61 

 Notes on "Crocidosema marcidellum" (Walsm.) [ Tortricidae | . 



BY OTTO II. SWKZKV. 



This s]H>('ies was doscrilxMl by I^di'd Walsingluuu from a sin- 

 gle feiuale eolleeted by Perkins in the Waianae IMoiuitains in 

 189:3, and provisionally placed in the genus Adenon-eura — the 

 ahsenee of the male making it im}:>ossil)le to determine the genns 

 with e(>rtaint.v. I have recently reared a series of '34 specimens, 

 and find that the species belongs in the genns Crocidosema, the 

 male having the characters distingnishing that genns. There is 

 some variation in intensity of markings in my series, but many 

 of them exactly match the figure given by Walsingham in the 

 Fauna Hawaiiensis. 



]My series of specimens were all reared from larvae in fruits 

 of the native Hibiscus (//. (uiwftiaiius) collected from a tree 

 along the ]\ranoa Cliffs Trail of Mi. Tantalus, March 15th, 

 1914. It was the first time that I ever found fruits on a tree 

 of the native Hibiscus, and I noticed that they were much eaten, 

 so took along about two dozen of them (about all that I could 

 conveniently obtain) to rear the moth from the numerous larvae 

 infesting them. My --A specimens emerged April ovd to the IGth. 



Mr. J. F. Rock told me once that he had found the fruits 

 of this Hibiscus and other related trees in the mountains of Ha- 

 waii l)adly eaten by insects. I have no doul)t but what they were 

 the larvae of this moth. 



The eggs of the moth are laid on the outside of the enclosing 

 calyx, (^n hatching the young larva eats through this, and feeds 

 for a time between it and the fruit, finally eating inside of the 

 fruit and destroying all of the seeds. In the lot of fruits that I 

 collected there were but three seeds remaining uninjured when 

 the larvae had finished with them. 



The young larvae have the head and cervical shield l)lack. 

 The full-grown larva is about 12mm. in length, dirty whitish or 

 yellowish with a rosy tinge ; head very pale testaceous, eyes 

 Idack, a l)lack streak behind eyes and above this the posteri(^r 

 margin of the head is black; cervical shield concolorous, two 

 submedian blackish spots at posterior margin ; spiracles circular, 

 black margined ; surface of body minutely roughened except cir- 

 cular areas at base of setae. 



The pupa is about Tnnn. in length ; yellowish brown ; wing- 



Proc. Haw. Eiit. Soc. Ill, No. 2, Juiy, 191.5. 



