96 



(1844) figures larva and pupa, Curtis (1860) figures larva and pupa, and 

 Stainton (1861) figures larva and adult. 



THE SPECIES IMPORTED FROM EUROPE. 



The Rev. C. J. S. Bethune (Can. Entom., vol. 2, No. 1, Aug., 1869, pp. 

 1-4) describes specimens taken in Ontario as Depressaria oniariella n. 

 sp. On p. 19 of the same volume, in connection with a note on the 

 subject by Mr. James Angus, of West Farms, N. Y., some doubt is ex- 

 pressed as to the validity of the new species. In his Beitrag. z. Kenut. 

 d. nordam. Nachtfalter, Zeller (Verhandl. d. zool.-bot. Gesellschaft in 

 Wien,Band 23, 1873, pp. 235-236) refers to two females under the name of 

 ontarieUa Bethune (hence, of course, from Canada or the United States), 

 one having label " 14 Aug.," received through Dr. Speyer, which agreed 

 in the most exact manner with large European specimens of heracli- 

 ana. Zellei- adds that without doubt the species emigrated to America; 

 and having reached land after a l^appy winter passage experienced no 

 difficulty in selecting at once a suitable food plant for its progeny. Soon 

 after this Prof. J. A. Liutner (Canad. Entom., vol. 5, p. 82) records that 

 a specimen of B. ontarieUa Bethune, sent by him the previous fall to 

 Dr. Speyer, and by him submitted to Zeller, was by the latter deter- 

 mined to be D. heracliana. We have also from William Saunders, now 

 director of the Dominion Experimental Farms, an authoritative speci- 

 men of ontarieUa which is a true heracUana. 



HABITS AND NATURAL HISTORY. 



Stain ton says that the eggs are deposited in the spring by the hyber- 

 nated female moth upon the undeveloped umbels of the Parsnip [Pas- 

 tinaca sativa). The larvje may be found here in the United States in 

 the month of June; in England toward the last of June and through 

 July. They web the flower-heads together until these are contracted 

 into masses of web and excrement, an umbel thus affected being shown 

 in fig. 13,/. After the larvae have consumed the flowers and unripe 

 seeds and become nearly full grown, they enter the hollow stems of the 

 plants by burrowing their way inside, generally at the axils of the 

 leaves, and then feed upon the soft white lining of the interior. Here, 

 inside the hollow stem, they change to the pupa state. The larvae are 

 moderately gregarious. They will sometimes eat newly-sown parsnip, 

 after the older plants originally attacked have been destroyed, in such 

 cases eating the tender green leaves, while of the older plants they eat 

 only the flower-heads and interior lining of the stems. It is not at pres- 

 ent known whether there are two broods, though this is quite probable. 



On June 4 of the present year we received from the noted seedsmen 

 D. Landreth & Sons, Bristol, Pa., flower-heads of the parsnip badly in- 

 fested with the larvte, accompanied by the following account of Injury : 



We send you some further specimens of parsnip seed-stalks suffering under the at- 

 tack of the grub referred to in our previous letter. 



