SPHING-ID^ or PEEU. 97 



stronger within the dorsal area and lighter at the sides. Legs flesh-coloured and 

 ringed with black. Claspera light grey, heavilj' ringed with Prussian-blue. 



Fig. c. The pair of stripes which usually enclose the dorsal area are absent, 

 and only suggested by the change of ground-colour, which in this case is particu- 

 larly interesting, as the transition from the grey-brown of the back to the light 

 median area of the sides further suggests a series of light oblique stripes pointing 

 headwards. Ventral area and claspers pale grey, the latter ringed with dark grey. 

 The universal freckling is more pronounced than in fig. d, but the medio-dorsal spots 

 as well as the stripes are absent, and there is less suggestion of any of the brighter 

 colours. 



Pupa (PI. XV. figs, t^ u). — Black, highly glazed, very graceful in form and 

 attractive in coloration. Abdominal segments with broad and narrow orange-mahogany 

 transverse bands and dots. Wings, legs, and antennse-cases similarly picked out 

 in colour, more rarely plain black without ornamentation. The colour is fully 

 retained by the shell after emergence. Cremaster a moderately stout spike. 



302. Pachtlia ficus. (Plates X. a-g\ XV. g.) 

 R. & J. p. 373. 



General Bistrihution. — Florida, Texas, West Indies, southward to Buenos A.ires. 

 A common species. 



Reported to have been very common at Lima in 1901, and even since, the avenues 

 of Mgus trees on the outskirts and in the suburban retreats of Miraflores and 

 Barranco being rendered unsightly by the ravages of the larvae. Now unaccountably 

 rare in the above districts, the most diligent and extended search at all times of the 

 year often producing not a trace. In 1909 fairly common at Chosica (Rimac Valley — 

 2800 feet), recorded as common at Chimbote (coast — lat. 9°), and certainly of 

 frequent occurrence in the Interior. I once found the moth by day, a male clinging 

 to a i^"c?fs-trunk, but never took it at light. Frass very large, black, and of distinct 

 tripartite and hexagonal form — a ready clue to the whereabouts of the larva, the pellets 

 being sometimes obscured by the abundance of fallen Ficus-seeds, but sufficiently 

 obvious in their resemblance to ripe blackberries on the dry and dusty roads. 



In seeking for a suitable puparium, which consists of a considerable cocoon of silk 

 under dead leaves or amongst grass and stones near the tree-roots, but at no depth in 

 the soil, the larva, now a most conspicuous object, is often obliged to wander long 

 distances. It then too often encounters an unmerited death at the feet of thoughtless 

 persons, who insanely regard it as a duty of life, if not of religion, that they should 

 tread upon all creeping things. The pupa, though exceedingly lively, nervously 

 twitching its segments up and down as well as from side to side when disturbed, is 

 delicate and often dies before emergence. 



Ova. — Singly on under side of leaves oi Ficus japonensis. 

 yoL. XX. — PART 11. No, 4. — April, 1912, p 



