86 TT.S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 256 



Lepidoptera : Gracilariidae 



MARMARA Clemens 

 Marmara opuntiella Busck 



This leaf-miner occurs at lower altitudes in Texas from the gulf 

 coast as far north as Austin and as far west as Uvalde. In Mexico 

 it is prevalent on the central plateau from Chihuahua to Mexico 

 City and in the gulf-coast State of Tamaulipas; a record from Mazatlan 

 in the west-coast State of Sinaloa probably represents this insect. 



Similar larvae of identical habits have been found commonly at 

 Santiago in Cuba, in all species of prickly pear in Haiti, in the Central 

 American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, and 

 at Barquisimeto in Venezuela. Typical leaf-miner injury in Platyo- 

 puntias has been observed at Puerto Colombia in Colombia, at 

 Simbambe in Ecuador, and at Arequipa in Peru. 



Owing to the minor nature of the injuries, the Board's officers 

 gave little attention to the life history. The small red or pink larvae 

 live beneath the epidermis of the more terminal segments, forming 

 winding galleries in which they are plainly visible through the thin 

 cuticle. The galleries may extend over the whole surface in the event 

 of several larvae inhabiting one cladode. Generally the damage is 

 insignificant, but where the infestation is heavy occasional terminal 

 segments may fall off and decay. 



It is not known whether one or two generations are completed 

 each year. Larvae collected in August at Uvalde, Texas, and at San 

 Luis Potosi, Mexico, pupated in the soil in the following March. On 

 another occasion larvae at Uvalde vacated the segments to pupate 

 in the soil in August, and moths emerged in the following May. Well- 

 developed larvae have been observed in Texas and in Mexico during 

 the greater part of the year. All prickly pears appear to be attacked 

 without discrimination. In Central America segments of Nopalea spp. 

 as well as prickly pears were infested. 



Lepidoptera: Miscellaneous Species 



Blastobasis Zeller, sp. (Blastobasidae) 



Adults were reared in November 1936, from greyish larvae collected 

 the previous month in fruit of Borzicactus acanthurus at Santa Eulalia, 

 Peru. 



ThecUt melanis Drury (Lycaenidae) 



This lycaenid is the only butterfly whose larvae are known to be 

 cactm feeders. However, it possesses various other host plants. In 



