820 Journal of Agricultural Research vol. xx, No. n 



FAMILY COSMOPTERYGIDAE 

 PYRODERCES RILEYI (WALSINGHAM) 



(PL. 102, a, b; 103, c; 105, d; 106, c; 107, E, F) 



Batrachedra rileyi Walsingham , 1882, in Trans. Amer. Ent. Soc, v. io, 



p. 198-199. 

 Batrachetra rileyi Dyar, 1903, List North Amer. Lep., no. 6059. 

 Pyroderces rileyi Busck, 1917, in Jottr. Agr. Res., v. 9, no. 10, p. 362-366, 370. 



The larva of this common scavenger is frequently mistaken for the 

 pink bollworm. It is, however, very readily distinguished from it and 

 similar pink -banded larvae of the gelechioid and other groups. 



Since a complete description of adult, larva, and pupa is given in 

 Busck's article on the pink bollworm, 1 it will suffice here to call atten- 

 tion to the diagnostic characters of the immature stages. 



For the larva these are : 



Three setae (III, IV, and V) triangularly grouped on prespiracular 

 shield of prothorax; prothoracic II a higher than P; IV and V on proleg- 

 bearing abdominal segments approximate; III on eighth abdominal 

 segment anterior to the spiracle; paired dorsal setae (II) on the ninth 

 abdominal segment not on a single chitinization, but closer together than 

 paired I on eighth abdominal segment (PI. 105, D) ; / and III approximate 

 on ninth abdominal segment (as in the Olethreutidae) ; IV and V approxi- 

 mate, with VI well separated from them on ninth abdominal segment; 

 crochets of prolegs uniordinal and in a complete circle ; anal fork absent ; 

 pink bandings on anterior and posterior margins (not in the middle) 

 of the segments. 



The sum total of these characters is possessed by no other caterpillar 

 to be found on cotton. 



The pupa (PI. 107, E, F) may be distinguished by the following 

 characters : 



Pointed wing cases reaching to posterior margin of the sixth abdominal 

 segment; antennae reaching to tips of wings; maxillary palpi small and 

 not reaching proximo-lateral angles of maxillae; vertex wider than pro- 

 thorax; abdomen tapering, bluntly rounded, smooth except for primary 

 hairs and a cluster of strong hooked setae at posterior end and around 

 anal opening ; cremaster absent ; no labial palpi or exposed metathoracic 

 legs. 



The drawings (PI. 102, 103, 105-107) show the distinguishing struc- 

 tural characters of larva and pupa. It will be noted that a correction has 

 been made in Busck's figure of the setal map of the ninth abdominal 

 segment of the larva which omitted one of the ventral setae. The setal 

 arrangement of the ninth abdominal segment with all setae in a row, I 

 approximate to III and VI well-separated from IV and V, can not be 



1 Busck, August, op. err. 1917, p. 362-366. 



