Daily Kennebec journal., 1891-12-05

On July 50 shW great quantity VI
arts crossing the road In a southerly di-
reeiion. They were lightcolored, about
one fifth Of an inch in length. and
seemed to be moving from one home TO
anol her, for many we're carrying pupa,
and others larya Ia various stages OF
growth. They proceeded in sn orderly
manner, ten or twelve abreast, and there
must have been thousands of them, for
watched some time, and all had not
then passed it was not ike an ordinary
sWarming of male and female ants, for
these were nearly all VOL kers, few
large win Sed females, however, being
outside the ranks. viewing the pro,es
sion. Some brush each side OF the road
prt vented me from seeing from whence
they came, or whittier they were going
The day following, the track in the road
made by the ants showed plainly.
During the month Of June. being an
amateur odonatist, l collected twenty
eight species Of dragon flies. and in July,
twelve more Nearly all Of these were
ike some taken before, though some
were not al all common. l have often
noted the various methods needed for
capturing the different species OF mos
quito hawks" and wonder IL Others have
noticed il too The more common spe-
cies may, of course, be taken nearly
every way. but to obtain others it re
quires stratagem. GoAphaS ertkts Libel
tpia e1Rsta and some others fly so swiftly
t is almost necessary to wait until they
aligln before the net can be placed over
them. In direct contrast to these, Soma
tochiora tt5era flies 80 laziiy it may be
taken on the wing with ease. One even
few into my nef, and did not try to get
out. The males OF the genus CorduIegds
Ter Il = swiftly directly over the brook, and
by careful watching may be intercepted d
in their a ght, though they are adopts in
the art OF dod2ing. Lestes and ISchRHya
perch In the long grass in the meadow,
and may be easily swept of with the net
while walking along Several times in
July |; observed ErgthrOHt0a coRdHala
LAYING eggs on the plants in the brook
The male, in each case. accompanied the
female, clasping her just back Of the
head, Both would light on some plant,
then with the tip of the abdomen Just
below the surface of the water, she
placed the eggs In longitudinal rows
within the leaves. 4irgia ti0tdcea owl.
posits in the same manner, but the fe
males of LibeiIuia and .EschRa, have
observed, were not in any case accom-
panied by the male. | have neyer yet
been successful in raising the larve of
dragon. flies in The house. because of the
d iheulty in keeping the water fresh
enough. aud with a sufficient quantity
of food.
On July 2S stuffed beautiful red
winged blat kbird, almost perfect spec
linen.
Ia August the delusive Grapta butter
flies appear. Lighting on the trunks OF
tie apple trees, II is hard at first to dis
tinguish them, because the under side
of the wings, when folded, so closely re-
sembles the bark of the treee. y. dtbam
il particularly hard to obtain, from a
habit it has of crawling into crevices be
tween boards, and then emerging. |
have chased one around the barn for an
hour, and then did not get it.
NV time during August was consider
ably occupied proviiing food for my
Gagged brds--in other words, caterpil'
lars. On July II about one hundred of
the Sc birds" hatchtd d from eggs laid on
June u BY a PidtySamia cecroptd moth
hese wtre almost blat k at first, and
about one eigth Of an inch in
length Not Known exactly what
the favorite food plant might be,
placed several kinds of branches in the
breeding place. hoping that one might
be satisfactory. They commenced to
feed on every branch, but died rapidly,
until only five were left on apple leaves.
hese were strorg and vigorous, and in
about ten days prepared for the first
moult Aft. this operation. and each
succeeding moult, they deyouIei tn ir
cast off clothes, beiug different in th
respect from many other caterpiliars
have reared The period between mouits
after this was Il little more Than two
weeks each time, and they moulted
four times before reaching maturity
The first OF September they were
four and one fourth inches in lens tia, and
three fourths of an inch in diameter.
With brilliant trimmings of red, yellow
and blue tubercles, they were gorgeous
indeed 10 behold Having read that this
species was yeryd tiicult To rear, feared
these beauties might lose their vitality,
crawling about before pupating, but in
thi, was happily disappointed, for they
took v,ry kindly to the branches pro-
vided and Low five fine cueGons sdorn
my cage, and await rex5 summers open
ipg. These are by 10 means sll OF my
covoons he caterniuars of Ieted Pot5-
ybfmus .ictiaS ilHa, SnfUaid 10, and sew
eral others. beside some of butterflies,
have been reared within the cage this
year, and mauy o.her spsvies in former
years. The moths and eitlles so
obtained are larger and more perfect
than those taken out OF doors, and |
have the great pleasure of watching
them through all the nsfoTmations.
On September l6 found several larva !
of LjmsaHis disippas on willow. These
pretty creatures, now very small, live
through the winter, aud construct very
neat winter residences of leaves, in which
they lie dormant
The season for these ,b ervations
draws near its close he summer, with
all lis opportunities for the study OF ma
ture, is past, but may all in our beloved
Agassiz Association, with me. look for |
ward to another summer. and hope for
still greater opportunities for studying
and ppreeiatiny the wonderful works
of God.