32 



fly appears in May or early June, and a second brood in September 

 or the end of August. The wings on the upper side are shaded 

 with soft, dull red, and mottled with black spots and blotches, 

 which run together near the edge to form a nearly, or quite com- 

 plete band, outside of which, on the very edge, is a narrow, white 

 band. The under side is dark, ashy gray, very finely mottled. 

 The expanded wings are from two inches and-a-half to three inches 

 across. 



Fignre 22. 



Grapta piogne. Cran. 



Grapta prooiiCi Cnin., figure 22, is somewhat smaller, rarely 

 exceeding two and-a-quarter inches across the spiead wings, and 

 usually being less. It is lighter in shade, though of similar color 

 to the preceding. In the former species there is about the middle 

 of each hind wing, on the under side, a silvery mark shaped like a 

 semicolon — whence the specific name. In this species this mark is 

 more like a letter L. The caterpillar is gray. On the front of 

 each segment is a light slri|)e, and on each side an oblique black 

 spot, and the body is mottled with gray, while the breathing pores 

 along the sides are markcvl by \ellow spots. It is spiny, like the 

 preceding. G ra pta comma ^ Haii., also feeds upon the elm. The 

 coIdis of the wings aie much like those of the foregoing, and its 

 size is about the same. The silvery mark on the under side of the 

 lined wings 'is sliapetl like a comma, or like the letter c. The 

 cateipillar varies very much in color at difierent ages, being much 

 darker when young than when mature. The general colors of the 

 mature larva are white, black, and gray, while a line of red spots 

 marks the position of the breathing pores. Besides the elm, the 

 Graptas feed upon the hop, currant, etc. They are more or less 

 attacked by parasites. 



