8 BUI^LETIN 124. 



turbed the little creature retreats into its pistol -shaped case and 

 can be induced to come forth only by either tearing open its case, 

 or by continued urging from the rear. 



The adult i7isect. — The moth is a very delicate and pretty little 

 creature. It is represented nearly four times natural size at a, «, 

 plate I ; the male moth, which is considerably smaller, is shown 

 in the lower of the two figures, and the larger female in the 

 upper figure. They are of a general dark drab color ; on the basal 

 third of the front wings white scales predominate in the females, 

 but are sometimes almost entirely lacking in the males. The al- 

 ternation of the rings of dark and white scales give the antennae 

 and legs a curious annulated appearance. The basal joint of each 

 antenna in both sexes bears a conspicuous tuft of scales, those of 

 the female being considerably larger.* All of these characteris- 



Head, black with a yellow median suture ; antennae, yellow. Thoraci seg- 

 ments each with a blackish, granulate, chitinous spot on the lateral ridge; 

 the mesothoracic segment has besides two similar, narrow, triangular, black, 

 transverse spots, separated by a narrow yellow mesal line near its caudal 

 border, and there is a similar subdorsal black spot on each side near the ce- 

 phalic margin ; the thoracic shield is large, black, and nearly divided by a 

 narrow yellow median stripe. The anal shield is also black. The true legs 

 are black, with the distal segment and the extremities of the other segments 

 yellowish. The four pairs of pro-legs are of the same color as the body, ex- 

 cept the anal ones which are slightly darker and have a large black spot near 

 the base of each. The whole surface of the body is granulated, more 

 strongly so on the thoracic and anal segments. A few hairs arise from the 

 head, thorax and anal segment. 



This description, taken from full-grown living specimens of the caterpil- 

 lars differs considerably from Dr. Riley's description in his report for 1878. 

 None of the caterpillars that Dr. Riley had, seem to have been pre- 

 served, so that we cannot explain these striking differences. 



*In his description of the moth (Ann. Rept. Com. of Agr. for 1878, p. 

 254), Dr. Riley states that the males have no tuft on the basal antennal joint; 

 he describes the tufts of the females. How this mistake occurred is not 

 known. Mr. L. O. Howard, U. S. Entomologist, writes me as follows : 

 *' There are ten specimens of Coleophora malivorella in the National Museum 

 collection. Five of these are males and five are females. The tuft on the 

 basal joint of the antennae occurs in both sexes, but is a little longer in the 

 females than in the male. One of these males has lost the tuft entirely and 

 in another is partly gone. It was also completely lost in one of the females. 



All of these teu specimens are from the original 1878 rearings. Dr. Riley 

 probably examined the single male which had lost the tuft. " 



