Americana 



VOL. I. 



BROOKLYN, JSNU1RY, 1886. 



NO. 10. 



Cosmosoma omphale.* 



By John B. Smith. 



At the Ann Arbor meeting of the A. A.A.S. . Mr. H. G. Hubbard 

 mentioned to me a peculiar flaxy or cottony substance concealed in a 

 cavity in the abdomen of the ^ of this species, and asked its use. The 

 presence of this substance was entirely new to me, and so far as I have 

 been able to discover since, no mention of it is made by any author. At 

 my request, Mr. Hubbard who was prevented by indisposition from at- 

 tending the meetings of the Entomological Club, sent some specimens 

 through Mr. E. A. Schwarz, who presented the matter before the Club. 

 He called attention to a broad plate at base of abdomen — much larger 

 than the ventral portion of the sub-basal segment, and stated that this 

 covered a cavity in which was concealed a downy substance, sufficient in 

 quantity when teased out to fill a small pill box. Considerable discus- 

 sion on the nature and use of this structure was had; but all present 

 were absolutely ignorant of its existence before this time. 



Mr. Hubbard has kindly given me a number of specimens of this 

 insect and from them these notes are made. The intention at first was 

 to give a description of this structure only; but on reflection it was decid- 

 ed to figure and briefly describe the external anatomy of the entire insect. 



Lepidopterists have paid too little attention to the anatomical struc- 

 ture of their pets, and as, sooner or later the study must become more 

 specific in structural detail, it may save the future student some labor to 

 have at least one species carefully figured. 



Right here it may perhaps be well to call attention to an error in 

 my paper on the Zygaenidae, Tr. Am. Ent. Soc. XII, 77 — 84. On PI. 

 Ill, fig. 25 the figure instead of representing Cosmosoma, really represents 

 Didasxs. The error occured in labelling- the slides from which the 



* Ke.nl before the Brooklyn Entomological Society, Nov. 3, 1885. 



