﻿June, 1895.] Packard. On Larv.« of Hepialid/E. -69 



except in the absence of the definite secondary setfe of the latter. The 

 difference is mainly one of degree. In Endeilinea the setae have the 

 normal arrangement for the Noctuina, but there are no secondary hairs 

 anywhere above the base of the leg. The seta associated with iii in 

 Platypteryx and Falcaria is therefore wanting here. 



ON THE LARViE OF THE HEPIALID^. 



PLATES III AND IV. 



By A. S. Packard. 



Of the form and structure of the larvae of this family very little is 

 known. A brief notice of the egg of Hepialus argenteoinaculatus , by 

 P. H. Gosse, appeared in his " Canadian Naturalist " (p. 248, 1840). 

 In iSSS Prof. D. S. Kellicott published in Entomologica Americana 

 (iv. p. 153) notes on the larva, which he obtained in abundance in 

 Central New York, from the roots and stems of Alnus incana, and 

 showed that the larva probably requires three years to complete its 

 growth. He received the pupa, which disclosed the moth June 2d. 

 In commenting on his paper, Prof. J. B. Smith stated his belief that it 

 lived in the oak, willow and poplar. 



In the following year Prof. Kellicott described the mature larva 

 and the pupa, adding further details as to its habits. The eggs are 

 laid the first week in June; the caterpillars live for two years in the 

 roots, and as the third year advances they work upward more or less 

 into the stems ; in the spring of the third year they bore out to the sur- 

 face, partially or loosely plug the opening with chips and transform ; 

 pupation occurs about May i (in Oswego County, N. Y.), the moths 

 emerging a month later. Mr. Kellicott writes me that he did not pre- 

 serve either the larva or pupa, of which good figures are much needed. 

 The eggs were not described. 



In his note on the habits of Hepialus thule (Can. Ent, Vol. xxv, 

 Dec. 1893, p. 297), Mr. H. H. Lyman describes its eggs, of which 

 the enormous number of 2,151 were laid, and this seems to be the first 

 account which we have of any eggs of this family, the works of Euro- 

 pean authors being apparently defective as regards the habits and life- 

 history of the species of this group. The eggs are said to be " even, 

 oval, slightly flattened on the lower side, perfectly smooth, hut dull. 



