!10 PROC. ENT. SOC. WASH., VOL. 21, NO. 5, MAY, 1919 



larger. As I did not know this species except from description 

 I sent Miss Braun specimens of the present species for com- 

 parison and she was good enough to give me the following notes: 

 "Quadrigemina is much smaller and paler in color; the second 

 costal patch is relatively a little larger than in althaeae and the 

 dorsal patch of raised scales is slightly more posterior. In spite 

 of the almost identical position and extent of the markings the 

 t\vo do not look alike and I believe they are distinct species." 



Caterpillar. The free feeding mature caterpillar is 6 mm. long. Head 

 light yellow with black continuous eyespots. Thoracic shield light gray 

 with numerous (20) small black dots. Body light gray with darker gray 

 transverse band across each joint, on which the large whitish tubercles stand 

 out prominently. Setae blackish. Legs gray with two transverse darker 

 lines and with last joint yellow. Abdominal legs well developed, normal 

 in number, each with two posterior and one anterior crotchet. Anal legs 

 with but one crotchet. 



Cocoon a mm. long, white, with a yellowish tint, loosely woven with but 

 slight indicated longitudinal ridges. 



The species appears to be doing considerable damage to Holly- 

 hock in California, skeletonizing the leaves, As Hollyhock is 

 not a native plant, the normal foodplant of this Bucculalrix will 

 probably be found to be some other malvaceous plant. 



NOTES ON THE INSECT FAUNA OF BANK SWALLOWS' NESTS IN 



VIRGINIA. 



BY T. E. SNYDER AND R. C. SHANNON, Bureau of Entomology. 



The waters and banks of the beautiful and historic Potomac 

 River in the vicinity of Washington will be long remembered by 

 those who have explored them for wild plant or animal life. The 

 brightest and most cheerful denizens of the wooded shores of the 

 river are the great variety of beautiful song birds. On the stretch 

 of river extending between Georgetown and Chain Bridge one 

 of the most noticeable and companionable of these birds is the 

 bank swallow (Riparia riparia (Linn.) Sharp and Wyatt). This 

 cosmopolitan bird excavates primitive nests in the soil of the 

 hillsides of the Virginia shore where the trap rock has been 

 quarried, leaving steep, rocky bluffs. The bird is not at all shy 

 and often flies near boats. 



During the spring, summer and autumn these twittering 

 swallows are constantly on the wing from dawn until night, 

 gracefully skimming over the surface of the water in search of 

 insects which they catch while flying. 



The horizontal rows of openings to the primitive nests may be 



