PHAL^NID^. 321 



and just bej-ond a dark lead-colored band which becomes a 

 broad squarish patch on the inner angle, and which is continu- 

 ous with a broad band of the same color on the hind wings. 

 It expands three quarters of an inch. Its singular larva we 

 have found feeding, late in June, on the strawberry. It is .70 

 of an inch long, cylindrical and with two pairs of long curled 

 filaments, situated on the thh'd and fifth abdominal rings re- 

 spectively ; its general color is wood gray, and the pupa is 

 pale reddish gray. The moth appeared on the 27th of July. 



The genus Abraxas, to which our currant worm belongs, may 

 be known by the whitish or ochreous wings being covered with 

 dark, often partially transparent blotches, and the larva being 

 gail\r speckled with black and golden spots. A. ribearia Fitch 

 is ochre-yellow, with two rows of dark spots, the inner row be- 

 ing incomplete and the outer row with a large blotch in the 

 middle of the wings. As soon as the leaves of the currant 

 and gooseberry are fairly expanded, late in May or early 

 in June, the young caterpillar may be found busily eating 

 them. In about three weeks after hatching it becomes 

 fully grown, being about an inch long, and bright yellow 

 with black dots. The chrysalis may be found under the 

 bushes, either upon the gi-ound or just under the surface. 

 In two weeks after pupating the yellowish moth may be seen 

 flying about the garden. Riley states that by sprinkling 

 powdered hellebore upon the leaves, or applying a solution of 

 eight or twelve ounces to a bucket of water, the larvae will 

 be killed, while hand-picking and shaking the bushes will also 

 reduce their numbers. 



The genus Ennomos is stouter and much more hauy than 

 any of the preceding genera ; the antennae are well pectinated 

 in the male, the wings are not so broad as usual and are den- 

 tate. The larva is rather long and twig-like, either smooth or 

 humped, and spins a cocoon consisting of leaves drawn to- 

 gether by silk. E. magnaria Guen. is yellow, punctured with 

 black, with two dusky lines, and the fringe is partly blackish. 

 E. subsignaria Hiibner (Fig. 248, moth ; Plate 8, fig. 6, larva) 

 is a delicate, white, widely distributed species, and in the city 

 of New York, where it is free from the attacks of its natural 

 enemies, it is very destructive to the elm trees. 

 21 



