THE NEW MEXICO RANGE CATERPILLAR. 



69 



brownish; hind wing immaculate. Thorax and abdomen beneath clothed with long 

 hair which varies in color from gray to blackish gray, more or less tinted with ocherous. 

 Legs bright dark ocherous. Expanse of wings, 45 to 55 mm. 



Female (figs. 41, 42). — Antennse short, thickened, each segment with a short serra- 

 tion on each side, the ventral line slightly carinate. Thorax as in the male. Ab- 

 domen of a duller red than in the male, less densely hairy, the yellow integument 

 showing at the incisures. Wings darker than in the riiale, clayey brown or grayish 

 brown, rarely with rosy tint throughout, the lines pale, diffused, narrower than in 



Fig. 41. — The New Mexico range caterpillar: Female moth, wing venation, and details of antennae. En- 

 larged, venation more enlarged, antennal joints greatly enlarged. (Original.) 



the male; discal mark the same. Hind wing as dark or somewhat darker than fore 

 wing, uniform brownish, generally rosy tinted, the fringe of both wings pale. The 

 veins of both wings have a slight tendency to be lined with ocherous and the costa 

 is more or less distinctly washed with that color, though not with a distinct ocherous 

 stripe. Beneath, the body is blackish gray, the segments banded with whitish. 

 Wings uniformly colored, the cell of fore wing rosy shaded, the costae and veins of 

 both wings washed with ocherous. Expanse, 55 to 65 mm. 



LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. 



THE EGGS. 



OVIPOSITION. 



The usual time for depositing the eggs is in the early part of the 

 day, with the climax about 9 or 10 o'clock in the forenoon. The 

 female has mated during the evening previous, and as soon as the 

 morning air grows warm she selects a stem of weed or grass, of suffi- 

 cient diameter and free from irregularities if possible. Taking her 

 position on this, within an inch or two of the ground, usually, she 

 first places a ring of eggs about the stem, attaching them both to 

 each other and to the stem. On this for a foundation she proceeds 

 to deposit her supply of eggs in the form of a cylinder (fig. 32 ; Plate 

 III, fig. 3), placing them entirely by the delicate sense of touch resid- 

 99370°— Bull. 85—11 6 



