in about ten days. The young larva; arc ve^-y active and strong; they soon begin to 

 construct tlie typical cylindrical nest (see. e, copied from Felt), composed of vreh 

 and an outer layer of bits of drj^ grass. The bits of grass are cut with great regu- 

 larity, being al)out 2""" by 75""". In these nests the larv;e retire when not feeding. 

 The larvaj feed upon the common grasses. Some were observed to eat considerable 

 sheep sorrel (Itumex acetoseUa) . The larvae feed mostly at night, and occasionally a 

 blade of grass was cut off and the end drawn into a nest. As cold weather came on 

 the larvjc became more dormant, thenests were made thicker, and finally in Novem- 

 ber the tojis of the nests were closed. The winter is passed in the larva state. In 

 the spring the larvie complete their growth and then transform, and emerge in July. 



The following are descriptions of tlie insect in its several stages, so 

 far as yet known : 



Imago if): Fore-wings above of a pale straw color, growing pale buff apically 

 heavily marked with blackish fuscous of varying shades and with silver; the latter 

 is mostly confined to two subapical cross-bands, the upper half of the inner and the 

 whole of the outer oblique, the inner bent just above the middle and crossing the 

 entire wing (excepting that it fails to reach the costal margin above), the lower half 

 at nearly right angles to the upper half and subjiarallel to the outer margin ; the 

 inner band is bordered interiorly with brown which extends to the costal margin; 

 a broad stripeof silvery gray tapering apically follows the subcostal vein to the end of 

 the cel'l and four fuscous longitudinal stripes reach nearly or quite to the inner sil- 

 very band, the uppermost more or less mingled with buff following the costal edge 

 for nearly a third its length and then running a little obliquely across the upper 

 extremity of the cell, the next tinged with silver so as to become pearl gray extend- 

 ing along the middle of the cell; the other two follow the median and submedian 

 nervures; three other short longitudinal fuscous lines, much overlaid and concealed 

 by silver, follow the nervi^les beyond the cell, while a supplementary brownish and 

 oblique line intervenes between the oblique portion of the costal stripe and the inner 

 margining of the inner silvery band; the extreme outer margin of the wing has a 

 black line on the upper half, and on the lower half at the nervule tips three or four 

 black points ; the fringe is silvery. Hind-wings uniform silvery gray, narrowly edged 

 on the upper half of the outer border with pale brown, the fringe silvery white. 

 Expanse of fore wings, <? 15"^'"; 9 17""". Described from four bred males. 



Egg. — When first laid pellucid white, obovate, broadly rounded at both extremi- 

 ties, but slightly more so at base than at summit, broadest barely below the mi Idle, 

 3gmm iiigli and 0.3'"™ broad, witli about twenty-three straight and vertical ribs of 

 sliglit elevation reaching to the dome of the summit, their interspaces crossed by 

 finer, horizontal, raised cross-lines which traverse also the vertical ribs, giving 

 them a beaded ai)pearance, the svirface thus broken up into quadrangular cells 

 whose length (the width of the interspaces between the ribs) in the middle of the 

 egg is 0.04'""', and whose height is scarcely 0.02""", the surface itself very delicately 

 shagreenod. On the dome of the summit the surface is broken into polygonal cells 

 which are about 0.04'"'^' in diameter below and grow smaller toward the apex. 



The eggs were laid in coufluement upon the stem of the cranberry. 

 They hatched in seven days. 



The iigure given by Felt, here copied [a), represents the egg, as less 

 regular than it should be, and the cross lines are not accurately drawn, 

 a feature exaggerated in the copy. 



Lana (firxt stage).— Head diameter, 0.2""" ; body diameter, 0.125""" ; length, 0.99™™. 

 General color, a smutty white; head, a little darker than the rest of the body. 

 Scattered hairs occur on the head; numerous small dark-colored tubercles occur on 

 the body, each bearing :\t least one hair. (Felt.) 



