103 



through it the green of the leaf upon which it is deposited. It is 

 shining, glassy, iridescent, the surface tinely granulated and rugose. 

 The outline is tolerably variable — a broad oval, nearly round. The 

 length is about 0.7""" and the width 0.6"'"\ 



The eggs are deposited in rather regular overlapping masses of 

 from three to twenty, a portion of a mass often showing a hexagonal 

 arrangement inclosing one egg. The favorite place of oviposition is 

 on the lower surface of a leaf. 



The larva. — The larva when tirst hatched is clear, grayish white 

 in color, and the markings of maturity show but faintl}', being few in 

 number, totally unlike those of the full-grown individual. After 

 feeding, the green of the leaf shows plainly through the outer 

 integument. A half-grown larva is shown in the illustration at h. 



The moth. — This species is a member of the superfamil}^ Pyralidina, 

 family Pyraustidae, and has recently been placed in the genus Phlyc- 

 tfenodes Gtien., (Hampson, Pr. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1899, p. 208) though 

 still catalogued under Loxostege in our latest list (Smith's List Lepid. 

 Boreal Amer. , 1891). The earliest description attributed to the species 

 is by Francis Walker (Catalogue Lepidopterous Ins. Coll. Brit. Mus., 

 part XVII, p. 399), who gave it the name hopteryx {?) olJiteralis. The 

 type locality is ''United States," the date of description, 1859. 



The moth is of moderate size and may be recognized hy the aid of 

 the accompanying tigure (tig. 28, a). The general color is described by 

 Grote & Robinson, who gave a detailed characterization of the female 

 under the name of BotysmaTculenta from Pennsylvania (Trans. Amer. 

 Entom. Soc, vol. I, p. 23, 1867), as pale ochre-yellow. It is very 

 pale, corresponding rather closely to, though lighter than, the "cream 

 buff" of Ridgway's Nomenclature. The darker brownish markings 

 are described as obsolete, and though rather faint or suffused in some 

 places the pattern is usually quite constant though moderatel}^ varia- 

 ble in distinctness. In the paler individuals the lighter portions of the 

 wings are translucent and more or less strongly iridescent. The lower 

 surface of the wings is more strongly iridescent. In dark individuals, 

 the marginal bands of the wings are sometimes very broad and 

 heav}". The expanse of the fore-wings is about seven-eighths of an 

 inch (21-23™™). The body of the female is rather stout, and measures 

 with the head about half the wing expanse. 



The moth although nocturnal in habit is quite active when the least 

 disturbed, and flies oft' with a quick darting motion. 



The larva. — The larva is of unusual beauty. The general color 

 when full grown is rather pale 3'ellowish green, variegated with deeper 

 green and with numerous very large and more or less rounded and 

 polished somewhat rugose black spots, arranged as shown in th(^ illus- 

 tration (tig. 28, l>). The head is a brighter yellow with orange mottling, 

 as is also the cervical shield or anterior portion of the tirst thoracic 



