SYNOPSIS OF FOOD-HABITS OF THE LARVÆ OF THE SESIIDÆ

Extract

The larvæ are universally borers, but in the choice of food-plants there is the widest diversity; some bore through and devour solid wood, as do the larvæ of the Cossids; some prefer the pith of woody stems; others are found in the superficial woody layers; still others affect the roots of plants both woody and herbaceous, or are sometimes to be found in the borings made by other insects, as is the case with Memythrus tricinctus, Sesia pictipes, S. scitula, and others. The larvæ are yellowish or dirty white, beset with only a few short hairs. The head and cervical shield are chestnut brown. They hibernate in various stages of growth, but do not overwinter in the pupal stage, as far as the species of the northern States are concerned. The larvæ of Melittia satyriniformis hibernate fully grown in the cocoons. When fully developed they spin elongate oval cocoons composed of chips cemented together by a gummy secretion or silk. The cocoons are formed in the burrows or in contiguous places.