154 BULLETIN 190, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



been attempted again, but F. M. Jones, of Wilmington, Del., succeeded in 

 rearing adults from material collected on Marthas Vineyard, Mass., in the 

 summer and fall of 1937. In this region the plants of C. angustifolium 

 were less strong in growth and not so deeply rooted. Larvae were found 

 in the main roots and also in the lower parts of the flowering stalks. In 

 cuttings, packed in moist sphagnum in breeding jars, the larvae utilized 

 their burrows as places for pupation by constructing rough pupal cases, 

 either entirely within or extending outward from the burrows half an inch 

 or more. The larvae wintered in the cocoon and pupation followed in the 

 spring, moths emerging in May and June, all of them normal specimens of 

 typical pyramidalis. 



The increasing abundance of this species can be accounted for by the 

 enormous spread of fire weed, C. angustifolium, and in the far North of 

 C. latifolimn, following in the wake of forest fires all over the North 

 American Continent, except the coastal regions of the South and arid 

 regions at low elevations in the West. Wherever the food plants have 

 become well established the insect may be expected to occur. The moths 

 are attracted to flowers, the rapidly flying males on bright sunny days 

 hovering over blossoms Hke hawk moths without coming to rest, and the 

 heavier, more sluggish females usually resting on foliage or flowers, pref- 

 erably of umbiliferous plants. The principal time of emergence is from 

 early in June through July. The very large representation of this species 

 in the United States National Museum includes records from New York 

 and the Midwestern States to Newfoundland, Labrador, Hudson Bay, 

 British Columbia, and Yukon ; and from the northwestern Pacific Coast 

 States from near sea level through the Sierras to the Rocky Mountains 

 up to or even above timberline. From boreal Europe and Asia, where the 

 food plants are abundant, the insect has not been recorded. 



ALBUNA PYRAMIDALIS form COLORADENSIS Hy. Edwards 



Albuna coloradensis Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 189, 1881. — Beutenmuller, 



Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 4, p. 172, 1892. 

 Albuna pyramidalis var. coloradensis Beutenmuller, Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., 



vol. 6, p. 90, 1894; vol. 8, p. 127, 1896; Mem. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 1. 



pt. 6, p. 274, pi. 33, fig. 12 (female), 1901. 

 Albuna torva Hy. Edwards, Papilio, vol. 1, p. 189, 1881.— Beutenmuller, Bull. 



Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., vol. 6, p. 172, 1892. — McDunnough, Check list of the 



Lepidoptera of Canada and the United States of America, pt. 2, No. 8789, 1939. 



Male and female. — Black, except antennae, which are brown beneath ; 

 abdomen with posterior borders edged with blue-black or steel blue ; fore- 

 wing sometimes with a very slight touch of red along the inner margin 

 basally, oftener so in the male than in the female. 



Distribution. — Same as the typical form and found intermixed; less 

 common in the eastern than in the western part of the continent. 



Type. — Male. In the American Museum of Natural History. 



