194 ZYG^NID^ AND BOMBYCID^ 



Beneath, concolorous with primaries, secondaries never black ; the 

 discal dot is present on all the wings, and there are occasionally traces 

 on the secondaries of a black marginal band. 



The ? varies chiefly in the tint of the ground color, and not in the 

 ornamentation, which is more constant than in S . 



Expanse of tvings, $ 3 1.30 to 1.50 inches; lettgih 0/ body, o. do 

 to 0.65 inch. 



Habitat. — California generally. 



■ Larva. — $, . Length about 1.25 inches. Head reddish brov^^n ; 

 front black ; suture between the lobes pale ; oral appendages reddish 

 brown. Legs reddish brown, abdominal legs flesh colored, dusky at 

 the base and hairy outwardly. Body deep velvety black above, paler 

 beneath, with very faint traces of a yellow lateral stripe. Stigmata 

 white, very small. Body covered with tubercles, those on the dorsum 

 black, those on the sides whitish centrally. The black dorsal tubercles 

 carry tufts of uneven, stiff, radiating, deep glossy black hairs, mixed 

 with rusty hairs on segments i, 2 and 3. The lateral tubercles carry 

 similar hairs of a pale dirty color somewhat inclined to rusty, but not 

 showing the decided red tinge of those on the back. The termijial 

 segments have the hairs somewhat longer, and on segments i and 3 

 there are a few very long pale scattered silky hairs. 



? . — Differs from the 5 in having the sides of the body more de- 

 cidedly speckled with yellow, the lateral tubercles more distinctly pale, 

 and all the black tufts of hairs on the back are mixed with hairs con- 

 colorous with those on the sides, giving the larva a paler and dirtier 

 appearance. 



This larva bears a strong resemblance to the young larva of L. acraa. 

 It feeds on the various species of Lupin (so abundant in California) 

 and thisdes indiscriminately ; is full fed about the middle of August, 

 when it spins a thin cocoon among the dead leaves on the ground, 

 working up into the cocoon the grains of sand or fragments of leaves 

 adjacent to it. The insect is single brooded, appearing on the wing in 

 April and May, and comes freely to light. 



I do not remember to have seen any notice of a discrepancy in the 

 larval coloration of the two sexes, but it is quite marked in the species 

 under consideration. From whatever cause, the variation in the colors 

 of many Californian insects is very remarkable, and fully as great in 

 Antarctia as in Leptardia. While discussing this question my friend 

 H. Edwards suggested the propriety of separating these two varieties of 

 the larva, to see if the result would throw any light on Boisduval's two 



