50 I XTOMOLOGICAI. NKWS. [April, 



cell of its devoured host, though three or four crawled out and 

 spun up against tin- glass. This species has heretofore been 

 known to prey on the larva- <>f another Hickory Tortricid which 

 feeds on tin- leaves, ^-Icro/hisis caryce Grote, 1'apilio I, 13 and 14. 

 It is much smaller than the Pimp/a, which may be accounted tor 

 by the fact that the larva of the latter wastes none of its substance 

 in forming a cocoon, and the perfect insect appears much larger 

 than its host. 



The moth was courteously determined by Prof. C. H. Fernald, 

 and proves to be a Tortricid long known to microlepidopterists 

 as an inhabitant of Hickory-nut hulls. It was first described by 

 Fitch (N. Y. Agric. Rept. xvi, 459, 1856) under the name J-'phip- 

 pophora caryana, now Grapholitha; and again by Shinier (Trans. 

 Am. Ent. Soc. II, 394) as Grapholitha carvcc. The larva when 

 full grown excavates a cell in the hull several times larger than itself. 

 which it lines with a silky gum. It is then about .25 inch, in 

 length, white, except a luteous head, and i6-footed. The pupa 

 is pale clay colored, .20 inch, long, and has on the posterior mar- 

 gin of each segment a transverse row of erect teeth which enables 

 it to move about its large cell with great ease. The anterior wing 

 cover of the moth is dusky black, with a sprinkling of scales- 

 golden, purple and blue, and a silvery blotch near the tip. K\- 

 panse .50 to .60 inch. 



The nuts attacked in their earlier stages usually abort and fall, 

 or fail to produce a perfect kernel. In furnishing these beautiful 

 parasites nature has been very kind to the country and village 

 boys, as without this protection Hickory-nut hunting would not 

 often be one of their chief autumnal pleasures. 



A full grown larva, while under observation, stepped from tin- 

 table, but like its leaf-rolling kindred, it let itself down very gently 

 by a suddenly improvised thread. This \\.is rather a surprise. as 

 it is not known to leave the interior of the hull voluntarily till it 

 comes forth with wings. Some evolutionists may interpret this 

 as proof of an ancestry that had business in the outride world. 



In compliance with my request, Mr. I'.. T. Crcsson has kindly 

 furnished a description oi the /'inip/a. 



[Pimpla grapholithae n. sp. , . I lead nifopi. eons, smooth ami shining; 



vertex, fiicr and mandibles, except tips. fuse, p i.-st.n << ,us; palpi and scape 



lieneath uhile, remainder ol aiilenii.i- l>l.n k; thorax smooth and polished. 



mpnnctate, lukoiis or hne\ \.-llo\\; metathorax piceoiis; te-ul.e uhite; 



