36 



ON SOME OF OUR COMMON INSECTS. 



By W. Saunders, London, Ontario. 



In accordance with the plan pursued in our Keports for several years past, we present 

 our readers with a chapter on some of our common insects ; ami although in this instance 

 we include some which are more or less injurious, still we think they claim attention more 

 from the frequency of their occurrence than from the amount of injury they do. They 

 also in some instances excite curiosity, and elicit admiration on account of their great 

 beauty, or in consequence of their peculiarities. 



The Beautiful Deiopeia (Deiopeia Mia). * 



This lovely moth, represented in fig. 17 (after Riley), may well claim a place among 

 ^''-'- 17. the most elegant and beautiful of the Lepidoptera. Al- 



though rare in some parts of our Province, they are quite 

 common in other localities. We have found them common 

 in the neighbourhood of Port Stanley, on the shores of Lake 

 Erie, and they are usually common and sometimes abun- 

 dant about Grimsby, Ont. We have also seen them in 

 insect collections from various parts of Canada. 



This moth measures wlien its wings are expanded about one and a half inches. Its 

 fore wings vary in colour from lemon yellow to orange, and are crossed by six white bands, 

 each containing a row of black dots. The hind wings vary in colour from pink to scarlet 

 red, with an irregular border of black behind. The fringes of the wings are white. 



The under surface of both pairs of wings is of a deep red colour, with the front edge 

 of the fore wings yellowish ; the white bands on the upper surface of the fore wings are 

 not reproduced, but the black dots are more prominent, and being more or less confluent, 

 appear as broken bands. The hind wings are marked nearly as above. 



The head is white, spotted with black ; the sboulder covers white, with some yellow 

 at the base, and two black dots on each ; the thorax and abdomen whitish, the former 

 with six black dots, the latter banded with black beneath. 



Drasteria Erichtea (Cram.) 



18 we have this insect in the perfect state well represented. Although it is 

 ~ one of our commmonest moths, a day-flier, abundnnt al- 



. most everywhere, yet we have never heard of its having 

 id a common name bestowed upon it. We are not 

 going to christen it, for we are no admirer of common 

 names where they can be avoided, and we think they can 

 in this instance. Drasteria erichtea is not harsh and un- 

 [pronounceable, as is the case with many, especially of our 

 more recent names, as well as some that have been resur- 

 rected, and those who do not care to burden their memories with both names, may drop 

 the latter, and wUl still be understood if they speak of the moth as " the common Dras- 

 teria." 



