1918 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 45 



the native fall -web-worm and also seen to a less extent with the brown-tail moth 

 caterpillar. The cause of this mischief is an active, yellowish, black-spotted cater- 

 pillar about half an inch long. 



Desckiption. The moth is an obscure grayish brown or dark brown, some- 

 times purplish tinged, insect with a wing spread of a little less than half an 

 inch. There is in well marked specimens near the base of the fore wing a 

 rather broad, broken, angulate dark band near the- basal third and a less distinct 

 and more regular but somewhat broken dark band near the distal fifth, an area 

 between this and the basal third being a variable grayish. The fringes of both 

 the fore and hind wings are a rich purplish brown. 



Pupa. Length about 14 inch, moderately stout and dark bronzy yellow, 

 variably marked with fuscous, especially on the posterior abdominal segments. The 

 head is dark brown with a few fine, moderately long hairs. Antennal cases slender, 

 the variably yellow-mottled wing cases extending to the sixth abdominal segment, 

 the leg cases reaching just a little beyond. The mouth-parts and most of the 

 median ventral area between the antennal cases yellowish. The dorsum of the 

 thorax dark bronzy yellow. Scutellum fuscous yellowish and with a very fine 

 short pubescence. Dorsum of the abdominal segments moderately smooth, shiny, 

 the segments when flexed ventrally showing along the anterior margin series 

 of minute closely set teeth. Terminal segment yellowish. 



Cocoon. The cocoon is spun upon the upper surface of the leaf and consists 

 of an elongate oval mass of thick white webbing about % of an inch long and 

 14 of an inch wide. It is frequently near the midrib and covers the true cocoon 

 which is faintly seen beneath. The "pupa wriggles out partly from under the web- 

 bing before the moth escapes, the pupal shell projecting as in the Sesiids. 



Larva. The caterpillars are quite variable in appearance. The smallest 

 observed on the leaves were about % in. long, inostly pale greenish yellow. The 

 head is a distinct amber shade with a rather conspicuous dark brown mass of 

 closely placed ocelli. There is a narrow irregular dark brown line at the lateral 

 dorsal angles of the head case, a small black fuscous spot ventrally and a pair 

 of small subtriangular black spots sublaterally. Antennge moderately prominent, 

 mostly yellowish brown, slightly fuscous apically. Thoracic and abdominal seg- 

 ments mostly a uniform yellowish, the true legs pale yellowish and having the 

 second segment fuscous and the distal segment much more slender, tapering and 

 with a distinct claw apically. There are well-developed cylindrical abdominal 

 prolegs on the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and terminal abdominal segments, each 

 leg when extended with a length approximately three times its diameter. The 

 tubercles are a pale fuscous or fuscous, depending on the age of the caterpillar, 

 each bearing one or two moderately long hairs. 



Older larvae with a length of about 3/16 of an inch are decidedly darker though 

 the general color is practically the same. The tubercles are much larger and in 

 some specimens almost confluent so as to give the appearance of submedian black 

 lines, though in reality they are simply series . of closely set tubercles. The 

 thoracic legs have a shade of fuscous on the apical portion of the basal segment, 

 the second segment is black and the third practically as in the earlier stage. 



Full-grown caterpillars have a lens^th of nearly half an inch and present 

 practicallv the same characteristics as given above, there being some darker speci- 

 mens with rather larger black tubercles and lighter ones with somewhat smaller 

 tubercles. 



Distribution. This insect is probably widelv distributed, since it has been 

 recorded from England. France, Germany, the Balkan Peninsula, Bithynia and 



