-mediately back of the thorax is grayish, theremainder of the abdomen is pale brown withan ochraceous tint on the sides. The under-side of the thorax and the abdomen is obscureochraceous. The legs are brown with thetibiae and tarsi annulated with whitish. Theprimaries are dark brown with some greenish-gray markings near the base, a broad green.ish-gray spot on the inner margin near themiddle succeeded by a transverse erenulatelimbal line of black. The margin is markedon the interspaces with greenish-gray spots,

which increase from the apex as far as thethird median nervule, then diminish andwiden again to the outer angle, which iswhitish. These spots are all marked on themiddle by a narrow dark line. The fringesare dark brown checked with pale gray atthe ends of the nervules, but at the outerangle the fl’inge is whitish. The secondariesare fuscous with an obscure discocellularmark and a submarginal transverse band.The fl-inges are as on the primaries from theouter angle to just before the anal angle, atwhich they are uniformly gray. The underside is pale fuscous with the middle area ofthe primaries clouded with pale fuliginous.Both wings have an obscure discal dot at theend of the cell. Both are traversed from thecosta by an incomplete brownish transversemedian line. The primaries have in additiona parallel transverse submarginal band.. Female almost exactly like the malebut larger. Expanse, ’, 33 mm.; , 45 mm.

ANAPHE, Walk.

A. clara, sp. nov. . Very like A.kloloeyi, Druce, but readily distinguishedfl’om that species by the fact that the nervulesare not black at their extremities upon the

upper side, and by the fact that on the lowerside the primaries have the cell clouded withchocolate and the apex as far as the thirdmedian is heavily marked with blackishscales. There is also a dark brown markupon the secondaries at the middle of thecosta. The species is also prevalently smallerin size than A. Moloneyi. Expanse ’, 3 to

4 mm. , 65 ram.

A. subsordida, sp. nov. . Allied toA. Moloneyi but with the wings narrower andmore elongate, having but one transverseblack line which is connected with the darkouter margin by a heavy black ray runningalong the radial and by a similar black rayon the extremity of the first median nervule.On the under side the markings of the upperside reappear, but almost the entire apical

Psyche, 189S. ol. 6. Plate 9.

February I893.] PSI:CtIE. 891

area enclosed between the transverse line andthe radial ray is dark reddish-brown. In ad-dition to the two rays of the upper surface,there is a dark ray upon the lower side uponthe second median. Expanse 55 ram.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 9.

Fig. I. Cocoon-bag of Oecura Goodii,Holl. The dotted line indicates a portionremoved for purposes of dissection.

Fig. 2. Cocoon-bag of Ana2hke 2loloneyi,Druce.

Fig. 3. Oecura Goodii, , sp. n.

Fig. 4. Oecura Goodii, , sp. n.

Fig. 5" Anajbhe clara, sp. n.

Fig. 6. Ana#he subsordida, , sp. n.

Fig. 7. Ana#ke moloneyi, , Druce.Fig. 8. Analbke infracta, , Wls.

ON THE ATTRACTION OF LIGHT FOR THE TWO SEXES OFCOLEOPTERA.

BY HENRY FREDERICK WICKHAM, IOWA CITY, IOWA.

Referring to the capture of moths,Dr. A. S. Packard writes, in a foot-noteon page 246 of his "Entomology forBeginners," It is a curious fact that ingeneral the males alone are attracted tolight; the same is probably true ofbeetles, especially the June beetle."As this statement does not agree verywell with my own experience in col-lecting Coleoptera I have been led togo over a portion of my material andembody the results in the followingtable. With the exception of the speci-mens from Tucson, which were takenat street gas-lamps, all were captured atelectric light.

Fifteen sets of insects have beenexamined. These are numbered in thetable and I have subjoined the localityin which each was taken as I find thata set from one locality will give a dif-ferent proportion of a certain sex thanthat from another. With the imper-fect data at hand it is impossible for me

to determine what relation the date ofcapture may have to the proportion ofeither sex (since it sometimes happensthat one sex appears somewhat earlierthan the other) and I leave this forfuture studies. As a rule only a fewdays were spent at any one collectingpoint and the set of each species repre-sents the work of two or three consecu-tive evenings, never of more than a

week.The insects have been taken at ran-

dom from several different families,chiefly using genera, however, in whichthe male secondary sexual charactersare sufficiently well developed to enablethe sexes to be separated without toomuch trouble or chance of error.Of these sets, those marked I, 3, 9,

I2 are from Tucson, Arizona; 2, 4, 5,IO, S, from Albuquerque, New Mex-ico; I3, 14, from Spokane Falls, Wash-ington, all collected by myself. Theremainder are from Lincoln, Nebraska

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