RILEY FURTHER REMARKS ON PRONL'BA YUCCASELLA. 569 



its affinities seem to be rather with the true Ttnefdcr : it is, however, sui 

 generis). These spots vary in number from o to 13, and when all are 

 present are arranged as follows : one (the largest) at the end of the disk, 

 with three others before it, making a coffin-shaped figure; one on the dor- 

 sal margin before the cilia, and eight others around the apex. The one 

 at the end of the cell is found oftener than any of the others, and those 

 around the apex oftener than the other four. The expanse of wings is 

 given by Mr. Riley at 1.00 inch for the $ and 0.90 inch for the <$ . The 

 largest $ specimen observed by me scarcely exceeded 10 lines and the 

 smallest 0* was scarcely 6 lines, so that it seems to attain a greater devel- 

 opment of wings in the east than in the west, contrary to the rule said by 

 Prof. Baird, Dr. Packard, and others, to prevail among other insects and 

 birds. 



The statements in the above extract are altogether erroneous, 

 being based upon mistaken identity. A careful examination of 

 these supposed spotted Pronubas which I have been permitted to 

 make through the courtesy of Dr. H. A. Hagen of Cambridge, 

 Mass., whither Mr. Chambers had sent all his examples, enables 

 me to state positively that the spotted moths which Mr. C. 

 mistook for Pronuba yuccasella are, in reality, Hyponomeuta; and, 

 what is the more remarkable, they are one of Mr. C.'s own de- 

 scribed species — H 5-punctella. Of the six specimens submitted 

 to me, there was but one Pronuba, and that was immaculate, as 

 the species always is. The spots on Hyponomeuta are very 

 variable, while some individuals of 5-puncte//a are immaculate, 

 when at first sight they might be mistaken for Pronuba. Setting 

 aside the less easily observed venation, this Hyponomeuta may at 

 once be distinguished from Pronuba by its smaller size, narrower 

 and at the same time less pointed wings, and more pearly-white 

 color. The 6* differs in the anal hooks, and the.? in having the 

 ovipositor of different shape and faintly notched superiorly, as 

 well as in lacking the characteristic maxillary tentacles. 



I have reared upward of 500 specimens of Pronuba, and have it 

 from South Carolina, Texas, California, Colorado and Missouri, 

 and there is never the faintest tendency to maculation. The tend- 

 ency to variation is, also, exceptionally small. If anything, the 

 Colorado specimens are above the average size, which is natural, 

 since the capsule of Yucca angusti/o/ia, in which the Colorado spe- 

 cimens breed, are larger than in other species cultivated around 

 St. Louis. 



Mr. Chambers' premise being at fault, there is, of course, no 



