652 FIFTH REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



INSECTS INJURING THE HONEY-LOCUST. 



Gleditschia triacanthos. 



AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 



1. Sphingicampa bicoJor (Harris). 



The habits and trausformations of this fine moth have been studied 

 by Dr. H. S. Jewett at Dayton, Ohio. (Papilio, ii, 38.) He says the 

 larvae change only in size during' the last molt, and are from 2 to 2J 

 inches long when fully grown. They began to quit feeding on the 20th 

 of June, entering the ground within a few hours after ceasing to eat. 

 There they pupated within an oval cell lined with a thin cocoon of 

 silk, the first casting its skin on the 24th. The moths began to appear 

 July 3 and had nearly all emerged by July 10. The insect is three- 

 brooded in Ohio, hibernating in the pupa state. Besides feeding on 

 the Gleditschia, they also devour the leaves of the Kentucky coffee 

 tree {Oynmocladus canadensis). Mr. Pilate has also bred it from the 

 honey-locust. 



Egg. — Smooth, pale green, 



2. Pemi)elia gleditschiella Fernald. 

 Order Lepidoptera ; family Pyralid.e. 



The following account of this insect is taken from Professor Com- 

 stock's Eeport for 1879. 



A large number of larvae, in different stages of growth, were found August 12, 

 drawing together and feeding on the leaves of the honey-locust {Gleditschia triacan- 

 thos) on the department grounds. The general color was greenish yellow, though 

 there was considerable variation among them. These larvae transformed to pupae 

 from the 3d to the 15th of September. When full-grown they descend to the surface 

 of the ground, where they spin a loose cocoon of coarse gray silk, which is com- 

 pletely covered with fragments of dried grass, leaves, or other substances, which so 

 conceals them that they are difficult to be found. Two of these moths emerged in 

 the latter part of September, but the most of them during the last half of the fol- 

 lowing May and early part of June, so that it is more than probable thej'^ pass the 

 winter in the pupa state on the ground under the trees. 

 We give below a description of the species by Prof. C. H. Fernald : 

 Head, palpi, antennae, thorax above and beneath, legs and forewings light ashy 

 gray. Most of the examples have a purplish tint on all these parts, deepest on the 

 thorax above and basal portion of the forewings. A black dash broken in the middle 

 crosses the thorax behind the middle, starting from under the patagi;e on either 

 side. Forewiug with a broad black baud crossing it at the basal third, which con- 

 sists of three or more lines of raised black scales, the outer one curving obliquely 

 across from the costa to the median vein, sometimes a little beyond, then inward to 

 vein 1, where it forms an obtuse angle, the apex pointing towards the base of the 

 wing ; then outwardly, taking the same general course as the first part of the line, 

 to the inner border; within this, and separated by a very narrow line of the general 

 color of the wing, are two diffuse black lines of raised scales ; the inner one seems 

 to fuse with the one beyond before reaching the costa. This baud is followed bv a 



