Mar. i, 1921 Lepidoptera Likely to Be Confused with Pink Bollworm 833 



FAMILY NOCTUIDAE 



Several species of this family feed upon cotton and malvaceous plants. 

 They are easily distinguished from the pink bollworm or larvae of any of 

 the other groups treated in this paper by the arrangement of the body 

 setae and the crochets of the prolegs. Like the Pyralidae they have only 

 two setae (IV and V) on the prespiracular shield of the prothorax, but 

 the position of IV and V on the proleg-bearing segments is quite different, 

 IV being remote from V and directly back of the spiracle (PL 103, D). 

 The crochets of the prolegs are also arranged in a mesoseries (PL 106, E). 



The following species were reared. 



SUBFAMILY AGROTINAE 

 HELIOTHIS (CHLORIDEA) OBSOLETA (FABRICIUS) 



(pl. 103, d; 106, e) 



Bombyx obsolcta Fabricius, 1793, Ent. Syst., t. 3, pars. 1, p. 456. 



Heliothis armiger Dyar, 1903, List North Amer. Lep., no. 2300. 



Chloridea obsolete Hampson, 1903, in Cat. Lep. Phal. Brit. Mus., v. 4, p 



45- 657- 

 Heliothis obsoleta Barnes and McDunnough, 1917, Check List Lep. Bor. Amer., 

 no. 1090. 



This species is commonly known as the "corn earworm" or "cotton 

 bollworm." It feeds on a number of plants and often attacks cotton, 

 doing serious damage in some localities. The larva bores into the bolls, 

 making a large hole and destroying lint and seeds. 



One moth was reared from a larva feeding on the leaves of Malvaviscus 

 drummondii at Brownsville, Tex. A larva was collected by E. L. Diven, 

 May 7, 1 91 9. The adult emerged May 29 of the same year. 



HELIOTHIS (CHLORIDEA) VIRESCENS (FABRICIUS) 



Noctua virescens Fabricius, 1781, Spec. Insect., t. 2, p. 216. 

 Chloridea virescens Dyar, 1903, List North Amer. Lep., no. 2296. 

 Chloridea virescens Hampson, 1903, in Cat. Lep. Phal. Brit. Mus., v. 4, p. 48. 

 Heliothis virescens Barnes and McDunnough, 1917, Check List Lep. Bor. Amer., 

 no. 1091. 



This species has very much the same habits as Heliothis obsoleta 

 Fabricius. Moths were reared September 8 and 17, 191 9, from larvae 

 taken feeding on seeds in okra pods August 19, 1918, at Double Bayou, 

 Tex. (E. L. Diven). 



