1 6 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Jan., '04 



and dull straw-yellow markings; of a series of twenty, the 

 uppermost figure on Plate III shows the lightest, and directly 

 below this the darkest specimen. Below these is shown the 

 second and much less abundant species, Exyra scmicrocea Gn., 

 side by side with Xanthoptera semi/lava Gn., with which it has 

 been confused in some collections, the colors and pattern being 

 almost identical ; but semicrocea is readily distinguishable by 

 its brownish-black head, collar and front of thorax, and by the 

 direction of the line separating the yellow and black areas on 

 the primaries. The third species, the lower pair illustrated 

 on Plate III, has been identified for me by Dr. Dyar as 

 Exyra rolandiana Grt. The smaller examples with blackish 

 wings relieved by only a few red scales, approach E. fax ; 

 and the larger paler specimens exhibit varying proportions of 

 yellow, purplish-red, and smoky-black. 



To what extent the larvae of these three species of Exyra 

 haveS.flava as their foodplant, the few hours spent among 

 the plants was not sufficient to determine. The small pitcher- 

 plant, ^. pnrpurea (Plate III, middle figure) grew abundantly 

 close at hand ; some of its leaves showed evidence of feeding, 

 and it is known to be the foodplant of rolandiana. All the 

 larvae observed in flava seemed to be of one species, and a 

 small number of moths bred from this plant all proved to be 

 Exyra riding si i. The general appearance of the larva is 

 shown on Plate III. When full grown it is brownish-maroon 

 in color ; head pale brown with darker band and spots ; feet 

 black ; the larger tubercles spine-like, bearing fine hairs. 



The young larva spins a fine silken net like a cobweb, 

 closing the mouth of the pitcher. This web is often absent, 

 sometimes ruptured and not repaired. Below this web the 

 larva feeds on the inner surface of the leaf, moving about on a 

 carpet of silk, and leaving the outer wall of the leaf intact. 

 Soon its sawdust-like droppings effectually plug the small end 

 of the pitcher, and this rapidly accumulating mass of cork- 

 like fragments precludes the possibility of any danger to the 

 caterpillar from the secretions or trap-like structure of the 

 plant. Before spinning its cocoon the larva sometimes cuts a 

 straight narrow groove around the pitcher, causing the upper 



