30 



H costal patch, followed by three ciiitea})iccil black dots, and separate 

 from a black blotch which extends to apices. Fringes black and white, 

 black superiorly. Hind wings pale, powdered with blackish ; fringes 

 l)ale, blackish at ajjices. Beneath white, black at apices. Forewings 

 beneath reflecting upper surface. Body whitish. A'xpanse 2-4 mil. 

 Buffalo, N. Y. 



Prof. Fernald kindly informs me that he has a male specimen in 

 which the forewing has a costal fold and thus indicates together 

 witli the venation and body cliaractors witli certainty the generic 

 })()sitiou of this very distinctly marked form. 



All Ii^x;aiiii>le of I*i*oteotivo IMinxioi'j'. 



By D. tS. Kelltcott. 



The lield entomologist is continually meeting with the cases of 

 mimicry for protection. Mimicry of color, of form, of attitude, of 

 motions and manners is almost too common among insects to be 

 novel. Perhaps a majority, if not a very large minority of species 

 afford exami)les, more or less apparent, at some stage of tlieir history. 



A most convincing exami)le is presented by the motli RhodopJurra 

 Jhtridd, (iuen. (noo of (Irote's Check List) concealed during the day 

 in the withering blossoms of the Common Evening Primrose, Ovno- 

 thera biennis. The moth has the inner two thirds of tlie forewings 

 l)right })ink. while the outer third, the hind wings and the abdonu'u 

 pale yelloAV. It enters the flower l)efore day with its body resting 

 upon the style, the four parted stigma projecting beyond the ti}) of 

 the abdomen, ap})earing like a part of it. When the sun comes 

 the two petals that were above the moth soon wilt and fall down 

 over the roof like wings concealing the hind portion, leaving tJie 

 yellow part exposed as a i)art of the blossom. Sometimes the ^nnk 

 of the wings is not wholly covered but the tone of the continm)us 

 colors is such that the harmony is complete. It is worthy of note 

 also that the withered petals of a day or two old, the bracts at the 

 base of the ovaries and the maturing seed pods of the /spikes often 

 Ijlush with shades of pink and red. So effectually is the moth con- 

 cealed by tliis arrangement that a trained eye detects it with diflH- 

 culty; it must be well secured against its feathered enemies. 



The larva too should receive a word of notice. It feeds on the 

 floral organs and seed pods of the biennis, the former when it can, 

 the latter when 't must. The second brood which appears in au- 

 tumn after the food plant has nearly passed blossoming must dei)en(l 

 on the fruit. In color it is obsciirely stri]ied with dark and liglitcv 



