2 



on the ground beneath, as well as by the sudden wilting and dj'ing 

 down of the leaves. Wilting occurs soon after the larvt© have made 

 considerable growth within. From one to half a dozen or more 

 larvae inhabit a stem, and often upwards of forty individuals have 

 been taken from a single plant ; indeed, one grower has stated that 

 he once cut " 142 larvae from a single vine." The larva? work with 

 great rapidity and in a very short time are able to injure a plant so 

 that no fruit will mature. Injury is most noticeable near the bases 

 of the stems, where in course of time the vine becomes severed from 

 the roots and the whole vine dies. 



The parent of this insect is a beautiful creature, a medium-sized 

 moth of the family Sesiidae, or clear- winged moths. The fore- wings 

 are opaque, lustrous olive-brown in color, with metallic green reflec- 

 tions, and expand from less than an inch to nearly an inch and a 

 half. The hind-wings are transparent and veined as shown in the 

 accompanying illustration of the male (fig. 1, a). The abdomen is 

 conspicuously marked with orange or red, black and bronze, and the 

 hind legs are fringed with long hairs, red or orange on the outer 

 surface and black inside. The natural position of the moth when at 

 rest is shown by the figure of the female (6). 



DISTRIBUTION. 



As far as known this species is a native of the Eastern Hemis- 

 phere, and widely distributed and injurious in the United States 

 practically wherever squashes are cultivated. Available records 

 and examination of material in the collection of the U. S. National 

 Museum show that it has a range, embracing territory from the 

 New England States and Canada in the north, to the Gulf States 

 southward, and westward to the region beyond the Missouri River, 

 which comprises the major portion of the Carolinian and Austrori- 

 parian regions of the Upper and Lower Austral and a portion also 

 of the Transition life zones. Injury has been observed to be particu- 

 larly severe in recent years on Long Island and in New Jersey, Del- 

 aware, Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia in the 

 east, and in Kansas and Nebraska in the west. Other States in 

 which injury has been noted include Maine, Massachusetts, Con- 

 necticut, Rhode Island, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, 

 Iowa, and Michigan. It is evidently of tropical origin, and occurs in 

 Mexico, where it is also widely distributed, in Guatemala, Panama, 

 Venezuela, Argentine, and the Lower Amazon. 



FOOD HABITS. 



The vines of squash and pumpkin form the chief food supply of 

 this species, but occasionally it attacks also gourd, muskmelon, and 

 cucumber. It does not, however, in the writer's experience, attack 



