STHENOnS. 153 



brown, with the markings arranged as in the male, but with a 

 broad grey band, narrowly edged on both sides with white, 

 replacing the outer white line and more nearly meeting the 

 inner line at an angle. The other markings are less distinct 

 than in the male, and the hind-wings are uniform ashy-grey. 



The larva feeds on the underground rhizomes of bracken 

 fern ( Pteris aquilina) as well as on succulent roots, such as 

 that of the dock, &c. The larva is ivory-white, and much 

 wrinkled. The head is orange-brown, and there is a brownish- 

 orange plate on the back of the second segment, and similar 

 marks on the third and fourth segments. The spiracles are 

 dark browai. 



The pupa is chestnut-brown, with hooklets on the abdominal 

 segments, and is enclosed in a cocoon near the surface of the 

 ground, lying in a burrow which runs spirally upwards from the 

 root in which the larva has fed. 



The moth is not uncommon in July and August, and the male 

 may often be seen flying rapidly among ferns at dusk. 



GENUS STHENOPIS. 



Sthenopis, Packard, Proc. Ent. Soc. Philad. iii., p. 390 (1S64) ; 

 Stretch, Zyg. & Bomb. N. Amer., p. 104 (1872). 



This genus includes about half a dozen North American 

 species, which are considerably larger than Hepialiis, with longer, 

 broader, and more pointed wings, and a longer abdomen. The 

 head is small, and there is a large square tuft of hair on the 

 hind tibia3. The species are brown or grey, with silvery mark- 

 ings, and the larva: feed in the stems of alder, &c. 



STHENOPIS ARGENTEOMACULATUS. 

 {riate CXXK, F(o. 3.) 

 Ilepialus argenfconiaaila/ns, Harris, Rep. Ins. Mass., p. 295 

 (1841); KclHcott, Insect Life, i., p. 250 (1S89). 



