318 



of cleft. In some specimens this is reduced or obscured by white scales, leav- 

 ing a black transverse line before cleft. Beyond this triangle the first lobe 

 is tawny or whitish, often suffused with gray, and blends into a dark shade 

 which precedes the usual transverse white line. Terminal area more or less 

 white-irrorate, apex strongly produced, acute. Second lobe with the transverse 

 line and dark shade in well marked specimens ; sometimes even grayish. Fringes 

 white to dark graj', with tufts of black scales along inner margin and a basal 

 crenulate row, sometimes cut with white, on outer margin. Secondaries brownish 

 gray, fringes concolorous. Third feather with black scales along inner mar- 

 gin, a large triangular scale tooth just beyond middle preceded and followed 

 by whitish fringes, and a small tuft at apex. Expanse 20-23 mm. 



We have a series from Crater Lake, Oregon, Aug. 1-7, reared by Dr. 

 McDunnough from "Castillcia or Orthocarpus sp." Most of these specimens 

 are of a very uniform dull gray with white irroration obscuring all marks, and 

 very evenly colored abdomens. In the same series, however, we find specimens 

 which afford us our best comparison with material from Europe. The species 

 is extremely variable with us, and usually much less olivaceous than the Euro- 

 pean examples which we have seen, tending to black and white. 



Distribution : Vancouver Is. to Manitoba, south to N. 111., Colo, 

 and S. Cal., May to August. Alaska, June, in National Museum. Dyar 

 also records it from Kadiak in July. Europe. The Connecticut record 

 is possible but seems doubtful. 



The life history has been worked out by various European ento- 

 mologists. The food plants on that continent are recorded as Aqni- 

 Icgia and Gerantum {fide Tutt) and Prey says that he has reared many 

 from larvae living in the seed capsules of the former. His var. stachy- 

 dalis was described from specimens reared from Stachys syhatica. 

 Tutt expresses doubt that the Stachys-ieeding species is the same as 

 that on Aquilcgia. He regards the latter as probably cosmodactyla 

 Hbn. and the former as punctidactyla Haworth. We follow Meyrick's 

 synonymy, and arc unable to say that our North American species is 

 distinct from a specimen of cosmodactyla Hbn. from continental 

 Europe, though they are not an exact match in any case. To this con- 

 fusion we must add Dr. McDunnough's record of "Castillcia or Ortho- 

 carpus" as food plant in Oregon, and Dyar's Colorado record of a 

 larva on Lonicera involucrata! We have no mention of Dyar's speci- 

 men in our notes on the National Museum material, and so cannot 

 check the identification, but since his is the only description of a North 

 American larva known to us which is even possibly this species, we 

 reproduce it : 



