8 



THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



of the fact that the moth is to be seen 

 either hidden in sheltered situations or 

 flying during the milder weather of winter, 

 and in spring, in all of the Southern por- 

 tion of the belt. 



The situations in which it is most often 

 reported as sheltering are under the shingles 

 of gin houses, under rails, and under the 

 loose bark and in the hollows of trees and 

 prostrate logs. In old pine stumps the sap 

 wood separates from the heart wood and 

 forms excellent retreats for this purpose. 

 The general hue of the large scales of pine 

 bark is sufficiently close to that of the 

 moth to make the resemblance protective. 

 A dense forest of Long-leaved pines also 

 modifies and equalizes the winter temper- 

 ature. These facts would lead one to sup- 

 pose that pine forests offer unusually fa- 

 vorable conditions for hibernation, and 

 Mr. Humphreys has, in fact, found the 

 moth hibernating under pine scales, while 

 some of my most reliable correspondents 

 report having seen the moths sporting in 

 great numbers in the edges of pine forests 

 during the month of March. Nevertheless, 

 the persistent search, by Mr. Schwarz last 

 winter, under my direction, while yet con- 

 nected with the Department of Agriculture, 

 failed to reveal the moth under pine bark ; 

 whereby I was led to the conclusion that 

 it seeks winter shelter some distance from 

 the ground. It has been reported by some 

 correspondents in greatest numbers in 

 swamps of Sweet gum, Oak, Magnolia, 

 Poplar, etc., such as are found in Southern 

 Alabama. These swamps are warm, moist, 

 and miasmatic, and the moths are said to 

 have been seen literally packed together in 

 a torpid state in such places, in the hollows 

 and burrows made in rotting logs by boring 

 larvae. 



The evidence on this point of the hiber- 

 nation of the moth would be overwhelm- 

 ing did it come from scientific observers ; 

 but, unfortunately, allied species are so 

 often and so easily mistaken for Aletia that 

 doubt still surrounds the subject. The 

 liability to confound hibernating species is 

 all the greater, in that their characteristic 

 markings are more or less effaced or faded. 



The Hypena scabralis (Fabr.) * a moth, be- 

 longing to a different family {Fyralidcc) and 

 which hibernates in the imago state all over 

 the country, is especially common in the 

 Southern States and large numbers have 

 been sent to me as the genuine Aletia. It 

 is nearly of the same size and form, and 

 while normally of a darker brown, faded, 

 hibernating specimens are easily mistaken 

 for the Cotton Moth because of undulating 

 darker lines across the front wings somewhat 

 similar to those on the latter. Its palpi are 

 longer and snout-like, and its front wings 

 invariably lack the dark discal spot and the 

 white specks characteristic of Aletia. 



Phoberia atomaris Hiibn., and many other 

 similar moths have been forwarded with 

 the remark that they were the Cotton 

 Moth ; while Leiicania uuipimcta Haw., the 

 parent of the Northern Army Worm — 

 which feeds on grasses and cereals— ^is 

 everywhere found in the South during win- 



[Fig. 5-: 



^^d^^^ 



Leucania unipuncta : «, male moth ; b^ female abdomen, 

 natural size ; c, eye ; «■, portion of female antenna ; </, do. male 

 (after Riley). 



ter, and, on account of its great similarity 

 in color to Aletia, and of a white discal 

 spot relieved with a dark shade on the 

 front wings that heightens the general re- 

 semblance, is more often mistaken there- 

 for than any other. It is more robust than 

 Aletia, and a comparison of the accompa- 

 ing illustrations (Figs. 3 and 5) will 

 show the other differences. From this 

 danger of confounding species it is evident 

 that ordinary reports lose — when unaccom- 

 panied by specimens — much of their value 



* The Platykypena scabra (Fabr.) of Crete's List. Its 

 larva is grass-green in color with a medio-dorsal, and sub-dor- 

 sal lines of a darker green, the latter bordered below by a 

 whitish line. It is cylindrical, and with but three pairs of ab- 

 dominal prolegs. It feeds on clover, and also on Robinia. 

 The chrysalis is formed in some sheltered situation and sur- 

 rounded with white silken threads ; is dark and slender like 

 that of Aletia^ but the tip is armed with two strong, slightly 

 diverging spines. In Missouri this chrysalis may be found 

 under bark during winter, and it doubtless hibernates in both 

 chrysalis and imago states in the South. 



