150 UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 276 



LARVAL DIAGNOSIS. — Larvae can best be characterized as 

 having a more or less even blend of reddish-orange, black, and blue so 

 that no one color dominates the others. If any color is more dominant 

 it is the reddish-orange that is redder than the more yellow-orange that 

 is typical of the subspecies pluviale found to the northwest (figs. 370 and 

 371). Populations adjoining on the east (figs. 366 and 367) and the west 

 (figs. 361-363) usually have much more dorsal black and lateral blue, 

 but some populations from areas east of the Cascades may be very 

 similar (fig. 365). In such cases the adult males generally have light 

 yellowish lines on the forewings instead of the normal dark lines of 

 c. recenseo. There is no possibility of confusing c. recenseo with either 

 M. disstria or M. constrictum constrictum. 



EGG MASSES. — Eggs are laid as a basically flat, clasping mass, with 

 the more or less compact, dark brown spumaline covering them that is 

 similar to that of M. calif ornicum californicum (page 141). 



TENTS AND COCOONS.— Similar to those of M. californicum 

 californicum (page 141). 



FOOD PLANTS. — Egg masses were found on the following hosts: 

 Ceanothus cordulatus, Ceanothus velutinus, Purshia tridentata, Prunus emarginata, 

 Rosa sp., Ceanothus integerrimus, and Prunus virginiana. Neither tents nor 

 egg masses were found on fruit trees, but fruit trees are not common 

 throughout most of its range, so this is not surprising. In the insectary 

 larvae readily accepted both apple and apricot, and som.e larvae 

 hatched from eggs found on Ceanothus cordulatus did very well on oak 

 until they became diseased with the same disease that afflicted other 

 collections. 



TYPE. — Lectotype, here designated, a male in the United States 

 National Museum. USNM Type No. 34890. Size: 26 mm. wing- 

 spread. The left front part of the thorax is missing. Data: Malacosoma 

 recenseo Dyar, male ; Siskiyou County, Calif. ; 568 ; male genitalia, slide, 

 13 March 1941, W.D.F. No. 1282; Lectotype, Malacosoma pluviale 

 recenseo Dyar, male, F. W. Stehr 1963. Genitalia mounted on slide 

 labeled: Malacosoma recenseo (Dyar), Type, Siskiyou County, Calif. 

 Type No. [blank] USNM; male genitalia, slide 13 March 1941, 

 W.D.F. No. 1282. The lectotype is not as dark as many specimens of 

 c. recenseo, but it has dark lines on the forewings and falls within the 

 range of variation for c. recenseo. 



TYPE LOCALITY.— The lectotype bears a printed label saying 

 only "Siskiyou Co., Cal.," but Siskiyou County is the largest county in 

 northern California, and larvae having many different color patterns 

 can be found there. In the original description Dyar lists the locality 

 as "the mountains of California (Truckee and Siskyou [sic])." Truckee 

 is near Lake Tahoe in Nevada County. We are not aware of any 



