xxxiii, '22] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 305 



The Life History of Lerodea eufala Edwards. 

 (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae.) 



By KARL R. COOLIDGE, Hollywood, California. 

 Lcrodca eufala, a rather common butterfly of the southern 



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states, extending its range thence through Mexico into Central 

 America and the Antilles, seems to have only recently invaded 

 California, entering by way of the Imperial Valley. No pub- 

 lished records exist of its inhabitation in California. The late 

 \V. G. Wright, in his Butterflies of the ITrst Coast, misidenti- 

 fies the species, figuring it on plate 31, b and c, as Paw.f>hila 

 ucreus, and stating that: "It is common enough at Yuma, but 

 does not come further west." Dr. Lindsey, in his recent revi- 

 sion of the Hesperioidea, gives the range of eufala as "Florida, 

 Texas, Arizona" and its seasons as "April to July, October and 

 November. " 



In recent years several specimens have been taken about San 

 Diego, and in the Coachella Valley, which is virtually an 

 extension of the Imperial Valley, and which marks the western 

 limits of the Colorado Desert, it seems to have gained a firm 

 stronghold. 



It occurs only scantily about Palm Springs, but at Indio, 

 some twenty miles to the south and in a much warmer district, 

 it is rapidly becoming a common butterfly. Here it is certainly 

 triple-brooded, and may even have four or five broods. The 

 first hot weather in late March or early April brings it on the 

 wing, but not in any considerable numbers. Towards the first 

 week in June it appears again and by the middle of the month 

 is fairly abundant. But the largest numbers are to be found 

 about the middle of ( )ctoher, continuing well into November. 

 Very probably there is a brood emerging some time in August, 

 but as this is a scorching month on the desert no records of its 

 appearance then have been noted. 



On October 21, I f l20. I found eufala abundant at Indian 

 Wells, a small settlement near Indio, and confined some females 

 in a mason jar with some ordinary lawn grass. These pro- 

 ceeded to lay almost at once when expnscd to the hot sun. and 

 by October 23 a total of twenty-eight eggs had been laid. 

 On October 30 these began to disclose, making the egg period 

 nine days. 



