84 FIRST AlifNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOilOLOQIST. 



The following generic diagnosis accompanied it : 



AnteymcB short, deeply pectinated on both sides at the base, and ap- 

 parently simple at the base; head small, eyes globose, rather promi- 

 nent; tJiorax very robust; abdomen also robust at base and gradually 

 attenuated to the apex; tuings completely hyaline ; anterior elongate- 

 lanceolate, diseoidal areolet closed, and with a central longitudinal 

 nervure; first and fourth marginal nervures furcate; posterior wings 

 small. 



It was believed to be allied to Psyche and Fumea and was assigned 

 place immediately preceding these genera. 



Food-Plants of the Larva. 

 The caterpillar is a very general feeder, readily feeding on a large 

 number of our fruit, forest, and other trees. It has been observed on 

 apple, pear, plum, cherry, choke-cherry, apricot, quince, linden, maple, 

 locust, oak, elm, ft)plar, osage orange, spruce, hemlock, larch, red 

 cedar, and arbor vitae. For the last two, it seems to manifest a de- 

 cided preference. The accounts of its ravages during the year 1880, 

 which appeared in agricultural journals, were unusually numerous, and 

 in the majority of instances, the arbor vitse was the greatest sufferer. 



Geographical Distribution, 

 The species is a southern form, and does not occur extensively in the 

 State of New York. It has not been found in the vicinity of Albany, 

 and I know only of its occurrence within the State, on Long Island 

 and Staten Island. Its presence, and injuries from it, are recorded in 

 Pennsylvania, Maryland, District of Columbia, Virginia, Carolina 

 (North and South), Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, and 

 Missouri. 



Natural Enemies. 



Notwithstanding the concealed life of this caterpillar, it appears to 

 be quite liable to parasitic attack, for no less than six parasites are 

 known to destroy it. They are the following : 



PiMPLA INQUISITOR (Say). — Mr. Glover mentions the destruction 

 of Th. ephemercBformis by Cryptus inquisitor, a small, yellow-banded 

 ichneumon fly, with no other information in regard to it.* Originally 

 described by Say in the genus Jchneumou,\ it was afterward referred to 

 Cryptus, and in 1870 it was placed, by Mr. Cresson, in Pimjjla, in a 

 synoptical table given of the known species of that genus. | The dis- 



*Rept. Comniis. Agricid. for 1866, p. 41 ; for description of the larva and pupa, see £ul- 

 letin ^Yo. 3 of the U. S. Entomolog. Vommis., p. 45. 

 i Contributions to JIaclurian Lyceum, i, 1827, p. "Tl. 

 X Trans. Amer. Entomolog. Soc, lii, 1870, p. 144. 



