﻿NO. 4 MICROLEPIDOPTERA FROM PANAMA BUSCK 9 



reflected in the biology of the species — in other words, whether the 

 females seek the males for copulation instead of vice versa, as is the 

 normal condition among insects. 



The genus is not closely allied to any other known forms, but may 

 be included in the family Tineidae, from which it is an early branch, 

 which has not been developed further. The reversed sexual dimor- 

 phism of the antennae, which has not been perpetuated in any other 

 Lepidoptera, is indicative of this. 



As nothing has hitherto been known of the life history of Para- 

 thyris, it was particularly pleasing to find the larvae of the present 

 species in Panama. The larvae feed on a woody fungus (Polyporus) 

 in which they make long, irregular, silk-lined tunnels, to the opening 

 of which is attached a large, cylindrical, somewhat flattened case, 

 made of tough silk interwoven with dark-brown particles of the 

 fungus. The cases are open at both ends; the anterior opening, 

 attached to the fungus, is a round hole, which eventually is pulled 

 close and woven over, when the larva is mature and prepares to 

 pupate; the other opening is a transverse slit, kept closed by the 

 elasticity of the walls of the case ; through this slit the imago emerges, 

 leaving the empty pupa skin protruding half-way from the case and 

 held tightly in the slit. 



The larvae are gregarious, several cases being found protruding 

 from the same fungus. The larger female cases are i 1 /* inches long 

 and nearly y 2 inch in width ; the smaller male cases are about ^ inch 

 long by %. inch wide. 



The full-grown larva is ij4 inches long, cylindrical, slightly taper- 

 ing at both ends, with normal well-developed thoracic and abdom- 

 inal feet, the latter with a circle of hooks only broken by a short hook- 

 less space on the inner side. The head is yellow with black mouth 

 parts. The body is white with black spots ; on first thoracic joint is a 

 yellow shield, divided longitudinally, edged by 6 black dots anteriorly 

 and by two black lines posteriorly, and with a small black dot in the 

 yellow on each side. On the second thoracic joint is a narrow trans- 

 verse yellow shield broadly edged orr all sides with black except on 

 the median line. The third thoracic joint has two pairs of black dots 

 above, the larger of which has a yellow center. Each of the abdom- 

 inal joints has two pairs of small but conspicuous black dots above, 

 three lateral black dots on each side and four small ventral dots. 

 Anal plate is yellow. 



I first met with these larvae in April near Alhajuela and later found 

 them some miles back of Paraiso, but in neither case did I succeed 



