58 Journal New York Entomological Society, f^'o'- xxiii. 



In these alcler-bordered streams of our upland swamps lives Asten- 

 ophylax argus, one of the largest and, in the adult, most gaudily colored 

 of all Trichoptera. Its larva and pupa are described in detail on the 

 following pages and, as existing descriptions of the adults are ap- 

 parently made from dried material, brief notes on their coloration in 

 life are included. 



Larval Habit. — The larval cases, Fig. i, the largest and most bulky 

 in our streams, are constructed of fragments of twigs and bark which 

 vary greatly in size and shape. These fragments, arranged apparently 

 with little regard for system or symmetry, are fastened securely to- 

 gether by means of silk and the tube thus formed is lined from end 

 to end with a tough cylinder of silk. Clumsy and bulky as the larval 

 cases are, they do not vary greatly from cylindric form, nor do they 

 have projecting twigs or corners that would catch during locomotion, 

 nor chunks or stones that would be too heavy for the powerful larvae 

 to drag. In the pupal cases, to be described later, heavy stones and 

 great fragments of bark are used, whose weight and form would make 

 locomotion almost impossible. 



The food of the larva throughout the year consists of dead bark 

 and wood rasped from submerged twigs and logs. Specimens collected 

 in February contained the same kind of food as specimens collected 

 in mid-summer, and at both seasons the alimentary tracts were equally 

 gorged. 



Pupal Habits. — By the middle of April the larvae have ceased their 

 activities and have gathered and attached to their cases bulky, heavy 

 material, large pebbles, chunks of bark, the large species of Sphxriidae, 

 Sphccrinm simile, or twigs, sometimes inhabited by the wood-boring 

 Trichoptera of the genus Ganoncma. These heavy cases are attached 

 firmly by their cephalic ends to submerged logs, roots or other solid 

 supports. At this time the sieve-nets, perforated sheets of silk across 

 the tube, are spun. In Astcnophylax argus these sieves are located 

 within the tube a short distance from its caudal and cephalic ends. 

 The mesh varies in size and form, but is roughly hexagonal. 



Description of Avvlt, Larva and Pupa. 



Adult. — J* and 5- Length of body 20 mm. Fore wing 25—26 mm. 

 The color pattern and venation of the wings and the male genitalia 

 are illustrated in figs. 2 and 3. 



