384 Eeport ok the Department oe Ento.mology of the 



family is placed between the Tortricidas and the Gelechiidse. The 

 genus is a small one, but it contains a few species which, because of 

 their common occurrence and economic importance, are well-known 

 insects in their normal range of distribution. The moths are small 

 and have an expanse of wings which varies from about twenty to 

 twenty-five millimeters, according to the species. A characteristic 

 feature of these insects is that the anterior wings of most species are 

 brilliantly snowy white, and marked with black dots. The hind 

 wings are generally darker, being grayish or leaden in color, and 

 possess long fringes on the lateral and posterior margins. The 

 caterpillars are gregarious and have web-forming habits. They live 

 in a common web which may involve many twigs and leaves, and in 

 this they spin their cocoons. 



HISTORICAL NOTES AND SYNONYMY. 



The history and synonymy of padellus and malinellus are as fol- 

 lows: The former was described by Linnaeus ^ in 1758 under the 

 name of Phalcena {Tinea) padella,'^ and fruit trees are given as its 

 host plants. Fabricius ^ in 1775 describes the moth, larva and pupa 

 and states that the insect occurs on fruit trees. Believing that it 

 was distinct from padellus, Zeller,^ in 1844, designated the form 

 occurring on apple as malinellus. The species described by him as 

 variabilis is listed ))y most writers as a synonym of padellus. 



Latreille ^ in 1796 describes the genus Yponomeuta,^ and in 1802 ^ 

 he gives Tinea evonymella L. as the type. Stephens^ in 1829 

 established the family YpoaomeutidcB. Sodoffsky^ in 1837 changed 



1 Linnaeus. Systema Naturae, 10th Ed. 1 : 535. 1758. 



^ Padella, so named from Prunus padus L., the European bird cherry. The Linnaean 

 names for several of the Yponomeuta species are very misleading. Prunus padus ia 

 the principal host plant ol Y. evonymellus L., but the insect's name would imply that 

 it lives on Evonymus. This confusion Zeller sought to correct. 



' Fabricius. Systema Entomologise, p. 656. 1775. 



4/sis, p. 220. 1844. 



^ Latreille. Precis des Caracteres g^n^riques dee Insectes, p. 146. 1796. 



* This is of Greek origin yrovo/icUixi " I mine," and is presumably taken to mean 



" one who undermines " or " who works under the surface ". The derivative 

 U7rov(>/jt£6rr^9 belongs to the first declension masculine, and we have therefore used 

 " us " endings in the names of the species. 



It should also be noted that words which begin with " upsilon " have the rough 

 breathing, which is represented by the letter " h " in words derived from the Greek, 

 — thus u-zay.ri'.zrjii becomes hypocrite in English. If Latreille had followed this rule 



he would have designated his genus Hyponomeuta instead of Yponomeuta, but in 

 spite of its unusual formation, which is a modern invention, there appears to be no 

 other choice than to accept his selection. 



' Latreille. Histoire Naturelle g^nerale et particuliere des Crustac6s et des Insectes. 

 3: 467. 1802. 



8 Stephens. Catalogue of British Insects, p. 193. 1829. 



' SodofTsky. Etymologische Untersuchungen ueber die Gattungsnamen der Schmet- 

 terlinge, p. 21. 1837. 



