ZYG^NID^. 



279 



The currant borer, ^geria tipuUforme Linn. (Fig. 208 ; b, 

 larva ; a, pupa, enlarged) has been introduced from Europe, and 



is a great pest in our gar- 

 dens, injuring the currant 

 bushes. It is a slender, 

 agile, dark blue moth, found 

 flying in July in the hot sun, 

 about the currant leaves. 

 The larva bores in the stems, 

 and by splitting them open, 

 in the fall and spring, we 

 shall find the larva, which 

 pupates towards the last of May. 



Mr. James Ridings describes from Virginia .JE'. quinque 

 caudata (Fig. 209) which has 

 five filaments at the tip of 

 the abdomen. Its body is 

 blue black, with a transparent 

 spot at the base of the hind 

 wings, while the third abdom- 

 inal segment is red above. 

 The Squash-vine borer. 



Fig. 210. 



Melittia cucurbitce Harris (Fig. 210 ; a, larva), often kills, veiy 

 suddenly, the squash plant. The moth is orange colored, 

 spotted with black, and its hind legs are 

 fringed with long, orange and black hairs. 

 She oviposits on the vine close to the roots, 

 from the tenth of July to the middle of Au- 

 gust. The larva eats out the interior of the 

 vine, and usually transforms in a rude earthen 

 ■ cocoon near the roots, but as we have no- 



ticed, within the stem, beginning to spin its cocoon the first 

 of October. 



Zyg^nid^ Latreille. This interesting group connects the 

 diurnal with the nocturnal Lepidoptera. Some of the forms 

 (Castnia) remind us strikingly of the butterflies. The group 

 may be recognized by the rather large free head, and the 

 simple antennas which are slightly swollen in the middle, or 



