CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 101 



live as to leave their identity doubtful until cautiously transferred from net 

 to cyanide jar. I refrain from speculating on the advantage of the mimick- 

 ing moths in escaping enemy attacks, but it is a fact that moths of some 

 species have never, or very rarely, been captured by entomologists ; the fine, 

 long series in the United States National Museum has been obtained by 

 rearing. The species are root and stem borers in Clematis, practically 

 confining their attacks to native, small, white-flowering plants known as 

 virgins-bovver, as Clematis virginiana and C. ligusticijolia. Cultivated varie- 

 ties seem to be avoided. A. caudata, ranging east from the Mississippi to 

 to Maine and Canada along the distribution of its food plant, appears to be 

 the only distinctly North American species. The several species and forms 

 west of the Mississippi to California suggest a Mexican and Central 

 American origin. Tropical Central America as yet is represented by only 

 a few captured specimens, specifically in confusion. However, as has 

 been noted by the larval work on vines of Clematis, the insects are not 

 uncommon, but even abtmdant, and should be easily obtained by rearing. 

 The life cycle of all the species is annual. The young larvae, emerging 

 from characteristically spherical, somewhat compressed, light-brown eggs 

 laid at the crown roots or on the vines, tunnel into the living plants, causing 

 scars and gall-like swelling of considerable size after wintering and resum- 

 ing feeding in spring. The change from larva to pupa takes place within 

 the swelling in a roughly constructed case of chips and frass. Large roots 

 may house a number of larvae in close proximity. On vines the swellings 

 usually are well separated, in temperate regions not far above the ground, 

 but in the Tropics they may extend well upward toward the tops of the 

 trees. Rearing the moths is easy from infested plant cuttings, obtained 

 in advance and near the time of emergence. Immature stages in such 

 cuttings do not survive. The moths upon emerging in a rearing cage must 

 be handled with care, as they will injure themselves by dropping quickly, 

 trying to escape or to hide. 



COLOR KEY TO NORTH AMERICAN SPECIES, RACES. AND VARIETIES OF THE 



GENUS ALCATHOE 



Forewing opaque, violaceous, except vitreous basal half ; hindwing transparent ; 



antennae and caudal appendage orange caudata caudata (Harris) 



Hindwing transparent, broadly margined, suffused between veins 5 and 6 to cell and 



between veins lb and Ic irregularly inward caudata annettella, new race 



Forewing black, hindwing transparent, margin narrow ; antennae, legs, and caudal 



appendage black caudata walkeri Neuinoegcn 



Wings opaque, orange with a small clear area on hindwing at base between veins la 



and lb ; male antennae and caudal appendage black ; female antennae orange. 



pepsioides Engelhardt 

 Body, wings, antennae, legs, and male caudal appendage ferruginous. 



pepsioides ferrugata, new race 

 Wings, legs, male antennae, and caudal appendage deep black or rusty black ; female 



antennae orange or rusty black pepsioides atra Engelhardt 



