Vol. XXX] ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 25 1 



Tinea cloacella Haworth bred from Fungi (Lepid.)* 

 By Harry B. Weiss, New Brunswick, New Jersey. 



In Dyar's List of North American Lepidoptera (Bull. 52, 

 U. S. N. M.), the distribution of Tinea cloacella is given as 

 follows : — ''Europe, U. S. ?" Dietz in his revision of the Tine- 

 inae (Tr. Am. Ent. Soc. vol. XXXI, No. i, 1905, p. 67) writes 

 as follows concerning this species : "Mr. A. Busck very kindly 

 sent me a European specimen of this species for study and 

 which corresponds in all particulars with the description given 

 by European authors of this species. I have not seen any 

 species from within our faunal limits that could be recognized 

 as cloacella nor do I know of the existence of a well-authenti- 

 cated specimen anywhere. I cannot help, therefore, but to con- 

 sider the occurrence of cloacella in our fauna as very doubt- 

 ful." 



At Matawan, New Jersey, on February 25, an old specimen 

 of Polyporus sulphureus^ Bulliard ex Fries collected from a 

 telegraph pole was partly broken and found to contain num- 

 erous, small lepidopterous larvae. The remainder of the fungus 

 was kept in a warm room and during the last of March and 

 first half of April, moths of this species^ emerged. Polyporus 

 tsngae Murrill ex Overholts, collected at New Brunswick, 

 New Jersey, is also a host of this moth as specimens emerged 

 from this fungus during the second week of April. The species, 

 therefore, hibernates as a larva and pupates during the spring. 

 Of course in the warm laboratory, the moths emerged sooner 

 than they would have done in the field. The larvae feed in the 

 context of the fungus and pupate in the tubes. So as to facili- 

 tate the emergence of the moths, the pupae issue partly from 

 the lower surface of the fungus. 



Polyporus tsngae occurs on or about stumps and trunks of 

 hemlock and pine, while Polyporus sulphureus is found on the 

 stumps and trunks of deciduous and coniferous trees. Ac- 

 cording to Von Schrenk and Spaulding (U. S. D. A. Bur. 



1 Identified by Mr. Erdman West. 



2 Identified by Mr. A. Busck through the courtesy of Dr. L. O. 

 Howard. 



