108 INSECUTOR INSCiTI/E MENSTRUUS 



broad ; terminal space washed with pink, except at tomus ; a subcostal, 

 dark mark followed by pink and purple scales. Expanse, 1 00 mm. 



Types, male and female, No. 18427, U. S. Nat. Mus. ; Guerrero 

 Mill, Hidalgo, Mexico, 9,000 feet (Mann and Skewes, collectors; gift 

 of B. Preston Clark). 



SOME NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORY AND 

 HABITS OF LAURON VINOSA DRURY 



{Ltpidoplera, Hypsida) 

 By THOMAS H. JONES. Rio Piedras, Porto Rico 



The larvae of this moth are very destructive during the fall and winter 

 months to a plant, Heliotropium indicum L., of the family Berraginaceae, 

 which occurs as a weed in and about the sugar cane fields of the Ex- 

 periment Station of the Porto Rico Sugar Producers' Association at Rio 

 Piedras. 



Heliotropicum indicum has, according to Prof. Ignatius Urban's 

 Flora Portoricensis, a wide distribution throughout the tropical regions of 

 both hemispheres. Professor Urban gives the following Porto Rican 

 common names for the plant : " cotorrera," " raba de alacran," and 

 " yerba de cotorra." Cook and Collins give the additional common 

 name " yerba de culebra " and state : " A decoction of this plemt is said 

 to act as a diuretic." ^ 



For the past three seaisons I have observed Lauron vinosa to be very 

 abundant on its food plant at Rio Piedras, the injury caused by the larvae 

 often causing the complete death of the attacked plants. I have never 

 seen the larvae on any other plant than Heliotropium indicum and as yet 

 have noticed no natural enemies. 



DESCRIPTION OF STAGES 



The egg is glistening, pearly white, and shows fine reticulations on all 

 surfaces when seen under a lens. It is irregularly hemispherical in shape, 

 with the center and edge of the flat side slightly raised. The diameter 

 of this surface is about 0.9 mm. 



* Coolc, O. F., and Collins, G. N. Contributions from the U. S. National Herba- 

 rium. Vol. VIII. Part 2. 1903. p. 158. 



