CLEAR-WING MOTHS OF FAMILY AEGERIIDAE 157 



Expanse: Male 20 to 30 mm., female 22 to 36 mm. 



Distribution. — Atlantic and Gulf Coast States, New York to Texas. 



Type. — Female. In the United States National Museum. From Texas. 



Remarks. — This species, since it was described in 1881, has been col- 

 lected only rarely at long intervals and in widely separated regions until 

 it was discovered in the writer's own garden at Hartsdale, Westchester 

 County, N. Y., in 1936. Removal of vines of Parthenocissus quinquefolia 

 and P. tricuspidata veitchii in poor weakened condition disclosed in the 

 roots the larvae of an aegeriid borer, which subsequently proved to be 

 V. scepsiformis, the first and only food plant and rearing record for the 

 species and the first record of the occurrence of the insect in New York 

 State. 



Very closely related to the grape root borer, V. polistiformis, this 

 species also has similar habits. Its life cycle is two years. The larvae 

 attack the upper main and branching horizontal roots, which are not ex- 

 posed but are near the surface, feeding under the bark on the soft, suc- 

 culent fibers, rather than on the hard central core. For pupation, late 

 in June and during July of the second year, they construct elongated 

 cocoons of silk, chips, and earth, more often under bark at the upper 

 end of the galleries than in the soil adjoining. The moths issue in from 

 three to four weeks. 



This species has been found established in gardens, but search on the 

 common Virginia-creeper in nearby woodlands and many other places 

 has shown no signs of attack. As with V. polistiformis, it is most diffi- 

 cult to trace this species to its original habitat. Thriving on plants under 

 cultivation, it apparently has abandoned its original wild food plants. No 

 moths were captured at Hartsdale until after the identity of the insect 

 became established by rearing. Even with experience it is difficult for 

 one to distinguish the moths in flight from the much commoner wasp, 

 Polistcs juscatus (Fabricius). They are more easily recognized when 

 resting. Not many adults have been captured in the writer's garden. 

 Long series have been obtained by rearing. 



Records of captures: Males and females, Cecil County, Md., June 29, 

 1921 (F. M. Jones) ; one male, Ogdensburg, N. J., July 10, 1922 (E. L. 

 Bell) ; male, Holly Beach, N. J., August 2, 1908 (Haimbach) ; Biscayne 

 Bay, Fla., female (A. T. Slosson) ; Mobile, Ala., August 19, 1928, female 

 (T. Van Aller) ; North Carolina, female; Texas, two females (types). 



VITACEA ADMIRANDA (Hy. Edwards) 



Sciapteron admirandus Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 2, p. 54, 1882. — Beutenmuller, 



Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 171, 1892. 

 Tirista admirandus Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 88, 1894. 

 Tirista admiranda Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 8, p. 123, 1896. 

 Memythrus admirandus Beutenmuller, Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1, pt. 6, 



p. 254, 1901. 



