igoo] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEV/S. 519 



AFFINITIES, HABITS, ETC. 



^. fusca belongs to a genus of closely-allied species, which 

 are not always to be distinguished except by the male genitalia. 

 Nevertheless, the larvae are very different. I have elsewhere 

 given a table separating four species of larvae (Can. Ent., 1897) 

 and the remarks under ^. stimidea will also appl}' here. This 

 larva is more distinctly gregarious than stimulea. Sepp re- 

 marks : " lya f emelle dispose ses oeufs par paquets. Les 

 chenilles qui en sortent, vivent quelques temps en societe et se 

 tiennent en mangeant rangees sur une ligne, les unes a cote des 

 autres a la surface inferieure des feuilles. " Later they sepa- 

 rate. My larvae exhibited the.se habits. The cocoon is spun 

 on a branch or twig, as Sepp remarks. Berg also says : "La 

 transformacion en crisalida tiene lugar en los troncos y ramas 

 de los arboles. ' ' My cocoons were received evidently hastily 

 broken from twigs by the collector, and in two instances a 

 bunch of Mantis eggs was included in the sending and counted 

 as a cocoon. Evidently, therefore, the cocoons are projecting 

 and not incon.spicuous objects on the trees. The species is 

 single brooded, the moths appearing in November, the larvae 

 maturing probably about February or later. The males fly at 

 dark, just after the twilight is gone and again in the early 

 morning, the flight not lasting over an hour. My living speci- 

 mens are all from the temperate climate of Argentina, so I do 

 not know whether the species is more than single brooded in 

 the tropics. It ranges from Argentina through Brazil, where 

 Mr. Koebele encountered it (though he failed to rear the 

 moths), to Surinam, as given by Sepp and Stoll. Mr. Druce 

 records it from Mexico also and this may be so, though in the 

 Biologia apparently all the forms of Sibine found in the region 

 treated of are called by the name trimacida {^=^ fusca). 



The eggs are laid in large patches as in S. stimidea. The 

 larvae possess the usual urticating property. Mr. Koebele has 

 labelled some cocoons from Caxanga near Recife, Brazil (Dec. 

 29, 1882), " Limacodes with stinging spines found on bark of 

 casu tree ; got badly stung. ' ' The larva is probably a rather 

 general feeder, like .S". stimu/e2i. Sepp gives orange and citron 

 as food plants. Berg gives " Membrillo" {Cidonia vulgaris^, 

 " Peral" {Pynis commmiis) and " Viiia" (Vdts vmt/era) and 



