62 



Tlie pupa is of the customary Noctiiid color, iiuihog'any bi'own, and 

 is of robust form, measuring about five-eighths of an inch (l«j"'™) in 

 length, and a little more than one-fifth of an inch (5""") in width. No 

 characters are apparent, from a casual glance, to distinguish this genus 

 from allied ones. The anal extremit}^ terminates in two small divari- 

 cating processes, a character of many Noctuid pupas. 



DISTRIBUTION. 



This species of Prodenia, as previously stated, is the rarest of the 

 three common eastern forms, and although we have recei^'ed material 

 identified as /*. coiniiidtiue from Ashby, Mass., and it is recorded by 

 Dr. J. B. Smith from that State, our list of definite localities appears to 

 indicate that it is Lower Austral, and not so well established in the 

 Upper Austral region as the other two species under discussion. 



At the present writing we can furnish only the following short list 

 of localities: "Massachusetts"; District of Columl)ia; Charlottesville 

 and Colonial Beach, Va. ; St. Louis, Mo.; Illinois; Macon, Ga. ; Ala- 

 bama; Lake City, Fla.; and Texas. 



THE QUESTION OF NOMENCLATURE. 



A glance at the synonymy furnished for the genus Prodenia by 

 Dr. Smith in his catalogue of the Noctuidie, published as Bulletin 

 No. -44 of the United States National Museum (p. 169), is sufficient to 

 show that considerable confusion exists in published accounts as to the 

 identity of the dificrent species. According to Smith the "wheat 

 cutworm" mentioned and discussed by the late Dr. lliley in his First 

 Missouri Report (pp. 87, 8S), and which he again mentions and figures 

 (as moth) in his Third Report (p. 113, fig. -18, Z*), is urii'dluxjalll and 

 not commelinw, by which both this figure and c of the same illustration 

 are designated. 



This subject is discussed on page -43 of volume 11 of Papilio, as also 

 in the Index to the Missouri Reports (p. 56). 



DIVISIONAL RECORDS OF OCCURRENCES. 



During recent years this species has l)een reported as injurious only 

 in 1898. November 10 of that ja^ar we received from Mrs. H. B. 

 Boone, Charlottesville, Va., specimens of the larva found feeding upon 

 violets grown in beds at that place; Init there is an earlier record of 

 injury during the same 3'ear. This is by Mr. A. L. Quaintance, and 

 was pu])lished in the Farmer and Fruit Grower of October 8, 1898, 

 and it is evident from this account that the species is coming to the 

 fore as a garden pest, at least in the South. The account in cpiestion 

 relates to damage to the foliage of sweet potato l)y the larva of this 

 Noctuid "throughout the State" of Florida. Reports had come in 

 from various localities indicating that the species was widespread in 

 its occurence there. During feeding, the young were noticed to con- 



