450 FIFTH REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



segment ; on each side at base is a silvery band obscurely marked. Body pearly 

 white, spotted irregularly with brown. Head, wings, and limbs olive-brown. Ab- 

 domen pearl white, brown towards the end. Length 24""". 



The butterfly. — Deep orange red, body black, wings bordered and striped with 

 black ; in the black borders a row of white spots besides a row of marginal white 

 spots in the scallops, also a row of three white spots in the triangular black spot ex- 

 tending inward from the outer third of the costa of the fore-wing. Eight white spot* 

 on the head to be seen from above. Expanse of wings 2i inches. 



17. Nisoniades icelus Lintner. 



This butterfly has been raised by Mr. S. Lowell Elliot from cater- 

 pillars fouud oil different species of poplar and willow at or near New 

 York City. According to Mr. Lintner, the first discoverer of the 

 species, the butterfly is to be seen from May 25 till near the middle of 

 July. 



The egg. — The egg is of a pale-green color. In shape it is a semi-ellipsoid ; its base 

 is flat, and its apex depressed between the tips of the ribs, which terminate exterior 

 to the depression. It is distinctly fluted even to the naked eye, and with a 1-inch 

 lens the ribs may be seen of the number usually of eleven, but not uniformly, for of 

 nine specimens examined one was observed with ten ribs and one with twelve. Con- 

 necting the ribs are from thirty to thirty-live transverse strite. The diameter of the 

 egg is .031 of an inch, and its height .028 of an inch. The larva has not been 

 observed by me. (Lintner.) 



The hiMerfly. —Head and palpi dark brown, the latter lighter beneath, and inter- 

 spersed with gray or gray-tipped hairs. Antennae brown, annulated with white 

 obscurely above, with the club orange-tipped. Thorax dark brown, with scattered 

 scales of lighter brown. Abdomen dark brown, with some gray scales, especially at 

 the posterior margin of the segments. Anterior wings above dark brown, basally 

 mottled with umber, and sprinkled with yellow-brown and bluish-gray scales.- It 

 differs from N. hrizo, to which it is closely related, by its uniformly smaller size, its 

 wings expanding frohi 1.20 to 1.40 inches, while the smallest hrizo expands 1.50 

 inches. A marked characteristic is the costal patch of bluish scales between the 

 bands. (Lintner.) 



1 8. Smerinthua exececatus A. and S. 



The caterpillar of this moth, which heretofore has been supposed to 

 be confined to the wild cherry as well as the apple and plum, has been 

 foUnd by Mr. Fletcher to feed readily on the balm of Gilead and also 

 Populus albttj the latter known as the silver abele tree ; the larvae 

 varied much in coloration. (Can. Ent., xv, 203.) Mr. P. Fischer (Can. 

 Ent., xvi, 17) has bred this species from the poplar and linden. 



19. Smerinthua modeatus Harris. 



The caterpillar of this rare moth has been found by Dr. Kellicott to 

 feed on the aspen, and by Mr. W. V. Andrews on the poplar (species 

 not mentioned). Mr. R. Bunker, who describes the eggs and early 

 stages (in Can. Ent., ix, 210), does not mention its food-plant. We copy 

 his descriptions. 



Egg. — One-eighteenth inch in diameter; light green, translucent, smooth, circu- 

 lar, oblate or depressed. Hatched in nine days after being laid. 



