Epipyropidae 



of Arizona. In Central and South America the Dalceridae are 

 more numerously found. Of Pinconia coa we give a represen- 

 tation on Plate VIM, Fig. 6. 



FAMILY EPIPYROPIDAE 



" So, naturalists observe, a flea 

 Has smaller fleas that on him prey ; 

 And these have smaller still to bite 'em, 

 And so proceed ad infinitum." 



SWIFT. A Rhapsody, 



The Epipyropidce are a very remarkable little family of para- 

 sitic moths, of which, as yet, comparatively little is known. 

 Professor J. O. Westwood of Oxford, in the year 1876, pub- 

 lished an account of a lepidopterous insect, the larva of which 

 lived upon Fulgora candelaria, the great tree-hopper, which is 

 abundant at Hong-Kong and elsewhere iri southeastern Asia. 

 The caterpillar, according to Westwood, feeds upon the white, 

 cottony secretion, which is found at the base of the wings of 

 Fulgora. In 1902 Dr. Dyar described another species, the moth 

 of which was bred from a larva which was found attached to the 

 body of a tree-hopper belonging to the genus Issus. The speci- 

 men came from New Mexico, and was taken at Las Vegas Hot 

 Springs. The moth, cocoon, and an alcoholic specimen of the 

 larva are preserved in the United States National Museum. Mr. 

 Champion, the veteran explorer of Central America, who has done 

 so much to instruct us as to the biology of those lands, has re- 

 corded in a note in the Proceedings of the Entomological Society 

 of London for 1883, p. xx, that a similar phenomenon was 

 observed by him while collecting in Central America. There is 

 here a field of interesting study for some patient observer whose 

 home is in New Mexico. Dr. Dyar named the New Mexican 

 insect Epipyrops barberiana. 



" The little fleas that do so tease, 

 Have smaller fleas that bite 'em, 

 And these again have lesser fleas, 

 And so ad infinitum. " 



SWIFT. As popularly but incorrectly quoted. 



370 



