December, '11] BRITTON: BARBERRY PYRALID 523 



described and figured in one of the Government publications, but 

 have no note on the subject, and can't be sure at the present time. 

 I know that nothing much has been written concerning the species. " 

 In searching the more accessible works for the hterature of the 

 species, only two references could be found. One of these was the 

 original description which is included in this article, and the other a 

 brief note by Dr. H. G. Dyar in an article entitled, — "A Review of 

 the North American Pyralinte" (Proceedings Entomological Society 

 of Washington, Vol. X, p. lOr; 1908), giving records as follows: 



Omphalocera dentosa Grote. 



"New Haven, Conn. (A. H. Verrill); Plummer's Island, Maryland, June 6, 1902 

 (H. S. Barber); Ames, Iowa, June 6, 1896 (C. P. Gillette); Black Jack Springs, 

 Texas (Wm. Barnes); Dallas, Texas, May 31, 1896 (Dept. Agr. No. 6351), larvse 

 on Berberis. I have also a female from Durango, Colorado, that is less vinous in 

 tone and more darkly colored, perhaps a distinct species, but with the present material 

 I do not venture to separate it." 



"Larvae received from Mr. A. H. Verrill, which I think belong to this species, 

 are black with many white dots, without the red lines of cariosa." 



Dr. H. T. Fernald has also kindly examined the card index in his 

 office and consulted his father's catalogue, and assures me that no 

 other references occur there. 



As the hterature seems to be scanty, this brief article is submitted 

 for publication in the hope that it maj^ be of help to other workers 

 who may collect or observe the caterpillars on barberry. 



Description 



Adult. The species was described from a female specimen bj^ Grote, 

 in Bull. U. S. Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories 

 Vol. VI, No. 2., p. 272, as follows: 



Omphalocera dentosa, n. sp. Female. A little larger than cariosa, with quite a 

 different color, being dusty olive brown, without any reddish brown tinges. The 

 median space is dark blackish brown. The pattern of ornamentation is the 

 same, but the outer Hne is composed of well-defined and rather broad, open 

 teeth. The line is double, filled in by a pale shade, and is brought a little 

 nearer the margin over the median nerv'ules than in cariosa. The interspaces 

 beyond the t. p. line show dentiform shadings of the lighter and darker 

 colors of the wing. The fringes are dark. The terminal dots do not contrast 

 as much as in cariosa. The veins are darker marked. 0. dentosa has the under 

 surface fuscous with a common external double line near the border, which seems 

 a little less strongly dentate than in cariosa. The abdomen is furnished with brown 

 tufts on the dorsum in both forms. In place of the discal mark (?) there is a pale 

 dot on the subcostal vein and one below it on median vein, quite distinct in cariosa, 

 hardly evident in dentosa, which expands 40 mil." 



I have not been able to find any description of the male, and take it 

 to be undescribed, but in the specimens reared it closely resembles 



