360 



PREPARATORY STAGES OF SYNTOMEIDA EPILAIS Walker AND 

 SCEPSIS EDWARDSII Grote. 



By Harrison G. Dyar, Buffalo, N. Y. 



Syntomeida EPILAIS Walk. 



Egg. — Hemispherical, the base flat, minutely punctured. Color, shiny pale yel- 

 low. Diameter 1""™. Laid in a mass, nearly touching on the under side of the 

 leaf. 



First larval stage.— Head brownish, paler down central suture and triangular plate ; 

 eyes black ; mouth dark brown. Width of head, .5'"™. Body pale yellowish white 

 with black spots, arranged much as the warts of the Arctiime, each bearing one or 

 more black hairs. Cervical spot brownish, and this as well as the anal plate has a 

 row of small black spots. Feet, all blackish. Length, 2""'". As the stage proceeds, 

 the body becomes pale orange yellow. 



Stcond larval stage. — Head pale yellowish brown, eyes and mouth dark. Width, 

 gmm_ Body, yellowish ; spots black, as in mature larva, bearing thin tufts of black 

 hairs, those at the extremities being the longest. Feet, black. Length about 4™">. 



Third larval stage. — Head reddish orange; mouth dark. Width 1.1™™, Body red- 

 dish orange with black spots bearing pencils of hair as in the last stage, but the hair 

 is only .4""" long. Length of larva about 8™™. 



Fourth larval stage. — Head orange red; mouth dark. Width 1.5™™ body as in last 

 stage, but the subdorsal and other black marks, not bearing hairs, are absent. Length 

 15""". 



Fifth larval stage. — Mature larva. Head round, orange red, paler above the mouth. 

 Palpi whitish ; eyes and jaws dark brown ; a few hairs. Width of head 2'"™. Body, 

 orange red with round, elevated, shiny black spots as follows: (1) in subdorsal space, 

 anteriorly on joints 5 to 12 inclusive; (2) subdorsal row; (3) superstigmatal row ; 

 (4) stigmatal row of small spots each posterior to a spiracle ; (.5) and ((i) are subveu- 

 tral rows, the lower consisting of large long spots above the base of each leg, while 

 joints 2, 3, and 4 have only one subventral row. Cervical spot and anal plate have a 

 row of small black spots. The subdorsal and stigmatal rows on joints 3 and 4, the 

 superstigmatal on joints 5 to IL and the subdorsal on joints 12 and 13 bear each a 

 long (10™™) pencil of fine black hair. The others have a thin tuft of short hair. 

 Black marks occur in the subdorsal space joininj^ over the dorsum on the middle seg- 

 ments, situated posteriorly. Another row of spots in stigmatal space also posteriorly, 

 and a fainter row in the subventral space, the latter in some examples nearly forming 

 aband. Thoracic feet black, abdominal, black outwardly. Spiracles small and black. 

 Length of larva about 30™™. Diameter of body 4™™. 



Cocoon. — Composed of silk and the larval hairs and constructed in some inclosed 

 place. It is thin and weak. 



Pupa. — Depressed behind the thorax ; very slightly flat below; abdominal seg- 

 ments without motion and cremaster absent. Color dark orange with black streaks, 

 as follows: A spot on the head ; two on the collar; two irregular angulated lines on 

 the thorax; lines on cases of anterior legs and antennae cases; two large and three 

 or four small streaks on the wing-cases ; abdominal segments have a transverse band 

 on each of irregular width, some of them, especially at the anterior and posterior 

 segments, interrupted. Length, 17™™. Width, 5.5™™. 



Food-plant. — Oleander, Nerium odorum. Larvie from Dade County, Fla., on the 

 ocean side of Lake Worth. 



