1909] FROST — ENARMONIA TRISTRIGANA 13 
THE FOOD PLANT OF ENARMONIA TRISTRIGANA, CLEMENS. 
BY C. A. FROST, SOUTH FRAMINGHAM, MASS. 
WITH DESCRIPTION OF MATURE LARVA BY JOHN N. SUMMERS, MASS. AGRICULTURAL 
EXPERIMENT STATION, AMHERST, MASS. 
Tus beautiful species of Micro Lepidoptera was first described by Clemens 
in the Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Philadelphia, vol. v, 1865, and 
the original description is as follows: 
“Fore wings blackish-brown, costa pale-yellow from near the base of the wing 
to the tip, with eight blackish, oblique streaks and four bluish metallic spots ad- 
joining the yellowish costal stripe. On the middle of the dorsal margin is a large 
pale-yellow blotch containing three blackish lines, with a bluish metallic spot above 
it in the middle of the wing, and a semi-band between it and the hinder margin. 
Hind wings dark brown. Coll. Ent. Soc. Phil.— Va.” — 
Dyar’s Catalogue gives the localities of this species as Mass. and Va. Mr. 
W. D. Kearfott writes me that he has specimens from Anglesea, N. J., May 20th; 
Essex Co., N. J., May 11th, and July 4th, 7th, and 25th; Newark, N. J., June Ist; 
and Ashley, Pa., June 24th. He also adds that he has identified specimens from all 
the New England States and Eastern Canada. 
Although the place where this species breeds is one of my favorite collecting 
grounds, I have never taken a flown specimen of it there and only one elsewhere. 
My attention was first called to the work of this species by the dying bunches of 
Baptisia tinctoria which is very common in some localities near here. ‘There seemed 
to be no healthy plants and an examination showed that nearly every stalk, except 
some of the smaller ones, was occupied by one or more whitish larvae which had 
eaten out the inside and left the space filled with a fine debris that resembled sawdust 
very closely. 
The beginning of the burrow seemed to be either on the branches at some dis- 
tance from the main stem, or, more often, at the point where it joins the stem, and 
always on the under side. ‘The entrance is marked by a tiny black scar which is 
sometimes hidden by the leaf, or stipule scar, at the base of the branch. Further 
investigations show that there are other apparent entrances or exits on the larger 
stalks sometimes covered by a dead leaf held by silk. These are quite large and 
I am unable to account for them, assuming that they are made by the larva of the 
moth, unless they are used for the ejection of debris or as an exit for the imago. 
