FIG. 256. P. quinquepnnc- 

 tella. a, moth with wings folded ; 



b, moth with wings expanded ; 



c, enlarged maxillary palpus. 

 (After Riley.) 



Tineidae 



wood-burrowing y^Egerians. The cut, Fig. 255, taken from the 

 writings of Professor C. V. Riley, has more value as an explan- 

 ation of the facts in the case than a 

 whole page of verbal description 

 would have. The species of the genus 

 Prodoxus all appear upon the wing 

 before those of the genus Pronuba, 

 the former having no function to per- 

 form in connection with the fertiliza- 

 tion of the flowers, and being on the 

 spot to oviposit while the flower-stems 

 are still soft and easily capable of be- 

 ing cut into by the ovipositor of the 

 female, while Pronuba must wait until the flowers are opening and 

 the tissues of these portions of the plant are ready for the peculiar 

 operations which the perpetuation of the life both of the plant 

 and the insect call for. 



(2) Prodoxus marginatus Riley. 



The accompanying cut serves to show the characteristic fea- 

 tures of this species of the genus. The figure at a gives a view of 



the last abdominal segment of the 

 female magnified twenty-six di- 

 ameters. The basal joint of the 

 ovipositor is represented at bjo, 

 the terminal joint at tjo, and the 

 oviduct at ov. Figure c repre- 

 sents the claspers of the male 

 viewed from above. A view of 

 the fore wing magnified five 



FIG. 2S 7 .-P. marginatus. (After * imes is given at pr., and by it 

 Riley, "insect Life," Vol. iv, p. 373.) the species may be known. 



(3) Prodoxus y-inversa Riley. 



The main characteristics of a third species of the genus are 

 given, in Fig. 258. The left front wing is represented at a, the 

 hair-line beneath serving to show the natural size of the wing. 

 By looking at the figure upside down the reader will understand 

 why the specific name which was given to the moth originally 

 suggested itself. The genitalia of the male moth are represented 

 at b enlarged fourteen diameters. This view is taken from above 



439 



