22 



THE CANADIAN ENTCMOLOGISt. 



THE MOTTLED UMBER MOTH. 



{Hibernia defoliaria, L.) 



BY JAMES FLETCHER, OTTAWA. 



Some years ago I received from the Rev. G. W. Taylor, of Victoria, 



Vancouver Island, a specimen of 

 the Mottled Umber Moth. This 

 had been named by the Rev. G. D. 

 Hulst, of Brooklyn, and was, I be- 

 lieve, the first specimen of the spe- 

 cies recorded as taken in America. 

 Later, in 1889, two specimens were 

 forwarded from the same place by 

 Mr. W. H. Danby. Since that time, 



HE MOTTLED UMBER MOTH! MALE AND WINGLESS i.i 1 l 1 j r 11 i iU 



female; CATERPILLAR AFTER TAscHENBERG. although lookcd for rcgularly at the 

 (Figure kindly knt by Miss E. A. Ormerod). {jj^e t^g males fly in autumn, nonc 



had been observed until this year, when the larvae were so abundant 

 that they caused considerable injuries to plum and cherry trees. 



The following interesting letter on the occurrence of this insect last 

 season is from Mr. W. H. Danby : — 



"Dec. 7, 1893. — H. defoliaria has been wonderfully plentiful this 

 year in comparison with other seasons. During June and in the early part 

 of July, the larvre were a pest in most orchards and gardens, and they fed 

 upon cherry and plum, seeming to prefer the plum. None were seen on 

 apple. In one garden a young cherry tree, 6 feet high, had a quantity on 

 it, and the plum trees suffered considerably from the voracity of the larvae j 

 but the apple trees in the same garden were not affected. I forwarded 

 larvae to you June 20th, and placed others in a breeding cage, being lucky 

 enough to successfully rear several to the imago. I am glad to know that 

 you also bred the imago. In 1S89, I took 3 males in Victoria, and since 

 then have looked for it everywhere in vain till this season, when the 

 larvae swarmed. The imagos began to appear about November 15th, and 

 the electric lights proved as usual to be a great attraction. On the door- 

 ways of two hotels I collected eight dozen in one morning, and every day 

 after that more or less were to be found on the stone walls of the aforesaid 

 hotels. One peculiar result of the electric light drawing the male imagos 

 from all quarters to the centre of the city was that in places where they 

 had emerged from pupae very few males were to be seen, while the apte- 

 rous $ was found to be common. The sexes seem to average about i % 



