June, I902.] Kearfott : On North American Choreutes. 108 



sent a species, that, however, extrincicella, is so distinct from all 

 others that it could not be an intergrade ; of one other there were two 

 specimens, of the balance from three to thirty odd. The largest 

 number were of my bred specimens, carduiella, and of all of this num- 

 ber thirty-eight specimens, the marks, colors, shape, and size are con- 

 stant in each, excepting, of course, the $ is slightly smaller than 

 the 9 . 



Unfortunately we have but little knowledge of the larval habits and 

 life-histories of our American species. When these are all worked out 

 we shall have better evidence to go by than classification based prin- 

 cipally on coloration. Miss Murtfeldt has recorded the finding of the 

 larvge in communities on Giiaphalium polycephalum webbing the leaves 

 and when nearly mature spinning quantities of somewhat viscid silk. 

 In the National Museum are quite a number of specimens bred by 

 Chittenden in the vicinity of Chicago on the same plant and with 

 the same habit. Miss Murtfeldt' s bred specimen is identical with the 

 Chicago specimens, as are also flown specimens taken by Dr. Dietz at 

 Hazleton, Pa., and all are very distinct from any other North Ameri- 

 can species. This species I have named gnaphaliella. 



The larvae of silphiella were found by Mr. Coquillett in Illinois on 

 Silphium integrifoliiim in nests formed by fastening the terminal leaves 

 together by a few threads. 



I found the larvae of carduiella feeding on the pith inside the main 

 stalks of Cardans spinosissimus at Anglesea, N. J. 



It will be observed that the habits of the only three larvae known 

 are quite different, the first spinning considerable silk and webbing 

 the leaves, the second fastening leaves together with silken threads and 

 the third, borers in the stalk. These differences in larval habits, not 

 to mention the different food plants, would seem to indicate different 

 species, especially as in the case of the first named, bred by two peo- 

 ple, in different localities, but with exactly the same habits and pro- 

 ducing exactly the same moths. The earlier descriptions of the larvae 

 are brief but they also seem to indicate differences. 



As our early entomological literature is so widely scattered and fre- 

 quently almost unavailable to the majority of working entomologists 

 from having been published in foreign magazines or early American 

 journals that have long been out of print, I have taken the liberty of 

 repeating the original descriptions and the few references to the 

 American species of the genus, so as to bring together in one paper 



