ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ONTARIO. 99 



But a more hurtful, because more numerous, group of grass feeders are to be found 

 among the 



Hespebidjb. 



They belong to the genus Pamphila in the Hesperidae, and are commonly called 

 "Skippers (Fig. 86). The most common 

 of the Quebec species are : — Pamphila Hob- 

 omok, Harris ; P. Manitoba, Scudder ; P. 

 Peckius, Kirby ; P. Mystic, Scudder, and '^plgf 

 P. Cernes, Edwards. The three last may ^ '%r mSt 



be seen in June and July scudding about A ^^ *&r ± 



the meadows in droves. Fig. 86. 



Mr. W. Saunders, of London, Ontario, succeeded in raising P. Mystic from the egg 

 to the pupa, and has described the changes of the larva in the Canadian Entomologist, 

 Vol. I., p. 65. The larva was full-grown in August. It was an inch long, onisciform, 

 downy, with a dull reddish-brown head and a dull brownish-green body. It had many 

 dots of a darker hue and a dark dorsal line. The second segment was whitish with a 

 dark line across the upper surface. 



Mr. Fletcher, of Ottawa, raised P. Cernes from the egg to the pupa. The eggs were 

 laid on grass on the 10th of July, and hatched on the 23rd of that month. The larva was 

 full grown in September. It was an inch long, of a purplish-brown color s mottled with 

 grey and dark purplish-brown, and it was covered with fine, short, black hairs. It had 

 a black head and a thoracic shield on a white collar. The spiracles were black. 



Both Mystic and Cernes hibernate in the chrysalis. 



P Metacomet, Harris, hibernates as a larva (Fletcher, 25th Rep. Ent. Soc. Ont., p. 4). 



P. Manitoba, Scudder, spends eight months, or two-thirds of its existence, in the egg. 

 The young larvae appear in April and are full grown in July. The butterflies come forth 

 in August, and lay their eggs in the same month. For the life history of the species see 

 Canadian Entomologist, Vol. XXVII., p. 346. 



CtENUCHIDjE. 



Of this family two species are common at Quebec, Scepsis fulvicollis, Hubner, and 

 Ctenucha virginica. 



The imago of S. fulvicollis appears in the beginning of June. Its expanse of wings 

 is about an inch and two-tenths. Its head and body are of a deep velvety purple. The 

 antennae are pectinated in the male, and dentated in the female. The striking feature in 

 the insect is the broad yellow collar from which it derives its specific name. The fore- 

 wings are of a somewhat bronzy black with the costa obscurely yellow. The secondaries 

 are semi-transparent with black veins, and with the inner and hind margins clouded with 

 purplish black. 



The full-grown larva of this species is one inch long. Its head is glossy yellow, and 

 its body is slate colored, striped with green, pink and pale yellow, and it has a number 

 of small warts set with white hairs. At the end of July or the beginning of August it 

 spins its cocoon. 



Ctenucha virginica, in general appearance, resembles Fulvicollis, but it is a larger 

 insect : its expanse of wings is an inch and a half. The secondaries are of a deep blue- 

 black, with whitish edges. 



The larva of this species, when full-grown, forms a cocoon of the spinulated hairs 

 from its body ; it plucks them out and arranges them, and they adhere firmly in the 

 required shape. (Packard's Guide, p. 239.) 



