108 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Notes on the Yucca Borer {Megaihi/mus YticccBf Walk.). 

 By Chas. V. Riley, M.A., Ph.D.* 



(Continued from p. 8G.) 



The first notice of this insect that we have any record of 

 is that by Boisduval and Le Conle, who figure it under the 

 name of Eudamus? Yuccae on plate 70 of their ' Iconographie.' 

 Though there is no text accompanying the plate, it is evident 

 from the generic reference that the insect is considered Hes- 

 perian, and no one could hesitate to so consider it if guided 

 by the figures. In those of the imago the head is unnaturally 

 broad, tlie body too slender, and the antennae with the club 

 too slender and too much hooked. The wings in repose are 

 thrown forward as in Thecla; the antennae erect, and the legs 

 too slender. The larva has the large and nutant head, nar- 

 row thoracic joints, and green, yellow and white longitudinal 

 stripes so characteristic of Hesperid larvae. 'Ihe pupa has 

 much the form and colour of Epargyreus Tityrus, Fabr. Jn 

 short, these figures, in many respects, and those of the larva 

 and pupa more particularly, are so unlike the insect considered 

 in the present paper, tliat the question might be justly raised 

 as to whether I am dealing with the Yuccae of Boisduval and 

 Le Coute, if the figures in the work in question were known to 

 be generally trustworthy. But 1 have already shown how 

 inaccurate and unreliable some of the said figures are ; while 

 the food-plant, as indicated by the specific name, and the size, 

 markings, and colour of the perfect insects in the plate, leave 

 no doubt 'as to the identity of Yuccae, B. and Z., and the 

 species here considered. Too nmch imagination entered 

 into the composition of that plate, and the probability is that 

 after Le Conte's figures were received in Europe by Boisduval, 

 the latter by mistake coupled witli Yuccae the larva and pupa 

 of some other large Soulhern Hesperian. 



The next reference to this insect is by Walker, in 1856, 

 who is the first to briefly describe it as Castnii Y'uccae. In 

 1871, Kirby referred it doublingly to ^Egiale, Feld.., in 

 Hesperidae. In 187*2, Scudder made it the type of a new 

 genus (Megathymus) in Hesperidae, without further diagnosis 

 than the incorrect figures in the 'Iconographie' alluded to. 



* From a Paper read before the Academy of Science of St. Louis, U.S. : 

 communicated by the Author. 



