20 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



base and two slender, black hair pencils, one one each side, not extending 

 beyond the tip of the abdomen. 



Expanse : Male 20 to 24 mm., female 24 to 27 mm. 



Distribution. — Southern California, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Ber- 

 nardino, and Orange Counties in foothills and mountains. 



Type.— JJ. S.N. M. No. 56824. Holotype male, allotype female, and 20 

 paratypes. Collected on Mount Wilson, Calif. 



Remarks. — The first two female examples of this species, submitted by 

 C. M. Dammers, of Riverside, Calif., in whose honor it is named, were 

 collected in Commander Dammers's garden on Penstemon plants of heavy 

 growth, July 12, 1935. During the season of 1936 (Engelhardt), good 

 series of both sexes were obtained by rearing from the roots and lower 

 stems of Penstemon cordifolins, which grows luxuriantly along the old 

 toll road just below the observatory on the top of Mount Wilson. The 

 plant, really a deciduous vine, climbs to considerable height over shrubs 

 and on precipitous, rocky embankments. In midsummer the brilliant-red, 

 trumpet-shaped flowers are a beautiful sight. Most of the plants showed 

 evidence of borer work, recent or past. During July larvae were found 

 in various stages of development. A 2-year life cycle is probable. This 

 is not a rare species and is best obtained by rearing from root cuttings and 

 stem section of the food plant, which usually is anchored in rocky crevices 

 on steep embankments. Immature larvae, less than 25 mm. in length, 

 failed to transform in the breeding cages. Fully grown larvae began to 

 pupate from late in July to the middle of August. Emergence dates for 

 specimens from Mount Wilson range from August 27 to September 13, 

 1936. Another smaller series reared by T. W. Hower in Orange County 

 from the same species of Penstemon emerged August 27-29, 1939. The 

 earlier record from Riverside, July 12, 1935, is explained by the lower 

 altitude, 1,000 feet against 6,000 feet on Mount Wilson. 



The larval tunnels extend several inches from the roots up into the 

 stems. Before pupation a circular, thinly covered exit hole is prepared at 

 the upper end of the tunnel, allowing up-and-down movement to the pupa. 



With Commander Dammers as companion and guide, I worked out a 

 number of life histories of aegeriid species in the environment of Riverside 

 and more distant regions in California. Aegeriid larvae have been found 

 in the yellow-flowering Penstemon antirrhinoides and the monkeyflower, 

 Diplacus aurantiacns. Their identity is still a matter of speculation. A 

 single worn specimen, labeled San Diego. Calif. (Riley), in the H}'. Ed- 

 wards collection, American Museum of Natural History, was determined 

 easily as a male of danimersi from the genitalia. 



