194 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



there is a very different story to tell. At Boulder, on our red 

 sunflowers, we have found larvas of different kinds feeding 

 exposed on the leaves, folding the leaves, mining the leaves, 

 burrowing inside of receptacles, feeding on the unripe seeds, and 

 feeding on the disc florets. Are all such absent in Europe ? 

 Mr. A. G. Scorer, in his ' Entomologist's Log-Book ' (1913), 

 fails to mention a single species attacking Helianthus. 



The following are some of the more important or interesting 

 insect enemies of Helianthus annuus (including lenticularis, which 

 is the wild representative of annuus). 



Lepidoptera. 

 Phyciodes ismeria, Bdv. & Lee. 



This is identical with P. carlota, Beak.; Mead (1875) refused 

 to recognise ismeria, on account of the rather poor description, 

 but it really seems to apply to our species. The larvae are 

 common on the sunflowers at Boulder, and the species extends 

 eastward across the plains into Nebraska, becoming rare as far 

 east as Omaha, according to R. A. Leussler. 



The larvae exist in two colour varieties as follows : — 



(1) A row of large subquadrate dark orange spots down back ; 



subdorsal region black, speckled with creamy white ; sides 

 palHd, with a broad reddish band, the spiracles enclosed in 

 angular elongated grey-black patches spotted with white ; 

 under side dark ; dorsal and subdorsal spines black, but 

 lateral ones pale ; head shining black. Larva about 20 mm. 

 long, found by my wife August 17th ; pupated about 

 August 22nd ; imago August 31st. 



(2) Entirely orange-red with black spines and dusky subdorsal 



and lateral bands (the lateral bands just above bases of 

 legs) ; head shining black. Larva about 21 mm. long, 

 found by my wife August 22nd; imago September 5th. 



The original P. ismeria fed on a perennial sunflower, Heli- 

 anthus tracheliifolius, and probably came from North Carolina. 

 It is perhaps probable that the butterfly will be found to have 

 two distinct subspecific forms, one (true ismeria) of North 

 Carolina and adjacent regions, feeding on perennial sunflowers ; 

 the other (subsp. carlota) of the Rocky Mountain region, feeding 

 on annual sunflowers. The former was said by Boisduval and 

 Leconte to be very rare in collections, and it appears still to be 

 so, as I have never seen a specimen, and the Academy of 

 Natural Sciences at Philadelphia has none. The latter is 

 abundant along the eastern foothills in Colorado, and goes north 

 {jfide Dr. H. Skinner, in litt.) to Manitoba, where it is taken at 

 Beulah as early as May 24th, and Stony Mountains, June 11th. 

 Dr. Skinner also tells me that the Philadelphia Academy has one 

 from as far east as Minneapolis, Minnesota, taken May 25th. 



