298 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [Nov., '04 



A New Thccia from the Northwest. 



By Henry Skinner 

 Thecia Johnson! n. s.p. 9. — Eyes surrounded by a white ring; palpi 

 brown, clothed with numerous white scales ; antennae annulate, black 

 and white, tip black ; body brown ; legs annulate, black and white. 

 Upperside of primaries reddish brown, slightly darker along the costa, 

 marginal line black, ijnmaculate. Secondaries reddish brown, immacu- 

 late ; marginal line black ; a fine black tail with a white tip and above it 

 an aborted tail with a white tip ; between the tail and the anal angle the 

 margin is clothed with long black and white hairs or scales. There are 

 also some white scales at anal angle on inner side of the black marginal 

 line. Underside is the same color as above but differs in having on the 

 primaries a curved line of white spots running from the costa nearly to 

 the inner margin, and curving parallel to the other margin. This line is 

 above an eighth of an inch from the edge of the wing. There is a similar 

 line or row of white spots on the secondaries extending from the costa 

 to the inner margin ; the white linear spots are not as contiguous as in 

 the primaries, the fifth from costa beiug quite out of line and the last one 

 is longer than any of the others. Marginal line black with a fine white 

 line on either side ; the marginal line ends at anal angle in a dense black 

 spot. There are four small spots between the white line and the margin, 

 upper three black with obsolete centres, and the fourth white and above 

 the anal angle. The male is like the female but smaller and darker in 

 color, being dark brown. It has the usual sexual spot. The expanse of 

 one forewing of the female is 15.3 mm. and that of one forewing of the 

 male is 14 mm. 



The female bears a label British Columbia, and I have had 

 the specimen many years and knew nothing about it. The 

 male was sent to me by Professor O. B. Johnson, of Seattle, 

 Washington, with the following remarks : " The larvae were 

 collected July 15, 1891, by C. V. Piper, one of my pupils, 

 while collecting botanical material. They were found on 

 Arceuthobiuvi douglassii Engl, a parasitic plant belonging to 

 the order Loranthaceae, that is found on our hemlock, Tsuga 

 mertensia7ia. He brought me but three larvse and enough of 

 the plant to feed them to maturity — one I inflated immedi- 

 ately, one I killed in the pupa state, while the last emerged 

 imperfectly. While alive and feeding the mimicry or resem- 

 blance to the plant is most remarkable, not only in coloring 

 which is a yellowLsh green in the plant and duplicated in the in- 

 sect, but with dark hastate markings which imitate the shaded 

 portions between the leaf clusters. I have been waiting all 



