Typua Insects: THEIR EcoLoGicaAL RELATIONSHIPS 487 
transverse rows of strong spines, most prominent on segments 4, 5, 6, and 7. A few spines 
present on the ninth abdominal segment. 
The adult.— The following description of the adult (Plate XLVII, 75) 
is quoted from Slingerland (1901): 
General color varies from a wood-brown through cinnamon to russet; the hind wings 
and all four wings beneath are of a lighter yellowish-brown color. Many fine, wavy, trans- 
verse, dark brown lines occur on the front wings, showing more distinctly in the male. And 
extending obliquely across these wings is a broad, dark brown band, more or less obsolete in 
the middle, and there is a subapical spot of the same color on each front wing. 
Lymnaecia phragmitella Staint. 
Lymnaecia phragmitella Staint. is a little moth belonging to the family 
Tineidae. Without question, this is the most common and the most 
abundant of the insects infesting the cat-tail. In distribution it is world- 
wide. It is found in England, central and southern Europe, northern 
Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Its host plants 
are Typha latifolia and T. angustifolia. The writer has invariably found 
that the majority of Typha plants in any patch are infested by this insect. 
Life history and habits 
The larva.— Regarding the larvae of this species, Stainton (1870) wrote: 
If we visit a boggy piece of ground where Typha latifolia grows, we shall find that some 
of the thick club-like heads of that plant exhibit a curious, tattered and frayed appearance; 
if the period of our observation be autumn, we shall find on examining amongst the soft 
downy interior of the fertile catkin some small larvae; if we seek at the end of winter or 
in early spring, we shall find the same larvae, nearly ful! fed, about five lines long; and if 
these larvae are rather broad and flat, of a yellowish-white, with broad darker lines, we need 
not hesitate to pronounce them the larvae of Laverna phragmitella. 
The .larvae restrict their work to the head of the plant, except 
occasionally when they bore into the stem to transform (Plate XLII, 
35). The young larvae feed on the tender styles of the pistillate flowers, 
but as these grow larger and become dry, the larvae move farther inward 
and eat the seeds of the plant. As cold weather approaches, they migrate 
still farther inward, and finally locate near the rachis of the flower spike, 
where they often eat away the basal part of the little stalks which bear the 
seeds. The larvae spin an abundance of silk with which they tie the down, 
or pappus, together, thus keeping it from being torn off or blown away. 
The cat-tail heads which are infested by these larvae present a striking 
appearance. The silk spun by the larvae holds’ the downy material 
together and does not allow the seeds to escape, but the heads fluff out 
